Rattler rotation, A Scout's View

Jason Churchill over at Prospect Insider gives the people what they want

I apologize for this taking so long to get out. I know a lot of you have been asking about Michael Pineda, and the other three young starters in Wisconsin, too.

There are links to the pieces on Phillippe Aumont and Juan Ramirez at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer at the top of the post. Then, there is a bit on Michael Pineda:

Through games of May 19, Pineda is 3-1 with a 0.78 ERA in eight games, five starts. He’s struck out 28 batters and walked just nine in 34 2/3 innings. The right-hander has yielded just 26 hits - just eight for extra bases.

So how’s he doing it and what’s he doing it with?

Pineda uses a four-seam fastball in the 90-92 mph range, and can dial it up to 93-94 at times. He’ll mix in a sinking two-seamer, a pitch he’s still learning, but has shown a good feel for a change that is currently below average but has a lot of promise.

Here is what one American League West scout had to say after watching Pineda’s May 14 start at home versus Burlington.

“That’s a good-looking arm right there. The Mariners ought to be ashamed of themselves with how much success they have in the Dominican and Venezuela and other South American countries. This kid was in charge the entire night. He was mostly fastball-slider, but he spotted a good 90-92 mph four-seamer and I saw some pretty good action on a lot of them.

Then, his ratings on the 20-80 scale. Higher is better.

Adcock is also commented upon by the scout:

Nathan Adcock and Brandon Morrow are what’s left of the Mariners’ 2006 draft that graded out very high, despite Morrow being mishandled let alone overdrafted. Adcock was the club’s fourth-rounder that year behind Morrow, Chris Tillman and Tony Butler, and might have a future in the M’s starting rotation.

Adcock isn’t overpowering, but does touch the low-90s with his fastball, and is also learning to sink the pitch. His breaking ball is a knuckle curve that typically comes in around 76-80 mph and he uses a circle changeup.

The 6-5 right-hander’s arsenal is above-average and reminds one scout of a current emerging star.

“He doesn’t have quite the command, but physically he reminds me of Dan Haren when he was at Pepperdine. Tall, a little bit lanky, but with good tight mechanics and a good feel for pitching at 20 years old. Adcock has something going, I think it’s impossible to not like what you see.”

The 20/80 scale is included for the Kentuckian as well.

The commenters brought up some questions about Edward Paredes. I have a feeling he may be getting a post of his own later in the season.