A few thoughts from Monday night’s game between the Toledo Mud Hens and Louisville Bats
Edinson Volquez (7 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 3 BB, 6 K)
Edinson Volquez was demoted because he had trouble finding the zone, and in order to find the plate more often, he’s noticeably simplified his delivery to help him repeat his delivery. It’s simply turn, drop arm, drop-and-drive, and throw. As a result, he kept the ball down, except for a rough 6th inning, and he stayed around the plate, with he and Oliver battling a rather stringent ump.
Volquez’s stuff was definitely there. He stayed in the 93-96 range with his fastball, and he backed it up with an 84-86 mph change-up that got some whiffs and groundballs. Volquez also threw a breaking ball in the 77-79 mph range, and after having troubles initially, he righted the ship. Some of them were hit hard early but found gloves, but by the third inning, he commanded them well with improved movement and depth. With his stuff never in question, it’s always been about his control/command.
When the rosters expand in September, it will be interesting to see how Volquez performs back in the majors, but he looked good last night.
Andy Oliver (7.2 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 5 BB, 9 K)
Oliver obviously had a bit more trouble with the zone, which isn’t uncommon with him. His delivery isn’t complex, but he is stiff. Though without using much of his lower body, Oliver gets exceptional velocity with his arm strength and speed. The young lefty takes his arm straight back from his hip toward second base and just whips it through, looking a bit awkward, and you wonder if the stiffness hinders his ability to command his pitches.
If I had to guess, Oliver’s stuff points toward the bullpen. His fastball is fantastic, sitting in the 92-97 range and scraping 99 once. Beginning the game, the fastball sat at 92-94 in the first inning, but he opened it up to 94-97 for the next three before settling into 93-95 for the remainder. Oliver added a few off-speed pitches. His change-up was 84-86, but it wasn’t anything special. When he threw it up in the zone, it got hit hard as it doesn’t move much, but a lot of them seemed to find gloves. Oliver also threw a curve in the upper 70’s, but he noticeably slowed his arm action to throw it. It had significant downward movement, but major-league hitters will just leave it alone. He seemed to throw a sharper one in the low-80s, but he didn’t show it often.
I know the fastball’s sexy, but I don’t see the big deal about Oliver. The fastball could make him a 7th/8th kind of guy, but while he has three other pitches, I don’t know if any of them could get a major-league hitter out. If he doesn’t develop a second above-average pitch (the others strike me as fringe-average), I wouldn’t even trust him in high-leverage situations. It’s kind of a shame considering his ability to maintain his velocity deep into the night.
