Bowman Continues To Turn it Up, But 51s Bats Go Silent

New Orleans Zephyrs @ Las Vegas 51s

August 20, 2014

Alex Sanabia @ Matthew Bowman

Teams	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
New Orleans	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	4	9	0
Las Vegas	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	7	1

Win: Sanabia (6-5, 4.86 ERA); Loss: Bowman (2-2, 1.74 ERA); Save: Caminero (8)

The Highlights:

Pitchers

Matthew Bowman – 7 IP, 4 H, R, BB, 9 SO, 96 Pitches (64 Strikes), 6 GO, (1-2)

Batters

Daniel Muno – 3-4

Recap:

Matthew Bowman continued to impress against the PCL Wednesday night, throwing seven very strong innings in a tough-luck loss against New Orleans. After allowing a run on three singles in the 1^st, Bowman retired 18 of the final 20 batters he faced, including all nine of his strikeouts and six of his groundouts. Unfortunately, the 51s offense failed to capitalize on their chances, instead ruining four innings with three double plays – 1^st, 3^rd and 7^th innings – and a crazy triple play in the 4^th. After Daniel Muno and Matt Reynolds hit back-to-back singles to leadoff the 4^th inning, Josh Satin hit a grounder at the second baseman that looked like a routine double play ball. However, as they Zephyrs turned the double play, Muno rounded 3B and broke for home. Unfortunately, as you can see below, he was a dead duck at home. Double and triple plays are the real rally killers of a game, and it’s hard for a team to overcome four such instances in one game, but Bowman gave them every chance to walk away with a win if they could only scratch out a couple of runs. That said, as far as 2014 51s lineups go, this seemed like one of the weaker ones going in, but perhaps I’m just having some prospect bias.

Bowman had an unfortunate start to his outing, as Austin Wates hit a Baltimore chopper to Muno for an infield single leading off the 1^st. It was a strong combined effort from Muno on the quick throw and Allen on the aggressive stretch, but the bang-bang call went the Zephyrs way. Bowman would retire the next two batters on liners to Seratelli in CF, but the next two batters came up with singles of their own – a medium grounder up the middle and an RBI liner into RF. Fortunately for Bowman, the trail runner was caught trying to go 1B to 3B, which ended the inning without further damage. Bowman bounced back in the 2^nd with a perfect, 7-pitch inning, picking up his first strikeout along the way, and was great the rest of the way. He was forced to throw a few extra pitches in the 3^rd – two of the four at bats to go at least three balls were in the 3^rd – but he was otherwise very efficient, averaging just 13.7 pitches/inning despite the 22 in the 3^rd.

Bowman’s breaking ball was his most effective pitch in the game, producing an 18.2 swinging strike percentage and six strikeouts. He was definitely throwing some breaking balls in the low 70’s per the Cashman Field scoreboard, but most were upper 70’s and as high as 82 MPH. Although it is difficult to judge pitches from the camera angle home 51s broadcasts are limited to, the angle is good enough to see the difference between a big breaking ball (seemed like all curveballs) and a change-up, and announcer Russ Langer identifies most pitches and their locations. I say this to point out that, while there is always a degree of uncertainty in my pitch recognition without the combination of a good TV angle and known velocity, I feel confident enough to post it. That said, if you think I have a mistake, please speak up so I can amend and update. Bowman was in the zone with his change-up when he threw it, which wasn’t that often, but New Orleans batters really struggled against it. Bowman was locating his fastball extremely well over the first six innings, but struggled to find the zone with it in the 7^th, which contributed a lot to his only walk.

Overall, it was Bowman elevating his game even further, as he’s been masterful since July 31. In four starts, two for Binghamton and two for Las Vegas, Bowman has a 0.66 ERA over 27.1 IP, with 19 hits allowed (one homerun and three doubles among them for a .062 ISO allowed), and a 28 SO: 5 BB (27.5 K%: 4.9 BB%) ratio, which adds up to a .498 OPS allowed. He also has a 37 GO: 8 FO ratio over that time, which means a 54.4 groundball percentage on balls in play, which is well above average. This is one helluva way to finish a season, as Bowman has fans excited for the next Jacob ∂eGrom. That said, ∂eGrom has some special stuff, including a fastball that has averaged a higher velocity in the majors than Bowman hit on this night. I’m not saying Bowman can’t be a good major league starter, just that they are a different blend, and Bowman isn’t quite the sleeper Jacob was. The positive trend they do have in common is high groundball rates, which should help Bowman’s eventual transition to the majors.

