Scouting Report: May 24, 2008
Jason Berken, RHP, Bowie Baysox
Age: 24
Height: 6-0 Weight: 175
Throws: Fastball (four-seamer and two seamer), slider, curveball (two types), and changeup.
Fastball:
Velocity (on a 20-to-80 scale) 55 - Starts off in the 91-92 MPH range and can touch 93 on occasion. By the fourth inning he's 89-91 and by the 5th inning he pitches in the 88-89 range.
Movement 50 - Has some late life on his two-seamer.
Command - 50 - On this night his command was not at it's best but he did show the ability to move the ball in and out and up and down, changing the eye level of the batter.
Slider:
Velocity (on a 20-to-80 scale) 50 - Throws a 82-83 MPH slider that according to his pitching coach Mike Griffin can be his best pitch.
Movement 50 - Has a late break and decent tilt down and across the zone.
Command - 50 - Didn't have his breaking ball command, but normally his command is pretty good for the pitch
Curveball:
Velocity (on a 20-to-80 scale) 60 and 40 - Throws two types a curveball a hard 79-80 MPH curveball that sometimes resembles his slider and a get me over 73-75 mph that just rolls up there.
Movement 50 and 40 - The hard curve is the better of the two pitches but it generated little interest from NH batters. He flashed a hard breaking 12-6 curve with good depth, but it was not consistent.
Command - 40 and 50 - He struggled to find the control of the curveball but normally missed down in the zone or in the dirt. The get me over was just that, it got over but upper level hitters would kill that pitch pretty regularly.
Changeup:
Velocity (on a 20-to-80 scale) 65 - Throws a 80-81 MPH changeup which is about the perfect 10 MPH difference to his fastball.
Movement 45 - Gets some decent drop at times and occasional fade, but it also occasionally floats up there.
Command - 45 - Not afraid to throw the changeup, but on this night he missed a lot down in the zone.
Greatest strength: His ability to pitch in and out and up and down in the strike zone with his fastball.
Pitching tendencies: Berken is a bulldog type pitcher who is not afraid to use his off speed pitches, especially his changeup in most counts. He's a flyball pitcher who is going to give up his share of hits due to the fact his overall stuff is pretty average. Shows the aptitude to pitch in and out and up and down in the zone and appears to be a smart pitcher who reads the hitters pretty well. He has an over the top delivery who ends in a good fielding position. He shows no velocity drop from the stretch and gets the ball into home around 1.2 seconds making him average to run on. On the night I saw him he was visited twice by the pitching coach in order to calm him down and appears to be hard himself after not making good pitches.
Areas of concern : He doesn't have overwhelming stuff so he'll need his control in order to have success at the higher levels. His velocity drops by the 4th and 5th inning and he's not real big so a move to the bullpen may be in his future.
Bottom line: Berken should have a major league future if the command of his offspeed pitches comes around consistently. His ceiling appears to be 5th starter type, but he's most likely a fastball-slider-change 7th/8th inning setup guy. The good news he seems like a bit of an overachiever and the fact he has good understanding of pitching could mean he's got a better chance of fulfilling his ceiling than most minor league pitchers.
