One of the things that excited me the most about Unfiltered was something that I couldn’t really take advantage of until the season started. Let’s say I wanted to write a piece about Daisuke Matsuzaka. The average single-subject piece we do here at BP runs around 1,200-1,600 words, so I’d have to do a lot of work – getting a hold of multiple scouts who have seen him, trying to talk to some international scouts and getting a lot of background info.
Basically, it’s a lot of work. Much of my day is spent on email and IM with people in the industry, and now it’s much easier to share with the class, if you will. It’s something I hope will become a regular feature here on our blog.
One talent evaluator emailed me after seeing Matsuzaka this afternoon and here are his thoughts (using the 20-80 scouting scale) on his second stateside appearance. Keep in mind, it’s only early March, and things are just warming up. On a statistical level, Matsuzaka fired three scoreless innings, allowing two hits and one walk while striking out three.
Fastball: 60 (91-92 mph) w/ 60+ movement
Slider: 60/65 – his best pitch today
Curve: 50 – not real sharp, hung a few
Change: 60 – really turns it over, most just 75 mph; big separation from FB
Pitchability: 70 – mixed it up, uses offspeed pitches in FB counts
Mystique: 80
Japanese Media: 10,000
The scout added that Matsuzaka’s command and control was only average, but also bet it’s normally better than that.
To the scout, he looked like a No. 2 or 3 starter for now, as he didn’t see that one dominating 70+ offering one normally sees in top-level starter, but again, it’s early.
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