Kevin Gausman toed the rubber for the third time this season against the Erie SeaWolves (DET). I was in attendance again for the big and tall righty. If you did not read my Game Scouting Report from 4/12/13, I would encourage doing so before going any further.
On this night, Gausman had command issues. The stat-line is ugly, but there are many things we can take from this outing. His overall arsenal was solid as usual, with his fastball showing life, his change showing great depth and offsetting the fastball, and the slider proving to be a useful tool against right handed hitters.
However, he really struggled with his four-seam and two-seam fastball command in the early innings. He was not able to locate it well, and the Erie offense was able to take advantage of this. The first two innings were rough, as he was leaving his fastball up in the zone. Erie hitters were sitting on it and driving the ball. As noted below, he was primarily throwing the fastball in the first inning, and Erie was clearly prepared for this. He gave up a HR on a pitch down the middle. I have circled this in red below.
In the latter innings, Gausman was able to adjust and settle down. His change and slider were used more often from the third to sixth inning, and both proved to be plus tonight. This is important to note, as Gausman really could not find a release point on the fastball at times.
His change continues to impress me to start the season, and there was actually a batter in which he threw three straight changes to for a strikeout. He keeps it low in the zone at all times, and batters in the minors just do not pick it up. Manager Gary Kendall was quick to notice that his fastball command was off tonight, and I have to give credit to Gausman, Kendall, and Catcher Luis Rodriguez for making the correct adjustments.
Once again, it is impossible to not love the poise and aggressiveness of Gausman. He was in quite a few pressure situations tonight and kept himself in the game. It felt like he had thrown about 150 pitches by the sixth inning, yet he still was hanging in there and pitching better as the game went on.
Overall, this was a great game for the LSU alumni. Games like these are how a young pitcher can truly learn how to iron out all kinks in the minors. Sometimes success is found in struggles, and Gausman clearly demonstrated that he is capable of bouncing back after a rough start. It is important to note that he may not have that luxury in a MLB game, so command is still the one thing that we need to look at when it comes to Gausman. Oddly enough, he did not walk one batter the entire night. Fairly impressive for not having much command of his main pitch.
FB: 94-96 mph and touched 97. His 2S was 90-94 with good life and movement, but he really struggled with command on the 2S especially.
CH: 81-85 mph with good depth and located at the lower end of the zone.
SL: 82-87 with good tilt. Very crisp tonight, threw it mainly against RHH.
1st Inning: 23 pitches ( 20 FB, 1 CH, 2 SL)
2nd Inning: 11 pitches ( 6 FB, 2 CH, 3 SL)
3rd Inning: 15 pitches ( 9 FB, 4 CH, 2 SL)
4th Inning: 17 pitches ( 7 FB, 5 CH, 5 SL)
5th Inning: 14 pitches ( 7 FB, 5 CH, 2 SL)
6th Inning: 13 pitches ( 8 FB, 4 CH, 1 SL)
Total: 93 pitches, 66 strikes, 57 FB, 21 CH, 15 SL
Key Stats: 2 WP, 1 HBP, 0 BB
Final Line: 6.0 IP, 10 H, 6 R, 5 ER, 0 BB, 5 K, 1 HR allowed.
Tucker Blair was born and raised in the Baltimore area and currently lives in Elkridge, Maryland. He graduated from York College of Pennsylvania with a B.S in Entrepreneurial Studies and is currently a Project Analyst for a Management Consulting Firm in Federal Hill, Baltimore. Tucker was previously the Managing Editor at Orioles Nation, where he worked on prospect lists, reports, and analysis on the Orioles minor league system. He also previously wrote his personal blog, The EntreprenOriole.