Outman Josh OAK 96 149 8 2SFB SLD CHG CB VS LH Batter

Power lefty that averaged 94 mph on his fastball last season and that would put him among the league elite. The problem is that it is too straight. You don't see lefties throw that hard very often though, so if he ever refines his stuff or learns a two-seamer with movement, he could end up being very good. He currently has 4 pitches, (fastball, slider, curve, change) and threw all of them with at least an 8% clip last year.

He averaged a K per inning in the minors, but has some controll issues with a 2:1 K:BB ratio.

He was very solid last year with a 3.20 ERA in Double-A and a 1.76 ERA in 15 innings in Triple-A before the callup.

He seems to limit HR's and gets ground balls at a 45% clip, which should play well in Oakland.

I thought he would make the rotation and rostered him in several deep leagues, but he will be rough to start with, so it was more of a flier pick.

I was actually hoping he would go to the pen in some leagues as they have holds and a power lefty with SP/RP status working in long relief would have been helpful for me.

*Oakland obviously has better talent in their system, but this kid does have a major league arm. Just not sure if it will be in the rotation or in the pen eventually.

BTW- In my original post, I said that I thought the kid could do well if he learned a two-seamer. He didn't thrown one last year at all. According to the pitch F/x data he is now throwing a two-seamer at 6.1% of the time. That may explain some of the early success. It was a pitch he wasn't featuring last year.

So, he throws two types of fastballs, Change, Slider, and a curve and is mixing them all in.

The one thing that I wish the pitch F/x measured was how often he threw each for a strike. The fact he is throwing all of his pitches is a plus, but I would like to maybe know which ones were his stronger ones to keep in the zone.

I really haven't gotten a chance to truly grade all of his pitches now, but I have seen a couple of starts and the velocity really does jump out at you.

The key for him, like most power lefties, is throwing strikes and limiting the walks. Today he walked 5 and that wasn't a really good number.

He is still a rookie and will have growing pains, but he is on a lot of waivers right now. Kind of funny that with all the hype around the other kids, this is the guy that is putting up the best numbers. Will be the same when Vin Mazarro gets up as well.

I'm glad to see someone still doing this where I and Eric Davis (as well as others) left off.

Yes, I have a few from way back. But then I started editing Eric's lists, that were then transferred to the players to make.


Sparkplug and I were the ones who actually started this, he started it by making Jose Arrendondo and then I made a a lot. Gradually, others got interested and eventually took the reins of what Sparkplug and I started.

I will say, you have done considerably more than we did, or could ever hoped to do.

I wish Eric was still here... He'd be a great help.

So yes, I have many actual contributions... I helped to start the whole thing.