Radhames Liz to the bigs

by Harold Baines on Aug 24, 2007 5:50 PM EDT

He'll make his debut Saturday night against the Twins. In 25 starts at AA this year he's has a 3.22 ERA with 161 K's to 70 BB's in 137 IP. I'm not expecting much...a lot of BB's, a lot of K's, 5 IP or less, but it'll be interesting to see what this kid's got.

Hmm, apparently I need some filler so in case anyone was wondering Garret Olson was sent down to Bluefield for one start because the Orioles coaching staff noticed a flaw in his delivery. He'll be back in Baltimore shortly.

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Wow

I thought the start would go to Jim Johnson for sure.

He's being rushed, but an impatient team like the Twins is a good first matchup for him.

by dkdc on Aug 24, 2007 5:57 PM EDT reply actions

they

also suck when facing a young pitcher for the first time.

1941 .406

by FrozenTed9 on Aug 24, 2007 6:42 PM EDT up reply actions

Wow...

That's surprising. I've been a Liz proponent for a while this season, and have been watching him closely since early last year, but I'd liked to have seen him dominate in 4-5 straight minor league starts before bringing him up.

I guess giving him a chance to work with Mazzone could be just what he needs. He's got everything a pitcher needs to dominate, a high velocity moving fastball, a plus breaking pitch, and I read that his change has made significant progress this year. He also holds his velocity deep into games.

Anyway, I'm excited for him, hope he does well.

by beastball on Aug 24, 2007 6:04 PM EDT reply actions

Cabrera

Sounds like Daniel Cabrera

by UncleBuck44 on Aug 24, 2007 8:09 PM EDT up reply actions

I think he is a bit like Cabrera...

but I think his control problems are less severe. He's shown fair control over the past month with relative consistency. In his past 10 starts, I'd say in only 2 did he have seriously poor control.

Also, Liz is a bit older, which I consider a plus because he's had relatively low mileage on his arm.

This is from BA's free prospect blog regarding liz, it was posted Aug 16th:

Radhames Liz, rhp, Double-A Bowie: Liz struggled with his command and didn't show his usual velocity early this season, but has come into his own since May.

It's easy to point to the 24-year-old Dominican's nine-inning complete game no-hitter on June 1 as the beginning of the turnaround, but Liz' emergence actually started four outings earlier.

In April, Liz's fastball was sitting in the low 90s, and the command of his secondary pitches--a hard-breaking mid-80s curveball and two variations of a changeup--were erratic at best. Liz went 1-2, 5.40 with 13 walks and 22 strikeouts in 18 innings in the season's first month, but Bowie manager Bien Figueroa witnessed something different in Liz in his May 11 start against New Hampshire.

"His velocity was up and he was really settling in, getting comfortable" Figueroa said. "I knew he'd come around, and when he's on, he's unhittable. All his pitches have such tremendous movement."

Liz's fastball velocity spiked to 95-97 mph consistently, touching 98. He gained confidence in using his breaking ball more often and early in counts, and his changeup has also made major strides.

"He's improved all year long," farm director David Stockstill said. "Not only has everything in his arsenal gotten better, but his knowledge in using them to attack in certain situations has come a long way also. He was still a little bit of a thrower (last year), but he's done a lot of growing up this season."

Liz hasn't lost since June 20 and nearly added a second no-hitter to his resume this season (he was part of a combined no-hitter last year at high Class A Frederick) on Tuesday, allowing just one hit and whiffing 14 over eight innings against Harrisburg. Overall this season, Liz is 11-4, 3.29 with 155 strikeouts in 134 innings.

by beastball on Aug 25, 2007 11:40 AM EDT up reply actions

Good upside

I have read that he has 2 plus pitches (fastball/curve combo). The only thing holding him back is poor command that comes and goes. Last season there was concern about him maintaining velocity deep into games, that hasnt been a problem this year.

by PapaMolina on Aug 24, 2007 8:24 PM EDT reply actions

Papa's right

only thing preventing a breakthrough will be his command troubles. He looks like a big strikeout guy.

by Big Daddy Prince on Aug 25, 2007 12:40 PM EDT up reply actions

Final Line in Debut

L, 6.0 IP, 4 H, 5 ER, 3 BB, 5 K, 1 HR

Torii Hunter hit a 3-run shot in the 6th and had this to say about Liz:

"He throws gas. He throws like 97, 98 (mph) all game," Hunter said of Liz. "It took us a while; we didn't know nothing about him. We didn't know whether his ball was sinking or cutting or whatever.

"But we saw that he had a nice, hard fastball. I think the second time around we started tuning to it and we were able to catch up to it. It took me three times."

Also this from Twins manager Ron Gardenhire:

"Great arm. The ball jumps out of his hand. He didn't throw very many breaking balls until the end there. He was pretty much shutting us down with the fastball, and that's hard to do in the big leagues. That just tells you a little bit about his arm -- it's a great arm."

by knightgalt on Aug 26, 2007 2:19 PM EDT reply actions

Yes

A good outing for Liz, but also makes clear where he needs to improve.

He's a guy the scouting reports have pegged exactly right: explosive FB, keeps his velo late, needs to work on his change. If Mazzone stays in Baltimore, something tells me Liz could be next year's big breakthrough.

by Yakker on Aug 26, 2007 4:38 PM EDT up reply actions