Comments on: Collin McHugh Dazzles, Strikes Out 11 In Complete Game Gem

By: OmarFan

OmarFan — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 11:15:39 +0000

You don’t need to throw 95 to be a dominant MLB starter. It’s all about control and movement. Very few pitchers in baseball history have all three working for them.

By: Joe D

Joe D — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 16:42:02 +0000

Diaz knows his stuff and is as knowledgeable at evaluating/scouting than many actual scouts. Just yesterday, someone asked me about the two PTBNL’s we got. I referred his question to Mike. Follow him and Toby on Twitter too, they are both great guys.

By: any

any — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 16:22:06 +0000

yup.. That is what I meant about deciding on burning a 40 man spot. have to figure after this year, some team would snap him up in the rule 5.

By: any

any — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 16:21:05 +0000

good stuff. Thanks.

actually, 89-92 is pretty respectable. Sure it would be nice to breeze in at 95, but with a full set of pitches and good command, that is plenty.

Probably throws as hard as Halladay does at this point (and no, not saying he is going to be Halladay, but just pointing out that 90 is plenty if you use it right!)

By: Donal

Donal — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 16:19:35 +0000

Ya, he’s probably more up to date and in depth than where I checked. I really like his reports.

By: Des

Des — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 15:55:59 +0000

Here is what Michael Diaz just said on August 30:

Over the top delivery. Gets good downward plane with extension to the plate.

Fastball: 89-92 with some glove side run, topping out at 93 once or twice. Commanded it well in, out, up and down. Last year his fastball was mostly 87-90.

Curveball: 71-74. 11-5 break. Slow looping, not hard sharp bite. Plays up a bit due to command. Uses it as a get me over pitch as well as a chase pitch in the dirt.

Slider: 84-86. Best offspeed pitch he throws for me. Gets late bite to it with some depth and tilt. The late bite is the key for hitters not being able to recognize it and square it up. Throws it with confidence. Best swing and miss pitch.

Cutter: 84-86. Very similar to his slider only lacked the downward action. Used it to get in on lefties. Threw a couple of front-door cutters to righties too.

Change-up: 80-81. Did not use the change-up often. Tried to guide it instead of letting the grip do the work for him at times. Had some fade to the glove side.

McHugh made pitching look very simple. He used both sides of the plate.

By: Joe D

Joe D — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 15:28:48 +0000

One thing to keep in mind, and it might explain why the Mets want to see more of him in the AFL, is the fact that McHugh was drafted and signed at age 21, and just completed his fourth pro season with the Mets. That means unless he is added to the 40 Man Roster, they could lose him in the Rule 5 Draft this winter. After the season he just had, he will draw a lot of attention.

By: Donal

Donal — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 15:20:39 +0000

Scouting reports I find say his fastball tops out at about 90 with great location and a change up at about 80 mph with movement. Good strike out rate and induces a lot of ground balls.

Really good command. Probably a long relief/spot starter type.

By: any

any — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 15:17:43 +0000

my guess is they weren’t expecting anything like this, and probably did not figure on needing to burn a 40 man spot, so they want to see if he can keep it up vs. more of an “all star” level of competition.

Certainly does not hurt to have guys like this as organizational depth, or potential for the BP.

heck, not hard to imagine that he could come up and be overall just as effective as big poof right now.

By: Donal

Donal — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 15:12:45 +0000

Wow, he was dealing. I wonder if they sent him to AFL to stretch him out to try and put him on the 40 man. He’s also worked as a reliever a few times.

By: Joe D

Joe D — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 15:03:59 +0000

Thanks Des, I corrected it to read his final start rather than the B-Mets final game of the season.

By: any

any — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 14:47:07 +0000

he does sound like a Gee type. Anyone know how his stuff/arsenal of pitches compares? Just wondering if he has a specific pitch that he lives off of.

By: Des

Des — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 14:35:48 +0000

I listened to the game last night on WNBF-AM over the internet. I picked it up the link on the B-Mets home page. As you said, McHugh is on a tear. He doesn’t have overwhelming stuff, but he has really good command of all his pitches. He is a Dillon Gee kind of pitcher.

It was McHugh’s last regular season game. The B-Mets return home Friday night for the final four home games of this season. They have games on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday against the Reading Phillies.