OremLK brought up a good question last night when we were discussing Jarred Cosart in the post-game thread.
Would you be in favor of bailing on him now and getting value back while we still can?
That's a tough question to answer, and really not a simple one at that. I think for the right return, any player is really on the table. So, in that sense, I do think so. As far as seeking to trade him, I'm not sure if we have hit that point in his development. The unfortunate part is that if we do hit that point in his development, it's probably too late to get value. It's a tough question.
What brought this up was that I commented that I don't see a big improvement coming in his control/command because of his mechanics. Now, most of ya'll have probably guessed that in terms of evaluation with scouting vs. statistics, I lean a little towards scouting some on the bigger prospects, mostly because we have enough video to attempt to draw conclusions. The others, I'll use statistics, because it's all I have. Then, most of you know, I'm really big on pitcher mechanics.
Stuff wise, a scout has to love his stuff. Mechanics wise, an old-school scout didn't care. Look at the pitchers back in the day when they through ridiculous amounts of pitches with terrible mechanics and nobody cared. Pitchers were tough. Now, they fragile and mechanics matter. Modern day scouts cringe with Cosart when they see mechanics.
Control/command is about repeating the exact same mechanics and having a great feel and timing for your release point. Afterall, you're arm is moving very fast and you have a small window to release it in order to get the ball to go where you want. The faster you're arm goes, the harder it is to consistently get that window. The more varied your mechanics, the harder it is to find that spot. Both of these issues are hindering Cosart.
Cosart does the inverted W which brings his elbow back and higher than it should which allows for his elbow to have a longer excursion path in which it can accelerate to the release point. Great for velocity, bad for control. He gets great arm speed because of it, but it's difficult to get a feel for a release point. The other issue is that because his mechanics push his shoulder to end of his range of motion every time, he puts the muscles on the front side of his shoulder on stretch which activates what is called the stretch-reflex. Exactly what you want in powerful movements, like jumping, but not what you want in a controlled movement. You do want some stretch-reflex, but not a full forcefull one, which is what Cosart gets. That stretch-reflex causes all those muscles on the front side to fire quickly and accelerate his arm forward at a high speed, but also at varying rates and angles, because it's not a controlled reflex. This aids in arm speed and the varying mechanics. This makes his control/command more difficult.
Hard to say you'd seek a trade for him and try to get value right now, because it could bite you in the but hard if he is able to master his mechanics. That's why his ceiling is so high. But, he could never develop enough to be a starter. I think his mechanics and control/command improve some, because he is young and experience helps those factors a lot. Plus, pitchers take a long time to develop. But, I just don't see a big improvement that many are hoping for. So, would you trade him in a package for a big haul? What kind of package would you put together? What would you have to see in return to even include Cosart? Would you consider trading him at all?
Oklahoma City RedHawks won 10-6
- Sergio Perez-3 2/3 IP, 2 H, 1 R< 1 ER, 5 BB, 2 SO, 2/4 Go/AO, 77 pitches
- Adalberto Flores-2 1/3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 0 SO
- Jonnathan Aristil-1 1/3 IP, 3 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 2 BB, 2 SO, 1 HR-Thats bad
- Enerio Del Rosario-1 2/3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 SO
- Brandon Barnes CF-3-5, 2B, HR, SO-Great start to 2nd stint in AAA (6 games in 2010 doesn't count)
- Jimmy Paredes 2B-3-5, 2B
- Scott Moore 3B-4-4, 2B, BB, SB
Corpus Christi Hooks lost 4-3
- Jarred Cosart-6 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 2 SO, 12/2 GO/AO, 107 pitches GS: 47
- Arcenio Leon-2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO
- Carlos Lee DH-1-3, HR
- Jair Fernandez 3B-2-3, 2B
Lancaster JetHawks won 12-8
- Ruben Alaniz-4 IP, 11 H, 8 R, 8 ER, 2 BB, 5 SO, 3 HR, 2/2 Go/AO-Not the way to spend your birthday GS: 11
- Brian Streilein-2 2/3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO
- Pat Urckfitz-1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO, 3/0 GO/AO
- Andrew Robinson- 1 1/3 IP, 1 H, 0 R,1 BB, 1 SO, 2/1 GO/AO
- Alex Todd SS-3-4, 2B, HR, BB, SO
- George Springer CF-3-4, 2 HR, BB-Great job breaking out of a slump
- Domingo Santana RF-1-5, 2B, SO
- Telvin Nash LF-0-2, 3 .....Shakes head.....BB?, 1 SO
- Jonathan Meyer 3B-2-5, HR, SO
- Ben Heath DH, C-2-5
- Enrique Hernandez 2B-2-5, 2B, HR (inside the park)
- Rene Garcia-2-4, SO
Lexington Legends lost 5-4
- Luis Ordosgoitti-6 IP, 9 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 4 SO, 1 HR, 7/4 GO/AO GS: 41
- Blake Ford-1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO
- Zachary Johnson 1B-1-4, 2B, SO
- Matt Duffy 3B-1-4, HR
- Jesse Wierzbicki DH-2-4, 2B, SO
- Justin Gominsky RF-2-4, SO
DSL Astros won 6-4
- Edwin Villaroel-7 2/3 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 3 SO, 15/1 GO/AO GS: 57
- Elieser Hernandez-1 1/3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO
- Luis Reynoso S-0-5, 3 SO
- Randy Cesar 3B-2-4, 2B
- Brauly Mejia LF-2-4, 3B, SO, CS, PO
- Brian Pena C-2-3, BB