Posts Tagged “baseball america”

Can’t live without BA, but right now I’m researching Deryk Hooker and all I get is conflicting information.

2007:

Hooker produces easy velocity from a steep, downhill plane, with a fastball that sits at 90-93 mph and tops out at 94. He commands his heater to both sides of the plate and complements it with a true 12-to-6 curveball. His changeup also has the potential to be a plus pitch.

He’s mechanical at times in his delivery, and when he gets too deliberate he’ll fly open on his front side. But that’s an easily correctable flaw.

So he’s young and has three solid pitches? Awesome.

From a chat, 2007:

He throws from a steep, downhill plane anywhere from 90-94 mph that he commands to both sides of the plate and has an above-average 12-to-6 curveball. Changeup still coming, and an effective third pitch will be key to dictate future success.

Wait, I thought he already had a changeup?

2008:

He pitches at 89 and touches 92, and he commands the pitch to both sides, but he throws across his body, leading to questions about his delivery and arm action. All of Hooker’s secondary offerings are below-average — his curveball is a lazy floater that he gets underneath most times, his slider is a sweeper that moves across only one plane, and he slows his arm down to throw his changeup.

Wow. Now I’m really confused. Now he has one pitch, it’s a tick or three MPH’s down from the year before, and his breaking pitch and changeup are now garbage?And why didn’t the scout they talked to the year before mention his awful mechanics. All they said his he can fly open at times, just a correctable flaw.

Which one is it BA?

Don’t get me wrong, I love Baseball America. I think their writers are fantastic. I buy the book every year, subscribe to the site, and they’re the first magazine I grab off the rack when I go to the local bookstore. Butthis conflicting information is a little aggravating. Is it because a scout saw Hooker during a bad outing or two and another scout saw him in pure form before? Did he regress? Thoughts, anyone?