Game Report: Georgia v. Ole Miss, 4/9/10

I wanted to try an unconventional game report for Friday’s matchup between Justin Grimm and Drew Pomeranz, so I thought I’d give you the notes as I wrote them down, word for word. No editing, no polishing. This is what is in my notebook from the game. I didn’t try to pull together any final thoughts, as I would normally do from my notes, instead letting my notes speak for themselves.

Each inning contains velocity numbers I was reading from a Stalker radar gun (not from the stadium gun), and the innings that have numbers right below the velocity numbers are innings with delivery times for the pitchers with a runner on. The play-by-play for each inning with any comments are below that, and I take you through the matchup as I saw it, alternating between Grimm and Pomeranz. I think you’ll get the feeling of why I really loved what I saw from Pomeranz.

I can address any terminology questions in the comments, but without further delay, here are my notes from the best head-to-head pitching matchup I will probably see this year:

1^st – Grimm
90 x 2
91 x 1
92 x 3
76 CB x 1

Ferguson F-8, Medium on 92 FB
Tracy 4-1, Grimm good athleticism
Smith lineout to 1B

Pomeranz
90 x 1
91 x 4
92 x 4
77 CB x 1
78 CB x 2
79 CB x 1
81 CB x 1
84 CU x 1

1.46, 1.49, 1.55

Taylor out on 1-3 GB, jogged, but 65/70 speed
Verdin BB, command shaky early
Hyams K on 91 FB
Cone out on F-5, 78 CB, plus power just to get ball that high

2^nd – Grimm
89 x 1
90 x 1
91 x 3
92 x 1
84 CU x 1
76 CB x 1
78 CB x 1

1.24, 1.32, 1.36, 1.38, 1.41, 1.42, 1.47

Such easy velo, but too many moving parts
-Easily get out of whack
Snyder 3U on GB, not much hard contact so far
Miller 1B to LF, hard grounder on 91 FB
Hamblin K on 78 CB, not seeing the ball well
Yarbrough out on 4-3 GB, 92 FB
-Hard hit right at 2B, 4.28 to 1^st

Pomeranz
90 x 1
92 x 1
94 x 1
76 CB x 1
77 CB x 1
78 CB x 1
86 CU x 1

Farmer K on CB, no hitters squaring up anything so far
DeLoach out on 6-3 GB, good play charging by Mort
-4.35 to 1^st
May K on 92 FB
Pomeranz getting downhill plane on FB, makes it impossible to square
-Results in hitters simply unable to do anything but fight off the CB/CU

3^rd – Grimm
88 x 1
90 x 3
91 x 1
68 CB x 1
85 CU x 1

Schilling with 2.22 pop time in-between innings
Hightower K on 91 FB
Mort out on F-8, very hard hit to RCF, Cone good tracking
Ferguson out on 5-3 GB, 4.28 to 1^st, very slow out of the box, plus runner underway

Pomeranz
90 x 3
91 x 7
77 CB x 1
78 CB x 1
83 CU x 1

Ruiz out on 4-3 GB, easy, routine GB out
Schilling K on 91 FB, up and away
-Stood no chance, Pomeranz started him off with 2 CBs
Taylor K on 90 FB
-Long AB, fought off FBs, CBs, and the CU, but FB just too much to handle (too lively)

4^th – Grimm
90 x 1
91 x 6
92 x 2
72 CB x 1
77 CB x 1
78 CB x 2
81 CU x 1

Tracy F-9 to deep RCF on 91 FB left up
-Ball not carrying well on the night
Smith out on 6-3 GB, jogged down the line, no reading
-Wasn’t routine enough to jog
Snyder out on F-8, routine play, 92 FB

Pomeranz
90 x 4
79 CB x 2
80 CB x 1

1.38, 1.42

Verdin BB on 3-2 FB up
-Works counts well
Hyams bunts into 1-6 FC
-Pomeranz off the mound well, but shaky throw, good scoop by Mort
Cone K on 90 FB up
-Overmatched
Farmer 3B to RCF on hung CB
-Should have been caught by Smith, but obviously uncomfortable in RF, run scored
DeLoach K on 90 FB
-Hightower with great block on 80 CB, bounced on plate

