768 replies to this topic

[BSLChrisStoner]

MLB.com:http://mlb.mlb.com/m...ts/watch/y2012/

"Coming out of Colorado as a high schooler, scouts liked Gausman's arm strength but an inconsistent spring and signability issues caused a slide until the sixth round, where Gausman reportedly turned down an above-slot offer from the Dodgers. Now he's back just two years later as a Draft-eligible sophomore.

Gausman still has the electric stuff, this time with a little more polish. He'll run his fastball up to 94 mph and he's still projectable given there's plenty of room on his frame to add strength. The heater has plenty of life to it and gets on hitters quickly thanks to a loose and easy delivery. His breaking ball has the chance to be an average offering and he now throws a changeup that fades and sinks and could be an above-average pitch.

The right-hander still struggles a bit with command, particularly with his breaking pitch and the delivery on his changeup doesn't always work. But with his size, mound presence and arm, he has all the makings of a frontline starter, one who shouldn't stay on Draft boards for very long if he has a productive sophomore season."

[BSLChrisStoner]

Orioles Nation: http://orioles-natio...-march-edition/

5. Kevin Gausman- RHP, Louisiana State University
Radar gun popping pitcher that sits 93-95 mph and will touch 98 mph
late. He shows the stamina to maintain this well past the third turn
through the order. He is showing consistency with his secondary
offerings (Curve, Slider, circle change up) and his command has ironed
out with sporadic lapses. Draft eligible sophomore does show some
projection on thin long frame.

[ChaosLex]

This is an Insider article, so I don't have access unfortunately.

Anyway, what are your thought?

[JeremyStrain]

I don't like it, but I get the impression this is made from an interpretation that he thinks the O's are looking at the 3 college SP.

I'm on record as liking some of the HS kids more than the college SP and if I'm taking one of them it's Appel or Stroman.

[BSLChrisStoner]

I think a lot of people are hearing Gausman is who the O's are leaning towards.

[JeremyStrain]

I think a lot of people are hearing Gausman is who the O's are leaning towards.

This far out I'd ignore ANY of a team leaning towards a guy, no team is going to disclose specific players yet.

This isn't the NFL where you have to worry about people trading up to get a guy you want, but you don't want to draw attention to a guy you really like and have the teams above you decide to go take another look at him since you are so locked in on them, and they see something that moves him up on their board.

The majority of the media is thinking the O's need help NOW so they are going college player period...they always say that for rebuilding teams with a couple pieces already, but that's not how you do things in baseball. I don't think Gausman is the kinda pitcher you look for typically when looking for a pitcher in CY. He throws very hard and has good difference from the FB to the offspeed stuff, but ML hitters can hit 97mph pitches and don't have to swing as hard to hit a HR off it. Especially in our home park.

None of the pitchers at the top are really sinker/gb pitchers though.

[LanceRinker]

He’s currently 8-1 with a 2.95 ERA, 1.12 WHIP and has five pitches he can throw for strikes (four-seam fastball, one-seam sinking fastball, split-change-up, a curve and also a slider). His velocity sits in the mid-90’s (92-94 mph) but he does consistently hit between 94-96 mph on the radar gone early on in starts (even hitting 100 mph a few times this season) before settling into a mid-90’s range a few innings in.

In his last start against Vanderbilt he pitched a complete game with just five hits allowed, one walk and 11 strikeouts – he did throw 123 pitches though.

I decided I wanted to take a look at the workload in which Gausman is undertaking this season and found out that this guy has the ability to throw a lot of pitches, while maintaining his effectiveness. For the games he has pitched so far this season, which I have pitch count data for (8 starts out 13), he has thrown a total of 848 pitches, or an average of 106 per start for the eight starts I have that data for.

The most surprising thing was the rate at which he was throwing strikes – a whopping 69% of the time overall. It’s not often that you see a pitcher, at any level, confident enough in all of his pitches (and Gausman has five) to pound the strike zone regardless of the count and regardless of the pitch being called.

(if you want to see the data then it's here: http://burningdowntheyard.com/?p=2429 )

[You Play to Win the Game]

This far out I'd ignore ANY of a team leaning towards a guy, no team is going to disclose specific players yet.

