Mitchell Boggs and Joe Mather starred in this 1-0 game where the Redbirds eeked out a win in the 9th. I wanted to take a look at Boggs start as well as a few other players. Here’s what I saw.
Random Notes
- Hugo Castellanos replaced Boggs in the 8th. He’s just a fun sidearming pitcher to watch. He could probably be a servicable middle reliever for a major league club but lefties would pound him.
- Jason Motte throws just under 20 pitches and not one of them is a breaking pitch. His game plan is fastball, fastball, fastball away, fastball in, fastball, fastball, etc. It works in the minors and he does a decent job of keeping the ball down but he really needs to have a second pitch that he can throw for a strike at least once an at-bat. That said, his fastball seems to leap to the plate. He’s also got something of an Eric Gagne look going on.
- Jarrett Hoffpauir is tiny. 5′9″ isn’t an adequate description of what he looks like at the plate. He also stands really far off the plate. I’d think that major league pitchers (who have better command of pitches than most minor leaguers) could just beat him with stuff on the outer part of the plate. Now whether he’d chase breaking pitches away, I don’t know. He makes good contact for someone whose bat barely reaches the entire plate but I’d like to see him get a little closer.
- Bryan Anderson has all the skills to be a good defensive catcher but is still very, very inconsistent. I don’t know if he gets a little too relaxed when no one is on base but he let about 5-6 balls just bounce past him or pop out of his glove that shouldn’t have. Again, I don’t think it’s a talent question because he made some excellent stops as well; I think he needs to focus more. Whatever the case, he’s probably a below average defender right now.
- Joe Mather is a beast. I spent a long time trying to think of a physical comparison because Mather isn’t really that bulky but he looks very built and lanky. The best I came up with was a right-handed Shawn Green. Mather certainly isn’t on that career arc (Green was in the majors in his early 20s) but that’s the visual reference he called to mind. He destroyed several foul balls and his homerun was a clean shot out to centerfield. The power is obvious - perhaps even 25-30HRs if he can make consistent contact in the majors.
Mitchell Boggs
Notation: FB - fastball, CB - curveball, SL - slider, CS - called strike, F - foul, SS - swinging strike, B - ball
1st Inning:
- Jason Ellison: 1-FB(CS) 2-FB(B) 3-FB(F) 4-FB(F) 5-FB(foul tip) strikeout
- Joaquin Arias: 1-FB(F) 2- FB(F) 3-CB(B) 4-CB(F) 5-FB(F) 6-FB(B) 7-FB(ground out)
- Nelson Cruz: 1-FB(CS) 2-SL(B) 3-FB(B) 4-FB(pop up)
- Notes: the 0-2 curveball to Arias was a ball but caught me off guard because it features impressive break; not much lateral movement to the breakingball but the curve has a nice deep break.
2nd Inning:
- Jason Botts: 1-FB(F) 2-FB(SS) 3-FB(B) 4-FB(B) 5-CB(SS) strikeout
- Nate Gold: 1-FB(F) 2-CB(B) 3-CB(CS) 4-FB(ground out)
- John Mayberry: 1-FB(B) 2-FB(F) 3-CB(SS) 4-FB(ground out)
- Notes: announcers mention Boggs is sitting in low 90s hitting 93
3rd Inning:
- Ryan Roberts: 1-CB(CS) 2-CB(B) 3-FB(B) 4-FB(CS) 5-FB(SS) strikeout
- Casey Benjamin: 1-FB(CS) 2-FB(B) 3-SL(popped up in foul territory)
- Kevin Richardson: 1-CB(B) 2- FB(B) 3-FB(B) 4-FB(CS) 5-FB(F) 6-FB(F) 7-FB(single)
- Jason Ellison: 1-CB(B) 2-FB(B) 3-FB(B) 4-FB(B) walk
- Joaquin Arias: 1-SL(B) 2-FB(SS) 3-FB(F) 4-FB(F) 5-CB(B) 6-FB(B) 7-FB(flyout)
- Notes: Boggs has a few calls go against him in the Richardson at bat and becomes visibly frustrated. Emotion seeps into to Ellison at bat and he can’t get it over the plate. Anderson tries to calm him down. Boggs needs to do a better job of staying focused and not getting upset or at least not showing it.
4th Inning:
- Nelson Cruz: 1-FB(SS) 2-CB(B) 3-FB(CS) 4-SL(F) 5-CB(B) 6-CB(B) 7-FB(SS) strikeout
- Jason Botts: 1-FB(F) 2-FB(F) 3-FB(F) 4-FB(SS) strikeout
- Nate Gold: 1-FB(CS) 2-CB(F) 3-CB(B) 4-FB(B) 5-FB(SS) strikeout
- Notes: Boggs sitting in low 90s. great tempo on the mound. keeps the game moving.
