Mike Leake reaction
First I will go with my thoughts – Good poise, very lucky to have only allowed 1 run with all of the walks and I am in no way concerned about his control. Leake had his fastball top out at 91.1 MPH and overall his fastball was a little lower than it has been in the past (88.4 MPH avg FB). He did get 11 swings and misses, which is a high rate. Now some reactions from around the rest of the web:
Scott Priestle has a game article up over at CNati.com on Leake.
The walks, in particular, gave Leake a reason to focus on his next start. He insisted once again that nerves were not an issue. Instead, he said, he was overthrowing in an effort to be perfect — a problem he seemed to correct on the mound.
Chad over at Redleg Nation had this to say on Leake:
His pitches were moving all over the place, and it was something to watch. This kid has a very bright future ahead of him.
Aroldis Chapman reaction
I watched the game on Milb.tv (best deal in baseball). The guy can flat out bring the heat. He hit 100 or 101 MPH a total of 5 times throughout the game. His final line had him with 9 strikeouts and just 1 walk in 4.2 innings. Chapman struggled with his offspeed stuff most of the game, but his fastball was just way too much for these guys. They expanded the zone trying to catch up to it and it just didn’t work for them. He didn’t finish a few of his offspeed pitches and it was pretty obvious what was coming when he didn’t. Something to watch for next time out for Chapman. Now for the reaction of others:
C Trent had up his thoughts and what he saw from the game in Toledo:
In addition to the trio of pitches clocked at 101 mph, he had two at 100 mph and five at 99 mph. Chapman threw mostly fastballs, struggling early with his control of off-speed pitches.
You can watch some of Chapman’s start at Reds.com by going here.
So guys, what were your thoughts from what you saw?