This isn't the NFL where you have to worry about people trading up to get a guy you want, but you don't want to draw attention to a guy you really like and have the teams above you decide to go take another look at him since you are so locked in on them, and they see something that moves him up on their board.

The majority of the media is thinking the O's need help NOW so they are going college player period...they always say that for rebuilding teams with a couple pieces already, but that's not how you do things in baseball. I don't think Gausman is the kinda pitcher you look for typically when looking for a pitcher in CY. He throws very hard and has good difference from the FB to the offspeed stuff, but ML hitters can hit 97mph pitches and don't have to swing as hard to hit a HR off it. Especially in our home park.

None of the pitchers at the top are really sinker/gb pitchers though.

Good post. This draft will be pretty telling in terms of what we're in store for with our new scouting director. I don't know much about his track record, would that provide any clues?

[JeremyStrain]

He’s currently 8-1 with a 2.95 ERA, 1.12 WHIP and has five pitches he can throw for strikes (four-seam fastball, one-seam sinking fastball, split-change-up, a curve and also a slider). His velocity sits in the mid-90’s (92-94 mph) but he does consistently hit between 94-96 mph on the radar gone early on in starts (even hitting 100 mph a few times this season) before settling into a mid-90’s range a few innings in.

In his last start against Vanderbilt he pitched a complete game with just five hits allowed, one walk and 11 strikeouts – he did throw 123 pitches though.

I decided I wanted to take a look at the workload in which Gausman is undertaking this season and found out that this guy has the ability to throw a lot of pitches, while maintaining his effectiveness. For the games he has pitched so far this season, which I have pitch count data for (8 starts out 13), he has thrown a total of 848 pitches, or an average of 106 per start for the eight starts I have that data for.

The most surprising thing was the rate at which he was throwing strikes – a whopping 69% of the time overall. It’s not often that you see a pitcher, at any level, confident enough in all of his pitches (and Gausman has five) to pound the strike zone regardless of the count and regardless of the pitch being called.

(if you want to see the data then it's here: http://burningdowntheyard.com/?p=2429 )

Not necessarily a good thing to see that many pitches being thrown.

[LanceRinker]

Not necessarily a good thing to see that many pitches being thrown.

True - but he's talented and already throws 5 pitches.

It's just a matter of whether he's being way overworked with LSU right now or whatever training program he's on allows his body to do what he's doing right now.

Look at what Nolan Ryan has done with the pitching program in the entire Texas Rangers organization.

[JeremyStrain]

Not necessarily a good thing to see that many pitches being thrown.

True - but he's talented and already throws 5 pitches.

It's just a matter of whether he's being way overworked with LSU right now or whatever training program he's on allows his body to do what he's doing right now.

Look at what Nolan Ryan has done with the pitching program in the entire Texas Rangers organization.

I'd just be a little worried that if he's one of those guys that throws DOZENS of pitches trying to get strikeouts, when he faces good hitting in the ML, his pitch counts will get up and he won't be getting out of the 4th/5th, kinda like Matusz now.

Nitpicking...but you kinda have to when the talent is all bunched together like it is this year.

[LanceRinker]

I'd just be a little worried that if he's one of those guys that throws DOZENS of pitches trying to get strikeouts, when he faces good hitting in the ML, his pitch counts will get up and he won't be getting out of the 4th/5th, kinda like Matusz now.

Nitpicking...but you kinda have to when the talent is all bunched together like it is this year.

Very valid point and concern - but he'd likely be best available when we draft and he's one of those players you don't pass up on.

Granted - he may eventually be suited to a bullpen role, but at least he has the "stuff" to become a closer if he can't make it a as a starter.

[JeremyStrain]

I'd just be a little worried that if he's one of those guys that throws DOZENS of pitches trying to get strikeouts, when he faces good hitting in the ML, his pitch counts will get up and he won't be getting out of the 4th/5th, kinda like Matusz now.

Nitpicking...but you kinda have to when the talent is all bunched together like it is this year.

Very valid point and concern - but he'd likely be best available when we draft and he's one of those players you don't pass up on.

Granted - he may eventually be suited to a bullpen role, but at least he has the "stuff" to become a closer if he can't make it a as a starter.

