McCarthy's Debut

[White Sox Josh]

He was very good and the thing that I was really impressed with was his composure. He looked like he was a 10-year MLB pitcher.

[The Tom]

Originally Posted by Randar68

Well, that would be great if McCarthy threw a slider... which he doesn't. Fastball, Curve, and Change. That's it. He adds and subtracts on the fastball and get's a lot of movement inside to righties when he drops it into the 88 mph range...

Do you think McCarthy will need to add another pitch, or does he change speed and movement well enough to be successful with his fastball. Also, how far away is his change and how good is his curve? What is his velocity potential?

[Randar68]

Originally Posted by The Tom

Do you think McCarthy will need to add another pitch, or does he change speed and movement well enough to be successful with his fastball. Also, how far away is his change and how good is his curve? What is his velocity potential?

Nah, I don't think he needs another pitch because of the way he changes speeds, works to both sides of the plate, etc.

The more he continues to use/develop the change the better, IMO.

The 2 best pitches in baseball are a well-located fastball and a change-up. The fact he has his curve as his out pitch in addition to the first 2, he's good to go.

Velocity potential? I don't know, he's added a couple mph to his fastball over the past 3 years, and if he fills out in his mid-20's, he could work up to 95 mph relatively often. As it is now, he works from 87/88 up to about 93 on a regular basis.

[DaleJRFan]

His curve is nasty! he doesn't need a slider. That curve is an out pitch.

[Tragg]

I thought he was great.
Basically threw strikes.
When he got into jams he kept his compusure and trusted his "Stuff" instead of trying to nibble (which for most young pitchers means walking and/or getting behind in counts and lobbing balls over the plate to avoid walking batters).