Bmac dominates again!

[California Sox]

Originally Posted by Randar68

After seeing him in hist start before this one, I said he could pitch in Chicago to start next year. Will it happen, probably not. But after watching Grilli and Kohlmeier in Charlotte, I have no doubts in my mind after a couple starts to adjust, he could be pitching very well in AAA right now.

I thought I was about as excited about Bmac as I could be, but reading this from someone who's seen him and who's opinion I respect, has got me almost giddy. I'm a big believer in the old saw "the good ones come fast." And think about the pitchers who've actually been any good for us, most of them roared through the minors: Fernandez, McDowell, Parque, Buerhle. True, two of those guys were college guys and Alex and Buerhle both had two years of college/Juco before coming into the system, but Bmac will turn 22 in 2005. It's not altogether unreasonable to think he'll be up at some point whether he starts at Birmingham or they push him to Charlotte. And he'll be on the forty man, so, who knows, maybe he'll wow them in the spring.

[NC_sox_fan]

Let's hope that Kenny doesn't trade him for Carl Everett next year

[Randar68]

Originally Posted by California Sox

I thought I was about as excited about Bmac as I could be, but reading this from someone who's seen him and who's opinion I respect, has got me almost giddy. I'm a big believer in the old saw "the good ones come fast." And think about the pitchers who've actually been any good for us, most of them roared through the minors: Fernandez, McDowell, Parque, Buerhle. True, two of those guys were college guys and Alex and Buerhle both had two years of college/Juco before coming into the system, but Bmac will turn 22 in 2005. It's not altogether unreasonable to think he'll be up at some point whether he starts at Birmingham or they push him to Charlotte. And he'll be on the forty man, so, who knows, maybe he'll wow them in the spring.

If he can continue to improve the change-up especially, he's going to be hard to send back to the minors in Spring Training, IMO.

[SpringfldFan]

Originally Posted by Gimm

He doesn't have (healthy) Prior's velocity or Prior's curveball.

But he has every bit as good a control as jesus. And before it's all said and done, he might not be far behind in the velocity and breaking ball department, either.

Plus, his change-up is a weapon Calfzilla doesn't have.

Lol I don't mean to suggest he is the next Prior, but his gaudy stats just reminded me of my impressions of Prior when he first started in 2002. I didn't have specific numbers when I commented, but I looked some of them up:

In 2002, Prior had a 2.30 ERA and gave up about a hit every 2 innings, comparable to B-Mac, at least in W-S. Prior averaged 14 K/9 IP (!) while B-Mac is around 11+ if I recall. And for all the emphasis on Prior's control, In the minors he averaged 4.4 K's/BB compared to Mac's 20 Ks/BB (!!). Of course you have to grant that Prior only pitched 51 innings in the minors, so you can't read a whole lot into the comparisons.

[Randar68]

Originally Posted by SpringfldFan

Lol I don't mean to suggest he is the next Prior, but his gaudy stats just reminded me of my impressions of Prior when he first started in 2002. I didn't have specific numbers when I commented, but I looked some of them up:

In 2002, Prior had a 2.30 ERA and gave up about a hit every 2 innings, comparable to B-Mac, at least in W-S. Prior averaged 14 K/9 IP (!) while B-Mac is around 11+ if I recall. And for all the emphasis on Prior's control, In the minors he averaged 4.4 K's/BB compared to Mac's 20 Ks/BB (!!). Of course you have to grant that Prior only pitched 51 innings in the minors, so you can't read a whole lot into them.

When you're a tall RHP who has pinpoint control of 2 plus-pitches, a good pitching mentality and approach, and have 2 other secondary pitches that you're still developing that most pitchers would call out-pitches, you're going to be compared to a lot of players.

PS. Gimm, have you witnessed McCarthy's curve? Very sharp bite and he has identical arm-angle as his fastball. If you haven't, I wouldn't make many comments on it unless you've seen it first-hand.