If I remember correctly, Faz had a son that played ball for UofM and was a huge fan of the program. That could explain the picture.
Faz's son was a pitcher for UM until last season.
"Two years ago, Putnam was the best high school player in Michigan, though teams didn’t think he was worth the money he was indicating he’d need to sign. The Tigers took a flyer on him in the 38th round, hoping for a possible hometown discount, but that never materialized. Sunday afternoon, the best game of the day was a college match, as Putnam carried a no-hitter into the ninth before giving up a hit that would score the only run in a 1-0 loss to Oregon State; it was the first game in a best-of-three super-regional series. A two-way star with the Wolverines who led the team in wins and strikeouts while finishing second in home runs and RBI, Putnam lives off a low-90s sinker and an effective curveball, getting plenty of strikeouts and groundballs with both pitches. The game-losing single is likely his last pitch of the 2007 season, but his first pitch of 2008 will likely be the first pitch of a season that gets him into the first round of next year’s draft."
That from BP's Kevin Goldstein. That would be our first first rounder in forever and also bodes extremely well for our chances in tournament play next year. If he is indeed a legit first round talented pitcher (most coaches this year called him merely "a legit friday pitcher"), then something like 4/5 of his games started should end in M victories. Top notch college pitchers all have phenomenal records because the bell curve is so steep.
LH reliever, subamarine devilery. effective in limited # of outings. also, even tho he was inelligible for the league (bing a D1 player), he pitched against my team in the A2 mens rec baseball league a few years ago. i think he was working on his new delivery. I couldn't touch him, mostly b/c of the delivery.
i always heard putnam's best chance in pro ball was as an every day player. maybe i'm not recalling that right tho. did he go to M so he wouldn't have to give up hitting so soon?
Brian...
Like the Andre 3000 comment.
Don't know if you pay for the rivals site, but if you look through their pictures, go to Part I, Picture 32. In that one, Sears looks just like Big Boi... Maybe he just loves outKast in general...
Anyone else concerned about Mallett's stick arms? Jesus...I feel like Durant could take him in a fist fight.
Those stick arms can heave balls 75 yards.
Re: Putnam and hitting
I think his swing and physique are professional caliber, but his approach right now is less than it could be. Recknagel is far less imposing when it comes to stature and swing, but his approach made him the more effective hitter this year. In the first series I saw against State, he was given a heavy dose of offspeed stuff and got himself out early in the count instead of working it and getting into fastball counts. The Illinois series seemed to mark a change, as a similar tack was tried by a good pitcher (Shaw shut us down with his change and solid breaking ball), but Putnam waited and eventually sent one yard. I don't question his power, but whether or not he has the patience to wait for the fastball and do enough with a breaking ball to be a hitter, I'm not sure. Again, this is only a few games I caught him, so don't think of this as the be all, end all.
In any case, if he's throwing a consistently 92-93 fastball that can induce substantial GB rates, the late first round would mean a number of teams in competition who would want a starter who could get to the bigs in a hurry. GB tendencies have shown to be very stable throughout the minors and into the big leagues and usually mean a long career of low ERA if the other important metric for a GBer, BB/9, is in place. Putnam has shown pretty good control so far, so as long as the scouting report is true, I don't think seeing him as a pitcher is a stretch at all.
Is that kid flashing a gang symbol? Does he have a tattoo on his right forearm? Kids these days...
Top Gun takes me back to those heady days when it seemed like sending our freshfaced, young people around the world to kick some foreigner ass was such a glamorous, great idea. I was also under the impression back then that Tom Cruise was a member of the human race. Both those ideas went splat somewhere between the Mog and Scientology.
By the way, a Denver fan talking about futility and pain in the same sentence with the Browns is rich. Rich I tells ya'.
colin, i agree 100%. in the 3-4 games i saw in person (1MSU, 1 OSU, 1 PSU, 1 PU i think), trip (ZP) made too many GB outs at the plate off of breaking balls. he need to jump on hte 1st pitch FB, or work the count to 2-0, 3-1 a little more often. i'd venture, based on his strength, size, balance & swing at the plate, he's a .400 hitter at this level, potentially.
i will say this though....if that splitter/sinker was working all year the way it did Sunday in Corvallis, how did he have a near 4.0 ERA? in the loss to OSU in the B10 tourney, he gave up 2-3 singles on the ground up the middle in the 1st inn. that and a walk or 2 gave OSU the 3 runs they needed to win. didn't get rattled, pissed, and didn't try to make the perfect pitch. his approach on the mound is much better than at the plate, imo. if he has too big a year next year, he'll get the $$$ he wants and take off a year early.