Eh, I don't know what it is for me, I don't even have him in my top 4 (Appel, Giolito, Correa, Stroman) then the college guys & Zunino behind them. I'm the only person I know with Stroman in the top 5 though, most have him 5-10 somewhere, but I've seen the stuff, and I'm a believer.

[LanceRinker]

Eh, I don't know what it is for me, I don't even have him in my top 4 (Appel, Giolito, Correa, Stroman) then the college guys & Zunino behind them. I'm the only person I know with Stroman in the top 5 though, most have him 5-10 somewhere, but I've seen the stuff, and I'm a believer.

Stroman probably does have the best "stuff" among this group but many see him as a closer - not even as a potential starter. Not saying that's how it'll play out or that he won't surprise everyone (but a few of us that is) but that's how many of the proclaimed draft experts view things.

[JeremyStrain]

Eh, I don't know what it is for me, I don't even have him in my top 4 (Appel, Giolito, Correa, Stroman) then the college guys & Zunino behind them. I'm the only person I know with Stroman in the top 5 though, most have him 5-10 somewhere, but I've seen the stuff, and I'm a believer.

Stroman probably does have the best "stuff" among this group but many see him as a closer - not even as a potential starter. Not saying that's how it'll play out or that he won't surprise everyone (but a few of us that is) but that's how many of the proclaimed draft experts view things.

Yeah, I know, it just bothers me because every one of them sees him as a possible closer because of his height. I keep having flash backs to Lincecum dropping for the same reason and thinking let's give him the benefit of the doubt because his STUFF is better than anyone else in the draft.

Sticking my neck out on this one...but got a good hunch.

[LanceRinker]

Yeah, I know, it just bothers me because every one of them sees him as a possible closer because of his height. I keep having flash backs to Lincecum dropping for the same reason and thinking let's give him the benefit of the doubt because his STUFF is better than anyone else in the draft.

Sticking my neck out on this one...but got a good hunch.

I certainly wouldn't mind having him - especially since he could very well fly through the system and be in the bigs within 3 seasons. Thankfully there is a good bit of talent at the top of the draft so it would be pretty difficult for the O's to screw this one up.

Then again - the new CBA may cause many teams to screw up their first draft under the new system/cap.

[JeremyStrain]

Yeah, I know, it just bothers me because every one of them sees him as a possible closer because of his height. I keep having flash backs to Lincecum dropping for the same reason and thinking let's give him the benefit of the doubt because his STUFF is better than anyone else in the draft.

Sticking my neck out on this one...but got a good hunch.

I certainly wouldn't mind having him - especially since he could very well fly through the system and be in the bigs within 3 seasons. Thankfully there is a good bit of talent at the top of the draft so it would be pretty difficult for the O's to screw this one up.

Then again - the new CBA may cause many teams to screw up their first draft under the new system/cap.

I don't know that I'd expect him to FLY through the system. He's far from a Strasburg, and I'm not sure how he's going to do at AA against more advanced hitting, that is always the wild card. I would expect he hits AA within a year, but don't be surprised if it takes some adjustment there and then doesn't see the ML before 2014 at least.

[BSLChrisStoner]

Seems like most of the latest Mocks have Gausman to the O's.

Current thoughts on him?

[RichardZ]

Seems like most of the latest Mocks have Gausman to the O's.

Current thoughts on him?

Not sure. Looks like he comes right over the top and gets a good downward angle on his pitches. Gotta like the the physicality of him and the reports on his stuff. I've read that the changeup is already good so if the breaking stuff is coming along, there's not much not to like. I probably wouldn't be too unhappy with any of the three college pitchers.

[JeremyStrain]

Seems like most of the latest Mocks have Gausman to the O's.

Current thoughts on him?

Not sure. Looks like he comes right over the top and gets a good downward angle on his pitches. Gotta like the the physicality of him and the reports on his stuff. I've read that the changeup is already good so if the breaking stuff is coming along, there's not much not to like. I probably wouldn't be too unhappy with any of the three college pitchers.

I like him ok, I just like a couple other guys more. This draft is weird because 5 guys might have 5 different picks at #4, and none of them would be "wrong" per say. I REALLY like Stroman, so if I'm faced with a choice between the two it'd be really tough for me, but plenty of people would take Gausman over him. Not a lot of talent separation in the top 10.