Minor League Discussion & Boxes 7-10-2006

[otis89]

OK. I'm back. Notes from the Chiefs game.

 

The radar gun wasn't working, so I have no idea what kind of arm Taylor has. What impressed me the most about his outing was no walks. It's very rare to see a Cubs pitcher not named Maddux do that. He also reminded me of Maddux when he made a nice play on a ball hit right back to him. Norwood is a big guy and he made a nice play at first on a fairly sharply hit grounder. Carter made a nice running catch in right field and flexed his muscles with a home run just to the left of straightaway center. I'd guess it went around 400 feet. That's all I can think of right now. If you have any questions, feel free to ask!

 

As far as you could tell, did Taylor throw many breaking balls or changeups? Did he throw curveball (easier to recognize)? If not, maybe he's a fastball/slider guy?

 

How did Avery look? Hard to tell, and they are probably both somewhere around 90, so probably can't really tell. But if you had to guess, between Taylor and Avery, which would you guess threw harder?

 

Does Carter look like an ordinary guy? Or does he obviously look stronger than other guys?

 

Thanks. too bad no radar.

 

I'm not very good at figuring out what pitches someone's throwing. I think Taylor threw some curveballs, but I really couldn't tell that well. I couldn't tell who threw harder between Taylor and Avery. Carter is 6' 3" and weighs 215 pounds, so I'd guess he probably looks stronger. I wasn't really paying attention to him. The main reason I went was to see Taylor pitch. Sorry.

[karenmac]

while I'm sure Yusef is a very strong guy, you don't really notice until he smacks one out of the park. Norwood (along with most of the pitching staff) *looks* to be the strongest. Most of them, Norwood especially, have narrow waists and huge shoulders, so they look like inverted triangles. I can still remember being at spring training and seeing Norwood in one of those clingy under armor type shirts and saying "daaaaannng"

 

Sorry girls, he's engaged ;)

 

Regarding Taylor and Avery, I'd guess that Avery may throw a bit harder, and each has excellent control. Taylor looked really great last night, making it through 8 innings and not keeling over toward the end. He looked strong. Avery's taken on the closer role since Campy left for West Tenn, so he doesn't necessarily need the stamina (or needs it differently, potentially having to throw several nights in a row)

 

I can tell you that on Wednesday night, there must have been 10 radar guns behind the plate - there were a bunch of scouts, and with Clinton's team this year, a good number of them had to be there to see the Chiefs.