Welcome to Big League Camp, Chris Withrow
by Eric Stephen on Mar 14, 2010 3:53 PM PDT
in Dodgers Game Recaps
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Today's Dodgers 6-4 win over the Rangers at Camelback Ranch had it's moments, notably a booming Matt Kemp home run and three solid innings from Hiroki Kuroda, allowing just two unearned runs in his second start of the spring. But the star of the day was Chris Withrow, making his first career appearance in big league camp.
Withrow, who was voted by True Blue LA readers as the top Dodger prospect this winter, entered the game in the eighth inning, and proceeded to record all three outs via strikeout. Mitch Moreland, Kevin Richardson, and Max Ramirez all went down swinging against the fire-balling right-hander. "The kid's got a good arm," said manager Don Mattingly, "you like to see that." The only runner allowed by Withrow was a bad-grip curve ball that hit Chad "son of Jim" Tracy.
The youthful infusion inspired by Withrow extended to the offense, as fellow minor leaguer Brian Cavazos-Galvez crushed a home run over the bullpen in left field to start the bottom of the eighth.
Speaking of youth, Charley Steiner mentioned during the Prime Ticket broadcast that fellow highly-regarded pitching prospect Ethan Martin would likely pitch an inning on Monday in Tempe against the Angels.
Garret Anderson made his Dodger debut at designated hitter, collecting a hit in his three at-bats as the designated hitter. "I wanted to get him an extra at bat today so that why he was the DH," said Mattingly, "Garret looked OK. We're just getting him going. We'll talk to him in the morning about playing the field tomorrow. "
Regarding the battle for the second base job, Jim Bowden of XM and Fox Sports tweeted this (hat tip to Tripon for the link):
Larry Bowa told me that Blake DeWitt is in lead for Dodgers 2B opening
The Dodger plane from Taiwan is scheduled to touch down in Phoenix at roughly 5:45pm. Joe Torre is expected in camp tomorrow, but Mattingly said he wasn't sure if he or Torre would manage the next few games.
UPDATE: Rangers' pitcher Michael Kirkman, who was hit in the face by a grounder late in the game, narrowly avoided serious injury. From Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram:
Left-hander Michael Kirkman was grazed in the left ear by a one-hopper hit back at him in the seventh inning and is OK. But both pitching coach Mike Maddux and trainer Jamie Reed said Kirkman was one inch from a "disaster."
Kirkman went down as the ball bounded into right field, but he was back on his feet before the play had ended.
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JimBowdenXMFOX
Bruce Bochy told me Bumgarner did not come into camp in shape, unlikely to make team out of camp at this point 2 minutes ago via Tweetie
So a 20-year old likely won’t make the big club.
Film at 11
by Eric Stephen on Mar 14, 2010 3:56 PM PDT up reply actions
Underdog called Bumgarner
overrated late last season I believe. I’ll have to go back and look but he definitely said it.
In other news, I have multiple personality disorder.
There's no need to fear, Underdog is here! / Broncos/Dodgers/Lakers fan in Niners/Raiders/Giants/Warriors country, and damned proud of it.
1 of us is always right
No he’s not!
Shut up, let him talk!
There's no need to fear, Underdog is here! / Broncos/Dodgers/Lakers fan in Niners/Raiders/Giants/Warriors country, and damned proud of it.
by underdog on Mar 14, 2010 4:53 PM PDT up reply actions 1 recs
It's an excuse
His velocity was down at the end of last year and there have been concerns about his health forever. They are just hoping some AAA time building up strength gets him throwing 95 again instead of 89.
by Chad Moriyama on Mar 14, 2010 8:49 PM PDT up reply actions
or another possibility is that he was never throwing 95 and he was really always in the low 90s
So he has lost 5MPH(which still isnt good) instead of 10
by lakersdodgersyankees4life on Mar 14, 2010 9:47 PM PDT up reply actions
What evidence of that is there?
I don’t think every scout was lying.
by Chad Moriyama on Mar 14, 2010 9:54 PM PDT up reply actions
not saying that it's true or there is any evidence.
it is just very strange that he would that much velocity when there is no injury. One possible explanation could be that he was never at 95…
by lakersdodgersyankees4life on Mar 14, 2010 10:01 PM PDT up reply actions
Is it really that odd?