5th Inning:
- John Mayberry: 1-FB(CS) 2-FB(F) 3-SL(B) 4-FB(F) 5-FB(SS) strikeout
- Ryan Roberts: 1-FB(B) 2-FB(B) 3-FB(B) 4-FB(B) walk
- Casey Benjamin: 1-FB(CS) 2-CB(CS) 3-FB(F) 4-FB(SS) strikeout
- Kevin Richardson: 1-FB(CS) 2-FB(B) 3-FB(F) pitchout–Roberts out at 2nd
6th Inning:
- Kevin Richardson: 1-FB(CS) 2-FB(B) 3-FB(B) 4-FB(F) 5-SL(F) 6-CB(CS) strikeout
- Jason Ellison: 1-FB(B) 2-CB(B) 3-FB(single)
- Joaquin Arias: 1-FB(B) 2-FB(in play) double play 5-4-3
7th Inning:
- Nelson Cruz: 1-FB(B) 2-FB(B) 3-FB(CS) 4-FB(SS) 5-FB(B) 6-CB(CS) strikeout
- Jason Botts: 1-SL(B) 2-FB(B) 3-FB(ground out)
- Nate Gold: 1-FB(B) 2-FB(B) 3-FB(F) 4-FB(F) 5-FB(B) 6-FB(pop out)
- Notes: good tempo on mound. still hitting low 90s per announcers.
Scouting Report
Fastball - 50/55
Curveball - 45/55
Slider - 30/40
Command - 50/55
AOFP: Group C - Upper end of group either as a good setup-man or a good back-end rotation starter
Boggs has a good build and looks like he could hold up over the course of the season. He paced himself well throughout the game and maintained his velocity. The fastball is already a solid average pitch with nice downward sink. The curveball featured excellent vertical break but almost no lateral movement. The slider was a fringe pitch thrown 5-6 times over the course of the game. His fastball command is already above average but the curveball still has a ways to go. He used the entire plate pitching away, inside, up and down. Could succeed as a #4/#5 starter especially if command improves. There’s nothing in delivery that explains the poor command — expect improvement. Could be a reliever right now in majors with setup-man potential.
There were a lot of foul balls over the course of game. Batters were making contact but couldn’t get the ball into play often or well. Boggs can fall in love with his fastball at times and would do well to mix in his breaking ball more often. He fared well against the heart of the order in Arias, Cruz and Botts — all major league caliber prospects. The two primary concerns that remain are: 1) He was inefficient with his pitches which resulted in some high pitch count innings and 2) he struggled to put hitters away (this contributed to #1).
Filed under: Mitch Boggs, Scouting Reports
erik
azruavatar
fewgoodcards
roarke49
theredbaaron
Really nice scouting report, Az. The one thing I was really surprised by was what you said about his slider. We hear from most scouts, including guys like Keith Law, about how good of a pitch it is. Do you think he may have just been having a bad day with it, or do you think that the reports may be a little off?
Either way, it’s good to know that the Cardinals have a big, durable pitcher who’s probably ready to contribute right now just a phone call away. Hopefully, we’re seeing an end to the era of trading for the Mike Maroths of the word every time the team needs a little depth.
This was extremely informative. Wow.
This is really great stuff.
When i saw him pitch in april…he had his slider working, but his fastball got hit hard towards the end of his outing…i think inconsistency is going to be his biggest vice
This post has nothing to do with this thread, but I think most readers of this site will appreciate it. Here is a name most Cardinal fans do not know, but probably should: Tyler Henley. Henley fell to the Cards in the 8th round after a sub-par Junior year, but before that he had been expected to go in the top 3 rounds (source:BaseballAmerica) and is currently performing very well for Palm Beach.
He is a player reported (I have not seen him as I only regular make trips to Memphis and Springfield, not PB) to have five solid-above average tools and to be a gamer. His numbers are impressive in PB.
Great job AZ. Like Ryan said, very informative. Also surprised to hear about his slider. Could be a bad day with it, I dunno. If it is a pitch that up to snuff as the rest of his pitches are, that has to make him go from “hmmm” to “hey” if you catch my meaning.
Thanks guys. I’m going to try and do one of these a week. They’re time consuming (4-5 hours between watching the whole game and a writeup) but they’re fun and there’s nothing quite as good as seeing them on video.
I had also remembered hearing some good things about Boggs slider. I went back and checked KLaw’s review from the AFL but he only mentioned an “average hard curveball from 82-84″. The slider was really pretty terrible everytime he threw it but the curveball, as I mentioned above, has the potential to be a very nice pitch. When he missed with it he’d miss outside or low — I don’t recall him hanging more than 1 or 2. I’m not sure if his breaking ball was reported as a slider once and he just got a rep as a fastball-slider guy but it’s definitely a curveball and it’s definitely his second best pitch.
Something else I probably should have mentioned was that I was watching one of Boggs best games of the year. Ideally, I’d watch a few of his other games as well before writing up a report like this but that’s not entirely feasible for me time wise. So I probably saw some of the best Boggs has to offer.
I saw Boggs pitch in Las Vegas a few weeks back, and was able to sit right behind home plate near the scouts. His fastball was a plus pitch, IMO. Nice velocity, excellent movement and good control. His hard curveball was also very good, and could be mistaken for a slider, due to the velocity with which Boggs throws it. I think he has #3 starter potential, but his breaking pitch will need to be more consistent for him to reach that potential.
I was similarly impressed with Mather. He is a fluid athlete for a man his size. He runs well, and has a strong arm. His swing is relatively compact and powerful, not the long, looping swing you might expect from a minor league power hitter of his stature. I believe Mather will hit in the major leagues, and he is athletic enough to be a fine corner outfielder. I did see him in CF as well, and was underwhelmed. Defensively he is definitely behind Ankiel, Schumaker, Rasmus and Ludwick as a CF’er. Physically, the only comp that came to mind was Jayson Werth. I think Mather has a more compact swing than Werth, but reminded me of him a bit as an athlete.