Scouting Report on Scot Shields

by vlad IS my man on Aug 8, 2008 11:54 AM PDT

Well, Scot has wicked stuff but sometimes he looks like he doesn't know how to throw a baseball. His two seam fastball is his most reliable pitch. The movement is a like a running fastball.Velocity wise, it''s good at around 94 with good movement. But in some cases, it sucks. When he pitched the eighth against the Yankees, he threw it everywhere.His 11-5 curve is filthy, but more often than not, it bounces three feet in front of the plate. I'm not saying I don't like him, but sometimes it just looks like he is overthrowing way too much.Overall, Scot has done well. An example is his four K's in one inning against the Phils

Copy the thing below you .and scroll down to Angels pitchers. Look at Shield's performance. http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/boxscore?gameId=280803110

This is kind of a random post so I might as well post this

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/players/7812

Look at the dude's face. Must be stoned .

This Fan-Post is authored by an independent fan. Tell us what you think and how you feel.

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I have noticed a lot of his pitches...

One in particular seems to slip and sail WAAAY high once every fourth or fifth pitch.

He doesn’t throw as hard as he did a few years back when he’d get 101 on the gun.

Where right now the only thing shakier than Scot Shields is our defense...

by hk47 on Aug 8, 2008 1:59 PM PDT reply actions

101??? That's mph, right?

Unless it was on one of those useless ESPN guns, I highly doubt Scot ever threw anywhere near that. As long as hes been pitching for the Angels I’ve seen him sit around 91-92, with him occasionally hitting the mid-to-high 90’s when hes really on. Its always been the movement on his pitches that make him so nasty. I do agree that he loses his arm slot once in a while and lets those pitches sail, but with the exception of a rough patch last year, it never seems to last beyond one outing. Overall Scot isn’t as valuable as he was at the beginning of his Angel career, when he would log about 100 innings out of the pen. But with relief pitching being so combustable, I think we have to be happy that we’re still getting reliable performances out of him.

by dmhead on Aug 8, 2008 3:52 PM PDT reply actions

It's all about focus

I’ve noticed in the last couple of years that Shields control becomes erratic either at about 50 innings pitched or late August. The first sign is always his fastball sailing up and away on left handed hitters. Once this happens the hitters start looking for his two seem fastball exclusively because as you noted he can’t consistantly locate his devistating 11-6 curveball.

The good news is that he regains form in mid/late September and the Angels always close the regular season strongly.

I know the Angels have been concerned about this in the past, hence the signing of Spier and the development of Arredondo.

by alcor805 on Aug 9, 2008 3:25 AM PDT reply actions