Prospects can fluctuate in velocity and it could be an indication of arm fatigue or hidden injury in the first place.
by Chad Moriyama on Mar 14, 2010 10:31 PM PDT up reply actions
To go almost a year and still not regain the velocity
yea, that’s odd. I have seen comments on minorleagueball.com that said he was mid 80s as early as May of last year! It’s mid-March, and he is throwing 85… And if there is no injury, this is even worse…
The arm fatigue should be all but ruled out because he had the whole offseason to deal with it, and he came back in the mid 80s..
Something is wrong.. really wrong.
by lakersdodgersyankees4life on Mar 15, 2010 4:56 PM PDT up reply actions
Correction
In last night’s Taiwan game recap, I wrote that Xavier Paul left the game with a “broken” nose. I meant to type “bloody” nose, and it has now been corrected. Sorry for the error.
Withrow Debut
I think I’ll go pitch-by-pitch as if I were watching this LIVE:
First thing I noticed is that Withrow comes from the Nolan Ryan/Chad Billingsley school of looking down before delivering each pitch. It’s a crisp, drop-and-drive delivery that I absolutely love.
1:[/b]First ball went into the dirt (probably overthrown). Next was a fastball that [i]just[/i] caught the edge of the strike zone on the outside corner. Could have been called a ball but hey. Third pitch was a WICKED 11-5 curve (beautiful shape) again on the corner for a strike. Super pitch! Now a heater that was left up and fouled away. STRIKE 3 FASTBALL SWINGING. Withrow was living on the corner during this AB very effectively. I’d estimate he was in the 95-96 mph range.
2:[/b]Wow, that curveball REALLY got away from Withrow there. As Eric mentioned earlier, he obviously lost the grip on it.
3:[/b]Again, Withrow working away from hitters with a fastball up and out of the zone. Another fastball, this one with late movement inside for a strike. If he keeps the ball down, he’ll be extremely tough, especially on RHH. From the stretch, he uses a slide step similar to Kershaw and seems to check down the runner pretty good. Fastball up for a ball. Ooh, next fastball has almost BELISARIO-LIKE movement but it’s too far inside. Now a perfectly placed LASER on the outside for a swinging strike. THEN ANOTHER ONE FOR A SWINGING K. This guy was totally overmatched.
4:[/b]Ever since that curve got away, he’s been PURE HEAT. This one was inside. Paints the corner on the next pitch, maybe took a little bit off. WHOA, that was either a nasty SLIDER or Max Ramirez just swung at a fastball with some major league tailing action. Power curve gets away from Ellis allowing the runner to advance to 2nd. HOLY SHIT WHAT A FASTBALL TO K RAMIREZ. That HAD to be upper 90s. No freaking chance.
This. Was. Awesome.
by silverwidow on Mar 14, 2010 4:53 PM PDT reply actions 7 recs
Rec'd
Thanks, Silverwidow…beautiful recap.
by Eric Stephen on Mar 14, 2010 4:57 PM PDT up reply actions
If this comment doesn’t go green, I quit.
by Eric Stephen on Mar 14, 2010 5:07 PM PDT up reply actions
LOL
now that’s what I call a scouting report
by hirambocachica on Mar 14, 2010 5:17 PM PDT up reply actions
Approach with a grain of salt, but nice feature on Rafael Furcal by Tom Singer of MLB.com:
Now … “I’m not afraid about my body,” he said. “I feel healthy. The spring is back in my legs. Everything feels better.”
For Footie fans
David Beckham tore his Achillies tendon today out for the World Cup. Bummer for him. Makes it easy on Capello not having to drag him to SA with the team. Not sure he could get on the field at his age.
Monday's game
Scheduled pitchers for Angels:
Scott Kazmir, Sean O’Sullivan, Fernando Rodney, Kevin Jepsen
Adrian Gonzalez
Gonzalez is really happy with the Padres offseason “repositioning,” according to an interview he did on Friday with XTRA 1360 in San Diego. "I just think having people on base is going to help," Gonzalez said. “We’ve got guys that hopefully as a group will have a collective .330 on base percentage or so. So we’ll be on base quite a bit hopefully and that should create some RBI opportunities and opportunities for me to see pitches.”
Nice to see a player refer to OB. Doesn’t happen often, even today.