5^th – Grimm
90 x 2
92 x 2
72 CB x 1
86 CU x 1

Miller out on 6-3 GB, 4.54 to 1^st letting up at the end
Hamblin out on F-5 in foul territory
-May with plus instincts and awareness, leaning over dugout railing
Yarbrough K on 92 FB up
-Grimm in serious rhythm, mechanics for him are all about tempo
-Could be disrupted by pro hitters

Pomeranz
90 x 2
91 x 4
92 x 4
93 x 3
78 CB x 3
79 CB x 1
80 CB x 1

May out on 5-3 GB, soft GB, below-average runner
Ruiz K on 92 FB
-Stood no chance, stuff simply ridiculous
Schilling BB, temporary loss of control of FB
Taylor K looking on 90 FB, outside corner
-Starting to like Pomeranz over McGuire, loving this outing/potential

6^th – Grimm
89 x 1
90 x 5
91 x 4
92 x 1
76 CB x 1
78 CB x 1

1.39

Hightower out on F-8 to LCF, some juice behind it
-Left up a little
Mort out on 6-3 GB, routine GB
-Grimm working very quickly, in rhythm
Ferguson reaches 1B on GB down 3B line
-May knocked it down, safe at 1^st on unadvisable throw, 4.29 to 1^st
-SB on 76 CB + 2.10 pop time
Tracy K looking on 90 FB up in the zone

Pomeranz
89 x 1
90 x 3
91 x 2
93 x 2
79 CB x 1
80 CB x 1

Verdin out on F-7, jammed on 90 FB on 1^st pitch
-1^st pitch swinging out of character from 2 ABs earlier
Hyams K looking on 90 FB on outside corner
Cone K looking on 93 FB on inside corner
-Pomeranz cruising, using inside corner to RHH, outside corner to LHH

7^th – Grimm
89 x 1
90 x 8
91 x 1
92 x 1
72 CB x 1
74 CB x 1
77 CB x 1
78 CB x 1

Smith with 1B over 2B head, medium line drive
-77 CB almost frisby-like slurve, no break
-78 CB very sharp, command is ?
Snyder BB on 4 straight pitches
-Control has departed, visibly frustrated
Miller HBP on 1^st pitch, 90 FB
Hamblin out on SF-7 down LF line, Taylor has well below-average arm
Yarbrough F-4 to shallow RF
-Weak AB
Hightower out on F-7 on hard line drive to warning track
-Control meltdown by Grimm met by aggressive hitters, got lucky

Pomeranz
90 x 2
91 x 4
92 x 1
93 x 2
78 CB x 2
79 CB x 1
80 CB x 1
81 CB x 1

Farmer 2B to RCF on hard line drive
DeLoach out on 4-3 GB, chopped, good play charging by Yarbrough
-4.44 to 1^st, Farmer advances to 3^rd
May K on 79 CB in dirt
-Just waved at it, one of the nastiest CBs of the night, but May not a good hitter
Ruiz K on 81 CB in dirt
-Another wave, also wasn’t able to read it, score still 1-1

8^th – Grimm
88 x 1
89 x 1
90 x 4
91 x 1
73 CB x 1
75 CB x 3
77 CB x 2

Mort with HR on 90 FB left up, hard line drive to LCF, barely cleared fence
-Grimm noticeably tired, still left out there
Ferguson out on F-8, routine FB
Tracy 2B to LCF on hard line drive
-Command completely gone, control next?
Smith K looking on 77 CB
-Completely fooled him, expecting FB on 3-2 count, long AB
-Questionable call too
Snyder K on 91 FB, serious head tug on swing

Pomeranz
88 x 1
89 x 3
90 x 8
91 x 2
92 x 1
78 CB x 1
79 CB x 2

1.45, 1.47, 1.47, 1.56, 1.57

Schilling out on F-9 on 1^st pitch, 90 FB
-Easy play and bad AB
Taylor with slap 1B to LF in hole between SS and 3B
Verdin K on 90 FB
-Taylor steals 2^nd on bad throw caused by Verdin lunging swing obstructing Hightower
Hyams K on 89 FB
-Pomeranz shows grit, down 2-0 and 3-1 in AB, came back for K, should be done

9^th – Grimm out, Pomeranz in for 1 Batter
89 x 1

Cone with 1B up the middle on medium velo GB
-Pomeranz pulled (why even bring him out for 9^th?)

That wraps up the duel between Justin Grimm and Drew Pomeranz. Ask me any questions about interpretation or about the performances, and I’ll be glad to answer.