Over the weekend I had a second chance to see Ben Lively and he looked much more impressive than the last time I had a chance to see him.
The difference between his last start and the start that I saw 5 weeks prior was pretty simple: Consistency. Everything was more consistent over the weekend. His mechanics, his location, the consistency with his breaking balls, it was just better across the board.
Lively went 4 innings allowing 1 earned on 2 hits and a walk while striking out 7 batters. He was rather dominate as he mixed in a fastball, slider, curveball and a change up to keep hitter off balance. In the early innings he was mostly working with just his fastball and his slider, but in the 3rd and 4th he began to show the curveball more often and would mix in a change up every now and again as well, though it was clearly the 4th pitch he would go to.
Scouting Report
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Fastball – As noted in the intro, everything was just better on this day than the last time I had a chance to see Lively. While the velocity was the same, in the 91-94 MPH range, the biggest difference was that his fastball was on the black all night long. Inside, outside and down in the zone. He was pounding the mitt with the pitch for four innings. He didn’t elevate the pitch much, but aside from that he showed everything with his fastball. It seemed to explode out of his hand a little bit.
Slider – The pitch that Lively went to the most other than his fastball. He was able to locate it well, starting it on the outside part of the strikezone at the knees all night before it would break down and out of the zone leaving hitter after hitter swinging over top of the pitch. An above-average to plus pitch in this game.
Curveball – This pitch didn’t show up until the second time through the lineup. It was a bit inconsistent, missing up at times and lacking the bite that it showed when he threw it at its best. When the pitch is at its best it is in the mid 70’s and an average pitch with 12-6 breaking action.
Change Up – Another pitch that didn’t show up until the second time through the lineup and was the 4th pitch he would go to, throwing perhaps just 5 or 6 in the game. The pitch was solid and he sold it well, though he did work with it a little more up in the zone than I tend to like to see. With the few that he did throw they were pitches that were in the middle of the zone, but they had nice tumbling action so he was able to get away with it. The pitch was average on this night, though I could see it being an above-average pitch in the future.
Other – Lively dominated in this start and he had the mound presence that really stood out that came off as if he knew he could get out anyone who stepped into the box against him. While there wasn’t a lot of action against him, when someone did get on base he didn’t seem rattled at all. His mechanics looked a bit cleaner than where they were in college where I thought he had a little bit more effort than you would like to see.
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