Patience is for those who die waiting for something to happen
It would be even nicer if he set his sights a little higher. Maybe the guys last year were even worse, but a .330 OBP isn’t exactly what you want out of your top-of-the-order guys.
by overkill94DT on Mar 14, 2010 9:05 PM PDT up reply actions
I just logged in and started reading the post; got half way through and had one and only one thought: silverwidow had some seriously painful, cat can’t scratch it, can break a window, can pound a 6 penny nail wood on Withrow’s performance. Man, I bet the EMT’s are still at his house trying to figure this stuff out.
by KellyStephen on Mar 14, 2010 7:58 PM PDT reply actions 1 recs
Whoring my Prospect Profile of him. :o
http://www.memoriesofkevinmalone.com/2010/02/prospect-profiles-2010-chris-withrow.html
His uncle e-mailed me about the post as well, and explained to him what I meant by the poor front side mechanics, so hopefully that gets communicated to him somehow.
Hopeful.
:D
Chad Moriyama – Dodgers scout to the stars.
“Oh yeah, I fixed my mechanics because some guy on the internet told me about it.”
It’s true, because I found it on the Internet.
by Chad Moriyama on Mar 14, 2010 9:56 PM PDT up reply actions
Which pitchers on this year’s Top 100 Prospects list do you consider to have true No. 1 starter potential?
Richard Gauger
Marshfield, Mass.
I’m stingy when it comes to anointing prospects as potential No. 1 starters. I want to see one dynamic pitch, at least one plus pitch to go with plus command and plus makeup—and even then I err on the side of caution. That’s why there are only six pitchers whom I would stamp as having legitimate No. 1 starter potential: Stephen Strasburg (No. 2), Brian Matusz (No. 5), Neftali Feliz (No. 9), Martin Perez (No. 17), Tyler Matzek (No. 23) and Jacob Turner (No. 26).
There are five pitchers who ranked in the Top 25 whom I can’t quite see as No. 1 starters yet. Madison Bumgarner’s (No. 14) fastball continues to sit in the high 80s this spring, and that’s a red flag. Jeremy Hellickson (No. 18) and Casey Kelly (No. 24) are very polished but don’t have an overwhelming out pitch, while the reverse is true of Aroldis Chapman (No. 22). Kyle Drabek (No. 25) is close, but I’d like to see better fastball velocity and more command.
Behind those two groups are a half-dozen pitchers who could make the jump to No. 1 status. Jarrod Parker (No. 36) was there before injuring his elbow, and he’ll miss all of 2010 following Tommy John surgery. Matt Moore (No. 35), Casey Crosby (No. 47), Chris Withrow (No. 48), Zack Wheeler (No. 49) and Shelby Miller (No. 50) need more consistency with their secondary pitches and improved command.
http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/ask-ba/2010/269653.html
Isn't that the point of upside?
If all they need is consistency and improved command, then isn’t their upside already as #1 starters? That’s the point of ceiling ratings isn’t it?
I could understand if he said “well a couple in this group need to develop an effective third pitch before I put them at #1 starter types”, but the consistency thing goes for pretty much every prospect, I figure.
by Chad Moriyama on Mar 14, 2010 9:58 PM PDT up reply actions
Thanks to Kensai/Chad
This is basically what Withrow was today… a boss
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NisCkxU544c&feature=player_embedded
by lakersdodgersyankees4life on Mar 14, 2010 9:46 PM PDT reply actions
DANMBNNNNNNNNNNNN!
I MISSED IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
I wanna see a withrowwwwwwwwwwwwww fastball curve K DAMN.. im pissed
by matthewmafa on Mar 14, 2010 10:03 PM PDT up reply actions
Too bad. It was the greatest spring debut since Kershaw in 2008.
by silverwidow on Mar 14, 2010 10:05 PM PDT up reply actions
any words on his velicity readings??
cause your recap on him indicates A lot of swing and misses on his fastrball….
and a lot of movement….
i am damn excited
by matthewmafa on Mar 14, 2010 10:06 PM PDT up reply actions
Mid-to-upper 90s. This is just based on how slow their bats were. They could not catch up to anything.
by silverwidow on Mar 14, 2010 10:07 PM PDT up reply actions
no gun
pretty clear he throws hard :o
by Chad Moriyama on Mar 14, 2010 10:29 PM PDT up reply actions
no gun?
Chris (Have Arm) Wi(ll)throw.
by Bob Hendley on Mar 14, 2010 11:21 PM PDT up reply actions 1 recs
They are replaying it twice later in the night.
