Drew Cisco
I was able to watch his first start of the season. It was my first chance to see him and I came away impressed. He commanded the strikezone with four pitches. His fastball, short breaking curve, big breaking curve and change up were all pitches he could locate where the catcher wanted them. Guys his age simply can’t do things like that. A lot of Major Leaguers can’t do that with that many pitches. Both curveballs were good. His change up had some nice tumble on it.
Daniel Corcino
In his first start of the year he was perfect through three innings. He was throwing a very good slider down in the zone. He had strong fastball command. He had the hitters off balance. Then the fourth inning came around and he lost not only his command, but his control. His fastball, his slider…. it didn’t matter. He couldn’t throw the ball near where he wanted to and he didn’t make it out of the 4th. The stuff was there and it was nice to see the command show up in those first three inning. He was hitting the target almost every time. The wheels fell off though and it was night and day.
Tony Cingrani
I wrote about him last week as well, but his second start also warrants writing about. While I am pretty darn confident that the stadium gun in Louisville is 2-3 MPH fast based on readings it gives out for everyone being 2-3 MPH faster than past scouting reports, Cingrani hit 97 on it once in his second start. If that means he actually hit 94 or 95, that is still rather significant. It means he sat 91-92, which is where we would expect. Like his first start, he didn’t control his fastball well, but it was good enough that the hitters were still swinging. The good news though, is that like his first start, the breaking ball was once again a good one. Some were better than others and a few weren’t quite good, but compared to last year it is a big step in the right direction. And also unlike last year, he is mixing his pitches much better than he has in the past. He is being less reliant on the fastball.
Junior Arias
Arias was a third baseman last season and the results weren’t good. He had a plus arm, but his accuracy was poor and his glove work wasn’t outstanding. This year he is playing center field. He has the speed for the position and his arm will play very well there, assuming he can throw it to the target and the wildness doesn’t remain with him out there. He seemed to get good jumps/reads on the ball, but he needs to work on his route running and glove work. He looks uncomfortable with the glove still. The tools are there, but he will need playing time in order to round into a true outfielder.