Spring Scouting: Michael Bowden - 美國職棒

http://projectprospect.com/article/2009/03/27/spring-scouting-michael-bowden


by Adam Foster / March 27, 2009


The following information was gathered from Michael Bowden's March 21st, 2009
start against the Florida Marlins in Jupiter, Florida. I watched the game on
NESN and used their radar gun for velocities.


The Basics:

Fastball...88-90 and touched 92. Average fastball was 89 MPH. Thrown 37 times
out of 59 pitches (62.7%). Both of his strikeouts were with fastballs (Jorge
Cantu twice). Started seven of the 13 batters he faced with fastballs. And the
last pitch he threw to 10 batters was a fastball -- changeup to the other
three. Generated 5 swinging strikes and 1 looking strike; 13 balls. Two of the
three hits he allowed were on fastballs.

Curveball...74-75 very consistently. Average curveball was 75 MPH. Thrown 11
times (18.6%). This pitch didn't come to a snapping finish, but it broke a lot
-- was big and loopy. Generated 0 swinging strikes and 3 looking strikes; 4
balls. No one hit his curve in play.

Changeup...81-82 consistently. Average changeup was 82 MPH. Thrown 9 times
(15.3%). Generated 0 swinging strikes and 2 looking strikes; 3 balls.

Mystery Pitch...64 and 59 MPH. This could have been a radar-gun quirk. I
suppose these pitches also could have been hanging breaking balls that he
didn't get a good grip on.


Overall Opinion:

A flyball pitcher, Bowden struck me as a guy who will need to be sharp every
outing to succeed. But he could be that type of guy. He repeated his mechanics
well. He was able to command the strike zone by locating all his pitches.
Bowden doesn't have one pitch that overwhelms hitters -- hitters weren't able
to do much with his big, loopy curve, though. The pickoff move I saw was
mediocre at best.


Box Score Breakdown:

Bowden's final line was 3.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K (13 batters).

The box score doesn't show the 350+ foot shot Dan Uggla pulled just foul. It
was off a 88 MPH fastball. The balls that did stay fair and land for hits were
a Wes Helms single (89 FB; line drive, up-the-middle), a Jeremy Hermida double
(90 FB; well struck, fly-ball to LF), and another Helms single (82 changeup;
opposite field, ground-ball).

Cameron Maybin drew the Marlins' lone walk against Bowden (88 FB low, 80
changeup inside, 87 FB pulled foul, 88 FB inside, 88 FB inside). He then stole
second.

Bowden hit Mike Rabelo with a 89 MPH fastball in the second inning (1-1 count).

He induced one ground out and five fly outs.


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