Record it? :o
by Chad Moriyama on Mar 14, 2010 10:00 PM PDT up reply actions
Fox Sports edits out innings in order to shove in more infomercials about how much you need credit card debt relief. If they cut out the 8th inning, I will be a sad panda.
OMG
they beter not cut it out!
thats the only inning i wanna see and the kemp homer..
by matthewmafa on Mar 14, 2010 10:04 PM PDT up reply actions
Some quick advice.
Trying to be a teacher is so much damn work. If I knew it entailed this much, I wouldn’t have gone in and instead try to find a regular job and sleeping on my parents couch.
I don't get prime tix.
So maybe I can see him pitch on YouTube.
by Skunkburner on Mar 14, 2010 10:39 PM PDT via mobile reply actions
i used to not get prime ticket either...
but i could not stand only watching the dodgers every 4 nights or so… so i called up the tv company and demanded i get prime ticket so i can watch dodger baseball… and i got prime ticket
by matthewmafa on Mar 15, 2010 12:01 AM PDT up reply actions
How Many Innings
could we expect? He threw 113 last year after basically nothing the previous two.
by Bob Hendley on Mar 14, 2010 11:28 PM PDT up reply actions
Ellis on Withrow's performance
“He is special,‘’ Ellis said. "I got a chance to catch him in L.A. during the winter workouts, and I knew right away that he was special. That’s just a different kind of baseball coming out of his hand from what everybody else throws, and he seems like a good kid with a good work ethic.’’
http://sports.espn.go.com/los-angeles/mlb/news/story?id=4995053
By ‘everyone else’, I wonder if Ellis is including Kershaw??
by silverwidow on Mar 14, 2010 11:47 PM PDT up reply actions
kershaw is a wihle different story...
withrow is in no way better then kershaw yet..
by matthewmafa on Mar 15, 2010 12:02 AM PDT up reply actions
Not "Better," But...
Withrow’s pitching coach last year, Charlie Hough, did say that Withrow has the best arm he has seen in the last ten years. Has Hough not seen Kershaw’s arm? Of course he has. There’s more to pitching than just drilling the fastball into the catcher’s mitt, but it may be that when it comes to drilling the fastball into the catcher’s mitt, Withrow is even better than Kershaw in that particular area.
yea
im pissed…
and then when i put the channel back on prime ticket… i missed galezs home run… DAMN i stayed up for nothing
that truly sucked!!!
I forgot to set the tivo before I went skiing with my daughter, when I got back home and read the game thread I setup the record and this morning went to watch and they cut out the top half of every inning from at least the 6th till the 9th. That is UFB. Who the hell decides that? they showed Guerra pitch the ninth, nothing against him but we had a number 1 pick in 2007 going for the first time with the big club and they skip it to show a 7th rounder for 2004!!! Yea I know it is the 9th and closes out the game so they are going to show it, but come on, cut something else out maybe allthat stupid banter between Stiener and Monday about a stupid trade idea between 2 clubs not playing in the game we are watching!!!
To top that off, my daughter now has a cough and sore throat after skiing yesterday, guess I should have stayed home and watched the game live and I would be in a better place this morning.
by MammothDodger on Mar 15, 2010 8:30 AM PDT up reply actions
Withrow
Silverwidow said it all. That fastball looks special. Even with no gun, he had to be mid 90s and probably hit upper 90s with that last swinging K. I’m no pitching coach, but he seems to have a good, clean, relatively compact delivery. Let’s not rush the kid. Let him grow into himself at AA this year, and next year he’ll be officially in the mix. Trying to think of a big league comp—Tommy Hanson, anyone?
Only two Withrow comments from SB Nation Rangers blog yesterday
Withrow (?) has a good FB.
ooo
That curve ball was "infermo."
No Annotation
from BA on Withrow in their Prospect Report, but they do list his inning of work. A star is born.
Credit to Tripon
Ever since I became aware of Tripon years ago at BTF I have been impressed with the breadth and timeliness of the links he provides. Finding a BA march 15th article on the 14th doesn’t surprise me. Good job. I take it that was Jim Callis and it says something about Madison B. and Withrow, all good from a Dodger standpoint.
New story up
George Sherrill prediction time
http://www.truebluela.com/2010/3/15/1370911/2010-player-profile-george
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