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May 4, 2008

Future Shock

Bearing Down on Neftali Feliz

by Kevin Goldstein

It’s been a good first month of the minor league season on a personal level--in less than four weeks, I’ve been able to see three No. 1 prospects. Royals’ infielder Mike Moustakas disappointed (and continues to struggle), and Arizona right-hander Jarrod Parker wasn’t fantastic but showed plenty of potential. Number three came on Friday night, as the Clinton LumberKings came to visit Kane County and opened the series by starting right-hander Neftali Feiliz, the lightning-armed Dominican who came over from the Braves in the Mark Teixeira trade who was also celebrating his 20^th birthday. For the third straight time, I also got lucky, because with ominous skies and storms approaching, I initially set up in the press box for the game, only to quickly see a friend from the scouting community waving at me from five rows behind home plate. Access to radar gun readings and professional opinions while I watch? I’ll put up with some wind and rain.

From the Parker piece, here’s a reminder on how to read my pitch charts: First, a quick primer on how I track pitches. This is not how teams do it or anything official, this is just how I keep track when I have access to gun readings. Basically, each notation has three pieces on information: TYPE—VELO—RESULT. Under Type, FB is fastball, CU is curveball, is slider; CH is changeup; Velo is simple enough. Under Result, 'b' stands for ball, 's' for swinging strike, 'c' is a called strike, 'f' a foul ball, and 'x' is a ball in play. So, an 81 mph slider taken for a strike is SL81c.

So let’s get right to this. The first thing the struck me was Feliz’ size. Listed at six-foot-three, he’s more like six-foot-even, maybe six-foot-one. He’s lean, and well-proportioned, throwing from a three-quarters arm slot. His mechanics are clean, easy, loose, and effortless.

First Inning

Shane Keough: FB92c, FB92b, FB92B, FB94x = Hard single to LF
OK, the guy can throw hard, and he’s either completely effortless, or just warming up. The last heater was right down the pipe–-a pitch nearly any pro can hit.