Fresh blood! Brandon Morrow will go up against MLB debutant Kevin Gausman tonight. Tom couldn't have asked for a better pitching matchup to start his vacation in Toronto. Gausman was drafted last year 4th overall out of LSU and signed for $4.32 million right at the deadline. Gausman had only just finished his sophomore season, but was eligible for the draft because he was already 21 years old.
Gausman has made eight starts this year at AA for the Orioles giving up 16 earned runs in 46.1 innings (3.11 ERA). He also has got 49 strikeouts and only given up 5 walks which shows you how great his control and command is. Overall, Gausman has only made 17 starts with the Baltimore Orioles franchise and has advanced very quickly through the minor leagues.
Kevin Gausman throws three main plus pitches in the form of a fastball, sinker, and changeup. He also a slider and curveball that are sometimes difficult to differentiate. The breaking pitches have the opportunity to become plus pitches in the future as well. His 6' 4" frame allows him to get a powerful downward plane on his pitches with his fastballs having the ability to threaten triple digits at times. His changeup creates good velocity separation coming in around the mid-80's with movement similar to his fastballs. His fastballs are all throughout this video, his slider is at 0:35, and I believe his changeup is at 1:37 although it's quite hard to tell from that angle. As you can see he shows the ball to the batter for a quick moment as he drops it down his back leg.
Kevin Gausman (via BPProspectTeam)
Should Lind Play: Uhh Sure?
Kevin Gausman's splits this year show he's slightly tougher on left handed batters, but it's a really small sample size and it's the minor leagues. He does have a pretty nasty changeup that would be tough on lefties, but I still think it would be wise to have Lind in the lineup.
For today's "Find the Link":
Find the link between Kevin Gausman and the man they call Paco down at the Chavez Ravine.
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