Dillard: mid 90s

[southpaw121505]

I had no idea he threw mid 90s. I like this guy.

 

 

(unambigufied thread title --1992)

[Gopher74]

It's like you took the words right out of my mind and put them into your post.

 

I fancy myself pretty knowledgeable on the scouting reports of the Brewers prospects, but with Dillard, I thought he was guy who sat around 88-92 and who was a good GB pitcher.

 

Clearly I was wrong. And I'm thrilled to be. Velocity isn't everything, but it's pretty damn nice!

[Gobias Industries]

He seems to have pretty decent movement as well.

 

I like him. I know he's only pitched 3 innings up here, but he looks like he could be a solid closer right now.

[uwisfan]

yeah i like how the way the ball tails in and then away from the plate.

[ryanbraun75]

how bout using Dillard as a Starter for Dave Bush? Dillard has started in the Minor Leagues before and i believe he could be successful. But he hasn't shown us another pitch he can throw. Its only been the sinker, but he is really impressing me and i think he should be considerred for the starting rotation..

[And That]

He's thrown a couple sliders, IIRC. It's not a great pitch, and his velocity would drop a little back if they made him a starter again. I'd rather just leave him where he's at for the time being. Even in his second inning of today's game, he was starting to elevate the ball.

[TooLiveBrew]

I fancy myself pretty knowledgeable on the scouting reports of the Brewers prospects, but with Dillard, I thought he was guy who sat around 88-92 and who was a good GB pitcher.

 

Perhaps you were more familiar with him as a SP? Iirc one reason the Brewers made him a RP was how filthy his sinker can be when he can gear it up for one or two innings, as opposed to a SP workload. I'd bet that he had to operate his sinker more in the 88-92 range as a SP -- which would probably result in fewer K's & more GBs/GB outs.

[BrewCrewForever]

Mid 90's fastball with movement is fine by me. Could turn out to be a nice middle relief guy for us.

[clancyphile]

He's thrown a couple sliders, IIRC. It's not a great pitch, and his velocity would drop a little back if they made him a starter again. I'd rather just leave him where he's at for the time being. Even in his second inning of today's game, he was starting to elevate the ball.

Could he be that much worse than Bush?

[recte44]

how bout using Dillard as a Starter for Dave Bush? Dillard has started in the Minor Leagues before and i believe he could be successful. But he hasn't shown us another pitch he can throw. Its only been the sinker, but he is really impressing me and i think he should be considerred for the starting rotation..

I think his increased velocity and effectiveness are directly correlated to his conversion to reliever. This is his zone. Why can't we just be satisfied with actually having a reliever on the roster who shows promise? I mean, we need relievers in a bad way, right? http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

 

 

[jason21nl]

I'm not sure about how fast he throws but after watching the interview with him during the pre game show I really like this guy. I like how he couldn't stop smiling, and looked extremely happy to be in the bigs. Of course every rookie is happy to be called up, but there was something about the way he did the interview that I really liked.

[And That]

Could he be that much worse than Bush?

No. But what is that saying really? He won't struggle to keep his ERA under 8?

 

[recte44]

I've often looked at Dillard as a big part of our bullpen's future. Now that he's here, and the early returns (though small sample) are promising, I couldn't be happier that they finally brought him up.

 

Now gimme Pena and Aguilar, please.

[kramnoj]

I love that he had a little league field in his backyard. One of my Little League teammates had an enclosed batting cage with a pitching machine.

[southpaw121505]

I guess I always thought of him as a reliever, but it makes a lot of sense that he can run it up there harder as a one inning guy as opposed to going multiple innings. I'd like to keep him in the pen as well and see if he can't be an effective middle/set-up guy.




I love that he had a little league field in his backyard. One of my Little League teammates had an enclosed batting cage with a pitching machine.

Did you play in Northwest?

[kramnoj]

I love that he had a little league field in his backyard. One of my Little League teammates had an enclosed batting cage with a pitching machine. Did you play in Northwest?

