[stevenash]

Is the hitting better in the Big 12 Conference better than the hitting in Minor League 'A' ball, or is it due to the aluminum bats that the hitters use in NCAA compared to the wood bats used in the pros.

Allow me to explain.

Chat Bettis, the Rockies hot shot rookie starting pitcher prospect makes his major league debut tonight.
He pitched for Texas Tech for three seasons (he was one of the best HS pitchers in Texas out of Lubbock), he pitched in 'A' and 'AA' ball for three seasons.

Event though he was a highly touted HS prospect, his numbers pitching for Texas Tech (where he was both a starter and a closer) weren't that great.

I am not going to type in the numbers, I will post the chart here instead.

I like to get scouting reports and stuff on hot shot prospects when the get called up to the show, so I have an idea as to what expect.

What I see is an impressive K ratio, but what sticks out are how he got hit pretty good in college, but his numbers are so much better once he got to the pro minor leagues.

I have a theory, could it be the hitters in college have an advantage using the aluminum bats over the kids in the minors using wood bats????

Also, check out how each year he got better too.

PITCHING STATISTICS
Basic
Advanced
OffSeason
Leaderboard

Year	Team	Lg	Level	Unif	Org	Age	Rk	G	GS	IP	ERA	WHIP	H9	HR9	BB9	SO9	BB/SO	GB/FB	QS	HB	AB	Bavg	TBF	Pit/B	Bal	Str	Sw	Record	TR	Manager(s)
2008	Texas Tech	Big12	NCAA	35		19	43	12	12	68.0	6.75	1.63	10.85	1.59	3.84	5.43	0.71	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	25-30	10	Larry Hays
2009	Texas Tech	Big12	NCAA	35		20	35	23	4	72.2	3.59	1.46	9.41	0.74	3.72	7.18	0.52	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	25-32	7	Dan Spencer
2010	Texas Tech	Big12	NCAA	35		21	23	24	7	85.2	4.41	1.52	10.19	0.84	3.47	10.72	0.32	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	28-29	5	Dan Spencer
	Tri-City	Nwst	A-	19	col	21	-	10	9	48.1	1.12	1.12	8.19	--	1.86	7.26	0.26	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	30-46	4	Fred Ocasio
	Asheville	SAL	A	-	col	21	-	3	3	18.2	0.96	0.91	6.75	0.48	1.45	8.20	0.18	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	69-70	5	Joe Mikulik
2011	Modesto	Calif	A+	35	col	22	1	27	27	169.2	3.34	1.10	7.53	0.53	2.39	9.76	0.24	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	74-66	3	Jerry Weinstein
2013	tulsa	tex	AA		col	24	7/31/2013	12	12	63.0	3.71	1.16	8.57	1.29	1.86	9.71	0.19	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	Kevin Riggs
Minor League Totals (3 years)								52	51	300	1	1.10	7.80	0.60	2.13	9.24	0.23	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	.487	--
College Totals (3 years)								59	23	227	5	1.53	10.11	1.03	3.65	7.97	0.46	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	.462

[stevenash]

Bettis's last start last week was a two hit masterpiece pitching in AA Tulsa Texas League.

He is a +200 dog by the way tonight against the Braves and Teheran

Here's the book on the kid, he has a six pitch arsenal.


Last week, MiLB.com asked Bettis to describe and grade each of the half-dozen pitches he employs. (His grade is based on a scout's traditional 20-80 scale, 50 being the Major League average.) Here is Bettis, in his own words.
Pitch one: Four-seam fastball


Purpose: It's the pitch I can always go to. I have pretty good control of it and I can put it where I want to whenever I want to.Grip: Regular four-seam grip.
Speed: Usually 94-98 [mph].
Grade: I'd say a 70. I haven't perfected it, and that's definitely what I'm here in big league camp trying to do is to perfect the fastball and be able to command it in any count, in any situation and get guys out with it.
Pitch two: "Two-seam" fastball


