McNutt's Change Up Coming Along.

by cubsfan1 on Apr 26, 2011 6:17 AM CDT

BA did an article on Trey McNutt but it's pay to see but figured I could give the community the highlight's. It's a very encouraging piece in that McNutt is becoming a more complete pitcher. Nothing new with the article saying he ran his four seam FB to the mid 90's. Also showed an at times 'lively" two seam FB. Left some pitches up in the zone which was a concern coming into the year.

It seem's McNutt has 2 beaking pitches (CB and SL). The CB get's called a SL sometimes because it has 2 plane break but say's both pitches are distintly different. It does go on to say that niether is a true wipeout pitch (like I had thought) but are still swing and miss pitches.

The best part of the article though, is that he is showing a very promising CU. Still being used sparingly it has nice sink and 8-10 mph difference from his FB. He used it to strike out a ML hitter (Fred Lewis who was on rehab assignment). McNutt said it's now his favorite pitch.

So real good news here as some were projecting McNutt as potentially a late inning power arm out oif the bullpen. The thing that I will be watching closely is how long he goes into games this year. While he put up an outstanding season last year his average outing was only 4 2/3 innings. Some of that could be contributed to leaving a couple outings early but he did put on 15 pounds so hopefuly that bodes well for his stamina. McNutt will be the most closely monitored Cub farmhand by me. I'm really hoping scoutingthesally.com will get a chance to see him in Tennesssee this year.

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of SB Nation or Al Yellon, managing editor (unless it's a FanPost posted by Al). FanPost opinions are valued expressions of opinion by passionate and knowledgeable baseball fans.

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Scouting the Sally

“The Sally” is a nickname for the Southern Atlantic League, which is the equivalent of the Midwest League, where the Peoria Chiefs play. I’m pretty sure Newman only watches the games in that particular league.

by RynoRooter on Apr 26, 2011 8:25 AM CDT reply actions

IIRC

from time to time, he has gone to AA games in the general region, Tennessee included. He said recently on twitter that he’s currently limited to just a few SAL ballparks near Atlanta, though

by PrincetonCubs on Apr 26, 2011 10:28 AM CDT up reply actions

Tennessee

When i spoke to Mike on FB he said he was gonna try and get to see the Smokies play and also said that he may also get to Daytona if possible. In past years he’s scouted Mike Stanton and Logan Morrison in AA as well as some others. He does other stuff outside of the “Sally” but that is where he does do most of his work.

scoutingthesally.com scouting service $17.95. Very cool service check it out.

by cubsfan1 on Apr 26, 2011 11:17 AM CDT up reply actions

RE

He’s also doing college daft prospects in his area such as Danny Hultzen, Jed Bradley, and others. You should check out the site.

BTW thanks for trying to explain levels and leagues for the minors…LOL little sarcasm but all in fun..

scoutingthesally.com scouting service $17.95. Very cool service check it out.

by cubsfan1 on Apr 26, 2011 11:20 AM CDT up reply actions

I summarized this article

in the comments of the Minor Leauge Wrap on Sunday.

by Josh Timmers on Apr 26, 2011 10:47 AM CDT reply actions

Must have missed it.

scoutingthesally.com scouting service $17.95. Very cool service check it out.

by cubsfan1 on Apr 26, 2011 11:20 AM CDT up reply actions

YEah

I was on early in the morning didn’t see you posted this later on.

scoutingthesally.com scouting service $17.95. Very cool service check it out.

by cubsfan1 on Apr 26, 2011 11:23 AM CDT up reply actions

It's OK

Just don’t want anyone to think I’m falling asleep on the job.

by Josh Timmers on Apr 26, 2011 11:43 AM CDT up reply actions

Josh..

we have thought that for years…why do you think we have Tim, Roto, and Cubsfan picking up the slack…HA

by hansman1982 on Apr 26, 2011 11:48 AM CDT up reply actions

There goes my raise

Al had promised to double my salary. Maybe even triple it!

by Josh Timmers on Apr 26, 2011 11:55 AM CDT up reply actions

I'll quadruple it!

Check out Chicago sports coverage at SB Nation Chicago

by Al Yellon on Apr 26, 2011 12:12 PM CDT up reply actions

oooo

can we get a Quintuple?

by hansman1982 on Apr 26, 2011 5:09 PM CDT up reply actions

As long as you keep up the minor league recaps....

we’re all good. ; )

It’s great to be able to discuss minor league prospects with other Cubs fans that follow them. I try to do it with some of my buddies, and they just give me, “Jae-Hoon Who? Talk to me again when he’s ready for the bigs.”

by RynoRooter on Apr 26, 2011 2:24 PM CDT up reply actions

Ben Badler

was at all the Smokies games at Carolina last week, and now he’s got a big article up ($) on Brett Jackson, Vitters, Flaherty, Dolis and Cabrera.

