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Advance Scouting Report
Filed by: Scott Delp
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Player Name: Dan Straily |
Report Date: 7/21/17 |
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GS/G |
K |
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Sample |
5/5 |
29.1 |
17 |
31 |
19 |
5 |
0 |
1.227 |
3.68 |
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Totals |
20/20 |
113.1 |
44 |
96 |
105 |
32 |
4 |
1.129 |
3.49 |
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Context: June 27- July 19 |
SCOUTING BREAKDOWN
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Physical/Health: Listed at 6-foot-2 and 220 pounds, Straily has a thicker lower half. He has maintained his health throughout his career, making 26 or more starts between the major and minor leagues in every season since 2010. |
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Fastball |
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| Straily throws both a two-seam and four-seam fastball. Both are between 88-91 MPH. Adding and subtracting velocity on the fastball helps Straily’s effectiveness. He works all quadrants of the zone, but particularly throws both pitches away most often to both left- and right-handed hitters. He throws about 50 percent fastballs overall. Command is Straily’s calling card and he relies less on movement and velocity. Though the movement on each pitch is just average, the fact that the two-seamer has a bit of sink and the four-seamer has some arm-side run and each is thrown with similar velocity, helps Straily can keep hitters off balance. He does not get a lot of swings and misses with his fastballs, but relies on weak contact. Grade: 50 | |
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vs. LHB |
vs. RHB |
| Though Straily’s command has been a strength, he is more effective against left-handed batters. This is mostly because when he misses to lefties, the misses tend to be away off the plate. Straily seems reluctant to pitch inside frequently. This is a benefit against lefties as the four-seamer runs off the barrel. | Straily’s misses to right-handed hitters are more often in the middle of the plate, causing significant reverse splits. He throws a lot of four-seam fastballs that he starts in the middle of the plate or toward the outside corner. More of those find their way to good hitting zones for righties. Here is where he would do well develop an ability to work more inside. |
Straily’s Fastballs to Lefties (2017) Straily’s Fastballs to Righties (2017)
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Breaking Pitches |
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| Straily’s main weapon is his slider. He uses the pitch about 30 percent of the time and throws it between 82-85 mph. It lacks depth and bite, but plays up mostly due to Straily’s sequencing and command. Straily has a curveball at 76-80 mph, but he has not used it very often in his last several starts. When he has, he has hung it and it has been hit hard. Grade: 40 | |
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vs. LHB |
vs. RHB |
| Straily tries to backdoor the slider to lefties. He is able to keep the pitch consistently middle away to down and away. This is another example of how he has been able to be so effective against left-handed batters. | As with the fastball, Straily’s misses to righties wind up in the zone more often. Seven percent of his sliders to righties have wound up middle-middle. When he commands it, this is his swing-and-miss pitch to righties. |
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Off-Speed Pitches |
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| Straily uses a changeup in the same velocity band as the slider. Hitters struggle to read it as it moves differently from the slider. It does not have a lot of fade but moves just enough to stay off the sweet spot of bats. Grade: 50 | |
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vs. LHB |
vs. RHB |
| The changeup is effective against left-handed batters. He gets the majority of swings and misses against lefties with this pitch as it fades out of the zone down and away. The fact that it has slider velocity helps with deception. | Against righties, Straily most often throws the change out of the strike zone as more of a show me pitch, though he can occasionally get some swing and miss due to sequencing and deception. |
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Notable Games |
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July 2 vs. Milwaukee |
This game showed why Straily has had success in the past year. Clearly without his best stuff and lacking the command that has carried him, he faced down the Brewers’ lineup and gutted out 6 innings. He gave up two homers and three total runs, but kept his team in the game and gave the Marlins’ bats a chance to win it, which they did 10-3. |
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Fielding/Pickoff |
Straily never lets his focus wander and he is a good fielder in every aspect. He makes the plays he needs to and moves off the mound to cover bases and be in the right place on every play. He holds runners well and varies his looks and moves. He does not sacrifice velocity or movement out of the stretch. |
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Additional Notes: Straily has figured out how to take advantage of many of the league’s aggressive hitters. He often pitches backwards and does a good job of keeping hitters off balance with his changes of speeds and movement. He works fast as well, and gets good engagement of the players behind him. He has allowed just three unearned runs all season. On the down side, because the stuff is mostly average, Straily often has to pitch around the zone leading to high pitch counts and an inability to go deep in games. |
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Mechanics |
Straily has a smooth delivery which he repeats with little effort. He throws from a high-three-quarters release and maintains consistency on his release points on all of his pitches, helping with deception. He does not use his lower half a lot and pitches fairly upright. |
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Mound Presence |
Straily rarely shows emotion on the mound. He always seems in control of both his emotions and any situation that comes about. |
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Recommendation to Acquire |
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| Straily would be worth adding for a team that needs a fifth starter. He can go out every fifth day and give a solid effort and mostly keep a team in the game and help get you to the playoffs. At the same time, Straily would not be a good add for a team who needs a middle of the rotation pitcher who would have to start a postseason game. In a playoff situation, hitters would likely have better game plans to take advantage of his approach. He makes enough mistakes that deep lineups should have success against him. | |
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