Origin: I learned it in high school. I was just messing around. My pitching coach in college, Ed Gustafson, always told me it's OK to throw two fastballs.Purpose: My two-seam is a little slower than my four-seam, but it moves down and in to a righty, so it's definitely effective to get ground balls and get early outs so I don't have to eat up a lot of pitches.
Grip: It's actually a no-seamer. I go off the regular two-seam grip and just slide my fingers up [to] where there's no seam; I'm just touching leather.
Speed: At the end of the season last year, I was throwing it 92-97.
Grade: I would say probably 60, 65, because I'm still trying to be more consistent with the movement.
Pitch three: Slider


Origin: Just something I picked up growing up, watching baseball. I started to throw it more in high school, then got away from it in college, and then my pitching coach developed it into a cutter. It's slowly gotten more and more break with it. I call it a slider now, but at times I catch myself calling it a cutter. I can shorten it up and have it break less, unless I want it to break more. It's a variation of where I put my thumb on the ball.Purpose: To right-handed hitters and lefties. Sometimes I like to start lefties off with it, let them look at it and [have them] realize that I can get under their hands with it.
Grip: It's off of, actually, my four-seam grip. If I grip my four-seam fastball, then slide the ball over a little bit onto the horseshoe, that's what I use.
Speed: Definitely a power slider. Maybe 91-95.
Grade: A 65, because I'm still playing with the consistency of the break.
Pitches four and five: Changeups


Origin: I never really needed it in high school for some reason. It's a next-level pitch for me. I throw a two-seam changeup and a four-seam changeup, and they move differently. I learned the two-seam in college and then my four-seam changeup I actually learned this last year in Modesto from pitching coach Darryl Scott.Purpose: My two-seam changeup moves like my two-seam [fastball] but drops more, so almost like a splitter. Both changeups get [batters] off of everything else that is [thrown] hard.
Grip: The two-seam, instead of throwing the no-seam, obviously, I slide my hand down back to a two-seam grip and then just have a three-finger changeup with the base.
Speed: Both are about 84-90-ish. Sometimes, my four-seam changeup can get a little fast.
Grade: I have a better feel for my two-seam changeup, so I'd say 60. And then my four-seam, I am still working on getting consistent with the break, so I would say that's a 50, 55.
Pitch six: Curveball


Origin: I had it in college, just because it [offered] a different plane of break from my slider and other pitches. I really started working on it when I first came into the Rockies organization. I've picked up bits and pieces from various coaches and played around with it.Purpose: To righties mostly, where it's more of an out pitch. Maybe to lefties, just to show a strike.
Grip: Traditional curveball.
Speed: Mid- to high-80s.
Grade: Major League average, 50. I wouldn't say it's any better than that. My curveball, I would probably put last in my repertoire, just because I am still messing with it. I have a pretty good feel for it right now, but it's definitely not one of my strengths, so I am working on that.

[gryfyn1]

When he was in college he was going against alot of players older and with more experienced than he was. When he moves to low A ball as a 21/22 year old he going against alot of guys that are 18/19 even now as a 24 year old in AA he is still pitching against mostly guys that are three or four years younger than he is.

As far as college hitters, yes the metal bats help. They have a larger "sweet spot" meaning hitters can have far inferior pitch recognition still make solid contact when player with a wooden bat would make poor contact. Hits and Runs are also inflated due to poor defending.

[stevenash]

I think he'll go 5 or 6 innings tonight, get a handful of K's, Heyward is good for a K or two, I don't see him shutting down that Brave lineup, they have seen the best pitching in the world, the only way he wins is if Tulo and his boys gets him five runs.

There is no value in +200.
Because the Rox can rake, Braves run line is a crap shoot too.

When you depend on hitting to win your wager, there is no value.

Just curious as to see what Tex can do tonight in his debut. He's in pretty deep here.

[Monitor-Tan]

Throwing in a rookie kid at a hitters park, when the braves are swinging a hot bat in this series is a daunting task for the kid... I wouldn't put too much judgment in this game. He's in a really tough spot tonight..