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San Antonio Vs. Tulsa Notes

Saw the three-game set between San Antonio and Tulsa Sunday through Tuesday. I took about 20 pictures, but all but one came out too blurry to be useable. I really don't understand this camera, I suppose...when you take the picture it looks very sharp in the screen, but then I find that with one exception they call came out blurry. I have some blurry images of Will Inman and Brandon Hynick that I will go ahead and post at the bottom of this article, but here is a non-blurry photo of Dexter Fowler:

Fowler_medium

I will be sending a longer and more detailed report to newsletter subscribers tomorrow, but here are some tidbits about particular prospects

Dexter Fowler, OF, Tulsa: Terrific athlete, I'd give him a 65 on speed. Swing looks a big long, some vulnerability to breaking pitches and perhaps fastballs in. However, he is not nearly as punchless as some speedsters, and also makes a good effort to work the count. Very graceful in the field. Will lay down a bunt, but also a threat for extra bases.

Chris Nelson: SS, Tulsa: Aside from one bonehead Roger Dorn-like "ole" defensive miscue, he looked very good defensively, strong arm in particular. With the bat, has good bat speed, but chases fastballs up and in as well as breaking balls away. Will definitely need adjustment time at this level.

Brandon Hynick, RHP, Tulsa:: Hit hard yesterday. Fastball at 86-88 on my gun, was having trouble locating it. Curveball and changeup also mediocre, and he wasn't fooling anyone. Appeared to get frustrated with the plate umpire who looked like he was squeezing both pitchers, especially early in the game. Usually missed low in the strike zone.

Casey Weathers, RHP, Tulsa:  93-95 fastball, with a very good, though erratic, slider. He missed high with the slider a couple of times but he had so much movement on the fastball that the hitters couldn't do much with him.

Will Inman, RHP, San Antonio: Fastball ranged from 87 to 92. Mixed in curveball, slider, and changeup. Like Hynick, he was getting squeezed on close calls but it didn't appear to annoy him quite as much as it did Hynick, at least early in the game. Gave up a long homer to Dan Carte on a hanging breaking ball. Secondary stuff was more impressive than Hynick's.

Chad Huffman, OF, San Antonio: Stocky build, good pop, worked the count well, showed the ability to hit to the opposite field. Runs better than I expected, especially once underway.

OK here are some mediocre picks of Hynick and Inman. First Hynick

Hynick1_medium 
Hynick2_medium 

Hynick3_medium

Now Inman

Inman1_medium 
Inman2_medium

Inman3_medium

Inman4_medium



 

0 recs  |  Comment 12 comments

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Pics look fine to me!

Have to say John, the pics look good to me. They dont seem blurry on my computer. And its a high quality flat screen. Anyone else agree?
Nice write up. I am high on Fowler. Hope he can show some doubles pop as he advances.

by Maxima231 on Apr 16, 2008 4:12 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

agreed

pictures look fine and serve their purpose

by uwbadger on Apr 16, 2008 7:02 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

Man

Hynick was a TERRIFIC college player though. He, and the A’s Connor Robertson, led a small-school with the resources of a D-III school (Birmingham Southern) into being a Top 25 caliber baseball program. Like Robertson he pitched and hit for them and was excellent at both.

Hes a guy I’ll always root for

by nms on Apr 16, 2008 4:18 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

Cool!

I didn’t realize he went 16-5 with a 2.52 ERA and a 136/31 K/BB in 182 IP in the Cal League last year.
Good for him.

If he can join Robertson in making the bigs that will be a hell of an accomplishment for that program, whose success was so short lived when the school decided to drop all of their sports from D-I to D-III, effectively killing the baseball team as it existed. The coach went across town to UAB and the players spread through the southeast… UAB, Winthrop, Alabama, Miss St, LSU, Middle Tennessee.

Getting two major leaguers off of that team would be quite the tribute to the success those players and coaches had at building a small-school power at such a place

by nms on Apr 16, 2008 4:24 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

Your autofocus is grabbing the netting instead of the players – see how the net itself is very sharp – so it’s not at all surprising that they’re blurry, as the pitchers are 100 feet or so behind the focus point.

Unfortunately, pretty much no camera is going to autofocus right in this situation. You’ll need to use manual focus if you have that option, or shoot from somewhere the net isn’t in the way.

by timprov on Apr 16, 2008 5:01 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

if you're lens is big enough

fully extend and autofocus and you may be able to cut right through the netting. . ..depending on how powerful the lens is, it may show a little tracing, but it isn’t as noticeable as the actual netting. .

by SoCalSoxFan on Apr 17, 2008 12:18 AM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

Yep

The photo of Fowler is the same way, but since the ump and the batter are closer to the netting, they are in better focus than the pitcher so you don’t notice it as much.

When you are reviewing the photos on the camera, make sure to zoom all the way in to get a better look at the actual pixels. You won’t ever be able to tell if everything is in focus just by looking at it on the tiny LCD on the camera.

by daser on Apr 17, 2008 11:27 AM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

I should say...

that I suspect the photo of Fowler is the same way. Just by looking at the small version of the picture in the post, I can’t tell for the same reason it is difficult to see on the camera’s LCD.

by daser on Apr 17, 2008 11:30 AM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

Yes,that is cool.

I like the pictures very much.

by dftyvvb on Apr 17, 2008 3:48 AM EDT reply actions   0 recs

Keeping the Major League theme going

Dexter Fowler: runs like Mays, hits like shit?

by samjjones on Apr 17, 2008 7:59 AM EDT reply actions   0 recs

I'm far from an expert...

in fact, I’ve never even thrown a pitch, but Inman’s delivery looks so much less stressful than Hynick’s. Inman almost looks like he is using his body as a lever to fling the ball, whereas Hynick looks like he is using his body’s power to throw the ball.

Any pitching mechanic experts here with any insight? Am I completely wrong (wouldn’t be surprised if I were lol)? What do you all see and look for in pictures like this?

"My mom always taught me it's better to laugh at yourself than to laugh at others. She was so wrong. ;)" -Pedrophile

by Boxkutter on Apr 17, 2008 11:36 AM EDT reply actions   0 recs

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