Future Redbirds

I was on hand for the 2nd game of the Quad Cities/Cedar Rapids game Wednesday night. Shaun Garceau was the starter, who I’ve seen before. For what little it may be worth, here’s my amateur scouting report on Garceau:

Build: Listed at 6-1, 185 pounds. Athletic/projectable body. Should add a tick or two of velocity as he fills out.
Delivery: Good arm speed, but wasn’t always able to repeat delivery, costing him command.
Fastball: The first time I saw Garceau, he was sitting at 91 and topping out at 94. It was very cold tonight (around 40 degrees) and he was sitting at 89 and topped out at 93. I think the stadium gun was a tick slow. Erratic command, fastball fairly straight and left pitch up a lot. Later in game pitch was more down.
Curveball: 71-75 MPH. Can freeze batters, but is good enough to get plenty of whiffs. Hard, late break and he commanded pitch well. Nice, biting 11-5 break. More of a slurve type of break, but not loopy like a slurve.
Change up: 81 MPH. Only threw a 3 or 4, but all were for strikes. Threw with same arm action as FB.

Pitch- Present/Future
FB 50 /55
FB command 30/35
FB movement 35/40
CB 55/55
CH 35/40
Total AOFP: 46

I really liked Garceau the first go around. I don’t think he was really all that different this time, maybe I’m just a harder judge now.  He didn’t have much command of his fastball in the first inning and was hittable. He seemed to get a little on tilt so to speak, showing some emotion after a rough 1st inning. He came back in the 2nd and was better, trusting his breaking pitch more while throwing his fastball lower in the zone, showing he could make adjustments. Without improving his control he will be relegated to middle relief.

Will you be going to games this year? If so, feel free to shoot me an email with your amateur scouting reports. If I like it, I will be more then happy to publish it.