I can do a bigger summary later, but he loves Jackson and Jackson says his swing has changed from his college days. He’s also working hard on developing into a leadoff man with good results so far. His swings and misses are still a concern. His speed is very good (This jibs with what I’ve seen too).

Vitters is still working on going deeper into counts. He understands it’s a problem, but it’s a work in progress.

Flaherty crushed one over the 25 foot wall in center field in Zebulon. He’s hitting to all fields. The big negative is what I’ve been saying: where is he going to play? He says he’s getting more comfortable at third base.

Dolis throws hard but struggles to repeat his delivery, leading to control problems. Cabrera threw hard, although not as had as Dolis (90-94 on Cabrera as opposed to 94-96 on Dolis) with a slider that was effective at times, but sometimes got lazy and became a little slurvy.

by Josh Timmers on Apr 26, 2011 11:53 AM CDT reply actions

I wonder about McNutt...

I’m always a little leery of guys who suddenly gained a tick on their stuff, and I got to be even more leery when fans on message boards (no offense cubsfan1, you’re still damn informative) started talking about his fastball/curveball combo as “plus plus.”

That said, I also think he’ll hold up better than most under the scrutiny. He sounds almost like a Joe Blanton type to be honest….Blanton when he came out of college had a decent fastball that in the minors hit 95-96 and probably 97…when he got the majors the stuff wasn’t quite that good, but the pitchability was there. Blanton’s breaking stuff was never as nasty as hyped either…

Either way, he’s going to be interesting this year. I hope his fastball is real, his curveball his real, the command and control is real, and generally that he’s real.

by SenorGato on Apr 26, 2011 12:02 PM CDT reply actions

I might not be as high on McNutt as others, either.

If only for the reason that he doesn’t have a track record to point to. His stuff came pretty late to him, so he’s only had about 2 years pitching with a mid-90’s FB. It will definately be interesting to watch him this year. Hopefully he can make some improvements on:

1. His control/command. He needs to keep the walks down.
2. Getting some life on his FB. From most reports, it’s very straight. I don’t care if the fastball is 100 mph, if there isn’t any movement on it, it’s gonna get hit. Hard. He might need to dial it down to 92-93ish to gain the movement, but it would be worth it.
3. His changeup. I love the article posted by cubsfan1, but I still need to see it being used more effectively before I start to really become excited.

by RynoRooter on Apr 26, 2011 2:15 PM CDT up reply actions

If he turned into Blanton that'd be pretty sweet tbh....

That said, I hope to Chris Archer McNutt and use him as trade bait for a stud pitcher or hitter. Flex the farm system.

by SenorGato on Apr 27, 2011 12:17 AM CDT up reply actions

sigh

With Derrick Rose on the other team, no. It’s like a crazy stalker ex-girlfriend. Everytime you tell her you don’t want to talk to her, she’ll show up at your door again. ~Danny Granger

by jesus christos on Apr 27, 2011 6:34 PM CDT up reply actions

Pretty sweet if he turned into Joe Blanton?

I have higher hopes for him than that, Joe Blanton is a pretty average #4/#5 pitcher.

by Dcr18 on Apr 27, 2011 8:32 PM CDT up reply actions

Pretty sweet in the sense that most pitching prospects

don’t even become Joe Blanton.

by SenorGato on Apr 28, 2011 2:35 AM CDT up reply actions

And most prospects aren't has highly rated as McNutt.

It would be “sweet” if he turned into a no. 2 starter. It would be great if someone like Whitenack turned into a Blanton-type, but McNutt has much more potential, and could be a much more productive starter than Blanton if he reaches his cieling.

by Dcr18 on Apr 28, 2011 6:31 PM CDT up reply actions

Blanton was a pretty studly prospect.

First round pick, threw hard, plus breaking stuff…Came to the show and his stuff never lived up to the hype, but he was a good enough pitcher to last anyway.

I wonder if that’s what McNutt might be. His velocity kind of just showed up one year, and he hasn’t thrown enough innings or innings/start to make me comfortable that it’ll be as hyped when he shows up. Also, hearing all the stuff about “plus plus” breaking ball here in the offseason made me a little skeptical. McNutt’s a really hard guy to find info on.

Also, lets consider that he was a highly rated prospect in the mid-tier system that we are/were. This farm system has players, but it’s the fact that no one is truly a stand out stud that hurt us. McNutt’s pretty highly rated, but there’s been more highly rated guys who’ve had worse happen than becoming a Joe Blanton.

I do think he could make some excellent trade bait ala Archer if this year goes well.

by SenorGato on Apr 28, 2011 7:40 PM CDT up reply actions

I'm not saying ending up a Joe Blanton type would be a bad thing.

Not many 32nd rounders even end up being back rotation starters. That said, I’d rather we use him as a key piece in a big trade before he turns into the next Joe Blanton.

by Dcr18 on Apr 28, 2011 8:23 PM CDT up reply actions