 

I'm not from these parts, that was outside Houston where I grew up. That guy's father was also the coach of the team. I moved after junior high, I have no idea how far that kid made it. One last unrelated note, Andy Pettitte went to the same high school that I would have gone to if I hadn't moved, and he is two years younger than me. That would have been cool.

 

Back to Dillard, small sample size alert and all that, but I like Torres as closer and Dillard and Villenueva as relievers. The team might just build a decent bullpen without Gagne and Turnbow.

[dadofandrew]

How did Dillard only K 4.4 /9 in AAA throwing 95? It's almost beyond explanation.

[recte44]

I don't think he'd been throwing that hard the whole time, Al. I think it's just recently that he's made the transition to relieving rather than pacing himself over a long period of time, and now he's just "letting it loose" more often.

 

Also I think those radar guns are a bit high. He's low 90's.

[crewcrazy]

I do think part of it could just be that Washington's radar gun is pretty fast. I had a hard time believing that Sheets was around 96 all afternoon when he hasn't pitched consistently that high all year. And as wicked as Torres was this afternoon, I don't think he was pitching 94-96, either.

[JJHardy7]

how bout using Dillard as a Starter for Dave Bush? Dillard has started in the Minor Leagues before and i believe he could be successful. But he hasn't shown us another pitch he can throw. Its only been the sinker, but he is really impressing me and i think he should be considerred for the starting rotation..

 

Dillard shouldn't start. It will be disappointing. He's performed a lot better now that he's a reliever. He was moved to the bullpen because he struggled quite a bit last year in Nashville as a starter.

 

How did Dillard only K 4.4 /9 in AAA throwing 95? It's almost beyond explanation.

 

I'd like to see him on a few more radar guns throwing 95 before I believe that is where he's at. I see him as 93 or so max. He's either big time amped up (not a bad thing) or the guns are fast.

[JohnBriggs12]

Physically Dillard reminds me of Bob Howry.

 

I've often wondered as Brewer opponents year after year trot out hard throwiing relievers that seem to come out of nowhere, why can't the Brewers develop such guys. Maybe Dillard will be one of those and heck why not think Villanueva could be a closer with a changeup as an out pitch ala Doug Jones or Trevor Hoffman.

[southpaw121505]

Torres and Sheets throwing 95 doesn't really surprise me. Either way, he's throwing as hard as both of them according to that gun, and that surprised me.

[dadofandrew]

Sheets and Torres have both been 92-96 all year, Mota 90-95.

[JJHardy7]

Torres and Sheets throwing 95 doesn't really surprise me. Either way, he's throwing as hard as both of them according to that gun, and that surprised me.

 

Well I guess my point is I want to see him on multiple guns and see what his velocity if coming in at. 3 road games in Washington isn't going to make me believe Dillard is a 95 mph guy. His velocity has gone up though since the Brewers moved him from the rotation in Nashville to the bullpen.

[SoCalBrewfan]

To me, the sign of a team in panic mode is the phenomenon in which a rookie throws a good inning or three, and then is embraced by the fans (or worse, the team) as either a potential closer or fourth starter. Dillard is off to a good start, and I'm glad to see it, but I'd like to see him succeed over a longer time frame before coming to any conclusion about him. The team has always liked his sink, I think, and it does seem that he's got more giddyup coming out of the pen...between that and his merely adequate performances as a start, I'd be reluctant to move him back into the rotation any time soon. The Brewers are more than due to produce a meaningful relief prospect, so I'm glad to see a few of the youngsters show some promise in that role...I feel like those of us who geek out over minor leaguers have been predicting that the team would produce a reliever any minute now for about three years.

 

Of course, the team has done its share of this already. Stetter goes from nobody to a key reliever, and back again, in a couple of weeks. McClung goes from garbage time to starter. Julian Tavarez...oh, my. I guess the guys they have aren't getting it done in some cases, but sheesh.