Quick Looks: Bundy, Harvey, Graveman, Appel, Warren

A couple of changes for Spring Training. I am going to be doing more players, but with less information. Some pitchers I watch will only throw an inning or two. Also, some broadcasts don’t have radar readings. Finally, the camera angles are horrible.

Another change I will be implementing is grading the players on the scouting scales of 20-80. I will Kiley McDaniels scale he discussed in this article.

Grade	Hitter	Starting Pitcher	Relief Pitcher	WAR
80	Top 1-2	#1 Starter	—-	7
75	Top 2-3	#1	—-	6
70	Top 5	#1/2	—-	5
65	All-Star	#2/3	—-	4
60	Plus	#3	High Closer	3
55	Above Avg	#3/4	Mid Closer	2.5
50	Avg Regular	#4	Low CL/High SU	2
45	Platoon/Util	#5	Low Setup	1.5
40	Bench	Swing/Spot SP	Middle RP	1
35	Emergency Call-Up	Emergency Call-Up	Emergency Call-Up	0
30	*Organizational	*Organizational	*Organizational	-1

I will give a value for where I think the pitcher could currently fit in on the average team (CV=current value) and where they could end up (FV=future value). I am sure I will disagree with some grades from others, but I am only looking at one game.

Note: If I say a pitch moves 11-5, it is from the pitcher’s perspective.

 

3/16/15 Orioles vs Phillies

Dylan Bundy (30 CV/55 FV)
• He was horrible. No control and or any decent pitches. He is not close at all to the majors. I based the 55 FV on just this start and I think that I may have been generous. He may have a ton of upside, but he needs to find the strikezone first.
• His fastball was 88-94 mph was generally straight with some possible sink. At 93-94 mph, he had no control of the pitch. He was finally able to throw strikes in the 88-91 mph range.
• He had a loopy 72-73 mph 12-6 curveball.
• He has walked quite a few batters during spring training (13 BB vs 9 K in 15 IP). If you are wondering if it is time to buy in with him, check his MiLB walk rate and see if it has improved.

Hunter Harvey (50 CV/60 FV)
• His fastball is 93-95 mph with some release side run. The pitch movement makes it a plus pitch.
• His 12-6 curve was 78-81 mph
• He may have a 2-seamer with a bit of sink.
• He just seemed afraid/cautious of LHH and issued two walks to them.
• He didn’t show a second breaking ball and the lack of it is why I am not higher on him. Too bad he got hurt, or I think he could have made an impact early this season.

 

3/16/15 A’s vs Dodgers – Horrible camera angle and the no velocities

Kendall Graveman (45 CV/50 FV) – Recent take by our own Owen Watson.
• He used basic ¾ release point.
• He had a two seam-fastball which has a nice sink to it and allows him to generate a good number of groundballs.
• He may have had a four seamer with some release side run. The camera angle made it tough to tell.
• He had a pitch with 12-6 movement and good amount of deception. It was either change or hard curve.
• He is a nibbler. Painfully so. He is just hoping the hitter chase out of the zone. In the 4+ innings of work, he had 1K and 2BB. I don’t know if he has the ability to attack hitters though. I see him a career 5th starter unless he finds a way to strikeout a few more batters.

 

3/16/15 Astros vs Nationals

Mark Appel (45 CV/60 FV)
• His fastball was 92 to 95 mph with some release side run. He lost a bit of velocity from the first inning he threw to the next.
• He also threw a 83-85 mph change which came in high with usually no drop. He had no feel/control for this pitch One sort of looked acceptable.
• Finally he threw a 89-91 mph slider with some glove side break (more of a cutter in my opinion) a couple times.
• He looked like he was told to work on the change and it needs work. It was horrible and he struggled because of it. He was always behind in the count.
• He needs work, so it will be off to the minors. He needs to just throw each pitch consistently, but who knows when that will happen.

 

3/26/15 Rays vs Yankees – Horrible camera angle and no radar gun

Adam Warren (50 CV/55 FV)
• His fastball was straight and quite hittable.
• His slider broke down and was a good swing-and-miss pitch
• His change is a plus pitch with a good 12-6 drop.
• He also threw a curve, but it was tough to tell the difference with bad angle (Eno Sarris did a nice breakdown of his pitches with .gifs here).
• He lives on the edges, but in the zone with his fastball.
• He should be solid against left-handed hitters with the various breaking pitches.
• He may need to pitch backwards without a dominating fastball.
• I like what I have seen, but I am not in love with it. If he can get ahead in the count, his breakers are good and varied enough to get some swing-and-misses. The problem will be getting to two strikes. There is not a ton to love, but the sum may be better than the parts.