I was watching some of the videos on Rivals from the car wash and Fred Jackson said Grady might be back by October. I doubt that, but I'd say he'll most likely be back for the bowl game.
I thought the kid in the Michigan uni meant we'd recruited Baby Hulk... for this season!
Doesn't Grady still have a redshirt? And would playing in the bowl game eliminate it if he doesn't play the rest of the season?
Dan,
If it's true that he is an extreme groundball pitcher, then my guess is that his ERA will tend to be higher in college because college defenders and metal bats mean that each batted ball has more relative velocity for the league in relation to the quality of the defenders. Thus, you see an elevated BABIP and a lot of irritating innings. Not to make me sound like I am/was a great pitcher or anything, but I definitely experienced that in high school. It seemed like deserved runs were far outpaced by those that were incurred through a gathering of incidents that would be innocuous on their own.
If you wanted to look evidentially, I bet you would end up finding that when ZP (his nickname is Trip?) pitched, he saw many more innings where the opponent got just 1 or 2 runs in relation to the innings where runs were scored in bunches. If you keep ISO and BB% down, that means it costs more outs to score a run, limiting the bunches, but if you allow a high BABIP, you have to deal with enough batters per inning that the cost catches up. My reasoning anyway.
One thing: if you find a guy named "AAirlines16" on whatever the PS3 equivalent of XBox Live is...
"I just hang out and play some PS3 instead of going out.''
...for God's sake, let him win.
Hahahahahahahahahaha
Anthony-
Grady still does have his redshirt. If I were him, I'd use it so he'd have two years to play without Hart in front of him. Jackson just said he'd be back by October at the earliest, but it would make the most sense for him to redshirt (medical?) this season.
http://story.scout.com/a.z?s=118...18&p=2&
c=648451
Braylon gets "demoted," Brady Quinn says "Hey, I don't look like I suck as much now!"
The agony of it all. The prospect of Braylon making Quinn look good is disturbing to say the least.
i made up the Trip nickname. he's #3, and i figured welbourne was so long ago that the statute had been lifted.
anywho, i agree about the level of infield play: there is a BIG difference between MLB level and B10 level infielders: there are much more infield singles at this level. still, the ERA seems high even relative to peers in the college game. i mean, based on his stuff and command, i would have expected more dominant numbers. maybe i'm fooled by seeing him pitch on TV....you get more appreciation for the pitchers control, etc via the picture box. his stuff really is filthy.
so colin, you pitched in HS, do you still play? my team could always use pitching, especially if you play the OF too.
Thanks for the crackback on Parker. I've often wondered why this guy has a columnist job at a major newspaper: he writes at a third grade level, makes bold comments in his columns like "Pistons have a lot at stake this summer" and, as Brian points out, is right there with his buddy Foster in terms of "scoops" that are simply, unequivocally, scientifically, WRONG. Again, how do these guys get away with making things up? Wojo is the only detnews columnist with any credibility.
Out side of the fact that the future is looking good for the Michigan Baseball team, it was real good to see Mallett looking at home here in A2. Home sickness can be tough on freshmen, especially when they jump into college early and are so far from home. Anyway, good to see him settling in and hope the rest of his time here goes smoother - and I hope he gets a coat before next winter!!
Dan,
I would love to be playing right now, in whatever capacity (even if that means not pitching). As long as we're talking hardball, though.
Mallets arms!!!
well, i'm in the A2 mens rec league...hardball, wood bat, 7inn. compeditive, but no one really gets the red-ass all that often.
the red ass? is that a baboon reference? anyway, i didn't even know there was an a2 mens rec league. that's good to know. and i would really like to play. send me an email?
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