Comments on: Memphis Redbirds Game 5/18

By: Chris

Chris — Fri, 23 May 2008 02:25:42 +0000

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.

By: azruavatar

azruavatar — Thu, 22 May 2008 23:31:54 +0000

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.

By: erik

erik — Thu, 22 May 2008 23:19:27 +0000

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.

By: Jared

Jared — Thu, 22 May 2008 22:33:17 +0000

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.

By: VolsnCards5

VolsnCards5 — Thu, 22 May 2008 21:45:07 +0000

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

By: Ryan

Ryan — Thu, 22 May 2008 21:10:34 +0000

This was extremely informative. Wow.

By: the red baron

the red baron — Thu, 22 May 2008 21:09:46 +0000

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.