Bowman Pitch Coverage

Table 1 – Breaking down pitch count by type and inning

Count (Strikes)	1^st	2^nd	3^rd	4^th	5^th	6^th	7^th	Total
Fastball	12 (8)	5 (5)	9 (5)	6 (6)	6 (4)	5 (3)	9 (2)	52 (33)
Change-up	1 (1)	0	2 (2)	2 (1)	2 (2)	2 (1)	2 (2)	11 (9)
Breaking Ball	1 (1)	2 (1)	11 (6)	4 (3)	1 (1)	10 (7)	4 (3)	33 (22)
Total	14 (10)	7 (6)	22 (13)	12 (10)	9 (7)	17 (11)	15 (7)	96 (64)

Table 2 – Breaking down pitch results by type

Strike %
Total	Call	Sw	Foul

BIP%
LD	GB	FB	PU

Results
AB	BABIP	ISO	K

Fastball

63.5

23.1

11.5

.444

.000

Change-up

81.8

0.00

9.11

36.4

.000

Breaking Ball

66.7

21.2

18.2

21.2

.000

(Speeds are from the Las Vegas 51s scoreboard)

1^st inning

1) Austin Wates reached on an Baltimore-chopped infield single to Daniel Muno (S4/G)

i. 91 MPH Fastball – foul 0-1

ii. 89 MPH Fastball, low – ball 1-1

iii. 91 MPH Fastball

2) Juan Diaz lined out to Seratelli (8/L)

i. 89 MPH Fastball, knee high and outside corner – strike 0-1

ii. 89 MPH Fastball, knee high and outside corner – strike 0-2

iii. 79 MPH Breaking Ball

3) Enrique Hernandez lined out to Seratelli (8/L)

i. 89 MPH Fastball, inside – ball 1-0

ii. 92 Fastball

4) Justin Bour hit a single back up the middle (S8/G)

i. 92 MPH Fastball, low – ball 1-0

ii. 89 Fastball, outside corner – strike 1-1

iii. 80 MPH Change-up – foul 1-2

iv. 92 MPH Fastball, just outside – ball 2-2

v. 87 MPH Fastball

5) Mark Canha lined an RBI single into RF but Bour was thrown out trying to go to 3B (S9/L) -> 9-3-5

i. 90 MPH Fastball

2^nd inning

1) Kyle Jensen struck out looking (K/Lo)

i. 91 Fastball, knee high and outside corner – strike 0-1

ii. 82 MPH Breaking ball, outside – ball 1-1

iii. 84 MPH Breaking ball – foul 1-2

iv. 90 MPH Fastball at the knees – strike 3 looking

2) Rob Brantly hit a groundout to Muno (43/G)

i. 91 MPH Fastball, knee high and inside corner – strike 0-1

ii. 90 MPH Fastball

3) Zack Cox hit a groundout back to the mound (31/G)

i. 88 MPH Fastball

3^rd inning

1) Alex Sanabia struck out swinging (K/Sw)

i. 91 MPH Fastball, inside corner – strike 0-1

ii. 91 MPH Fastball – swinging strike 0-2

iii. 82 MPH Breaking ball, shin high and outside – ball 1-2

iv. 81 MPH Breaking ball – swinging strike 3

2) Wates struck out swinging (K/Sw)

i. 80 MPH Breaking ball, outside corner – strike 0-1

ii. 90 MPH Fastball, inside corner – swinging strike 0-2

iii. 90 MPH Fastball, inside – ball 1-2

iv. 90 MPH Fastball, just low and outside corner – ball 2-2

v. 81 MPH Breaking Ball, shin high and outside corner – swinging strike 3

3) Diaz grounded a single through the 2B hole (S9/G)

i. 73 MPH Curveball – foul 0-1

ii. 73 MPH Curveball, low – ball 1-1

iii. 91 MPH Fastball, knee high and inside – ball 2-1

iv. 80 MPH Change-up – foul 2-2

v. 93 MPH Fastball, low – ball 3-2

vi. 81 MPH Breaking ball – foul 3-2

vii. 89 MPH Fastball

4) Hernandez popped out to Muno (4/P)

i. 79 MPH Breaking Ball, outside and low – ball 1-0

ii. 89 MPH Fastball – foul 1-1

iii. 81 MPH Breaking ball, low and outside – ball 2-1

iv. 78 MPH Change-up – swinging strike 2-2

v. 79 MPH Breaking ball, low – ball 3-2

vi. 80 MPH Breaking ball, outer half

4^th inning

1) Bour struck out looking (K/Lo)

i. 78 MPH Change-up, outside – ball 1-0

ii. 72 MPH Curveball, knee high – strike 1-1

iii. 91 MPH Fastball – strike 1-2

iv. 79 MPH Breaking Ball, shin high and inside corner – strike 3 looking

2) Canha struck out swinging (K/Sw)

i. 92 MPH Fastball, belt high and inside corner – strike 0-1

ii. 89 MPH Fastball – foul 0-2

iii. 79 MPH Breaking Ball, low – ball 1-2

iv. 81 MPH Breaking Ball – foul 1-2

v. 90 MPH Fastball, down and in – strike 3 swinging

3) Jensen struck out swinging (K/Sw)

i. 80 MPH Change-up – foul 0-1

ii. 92 MPH Fastball – foul 0-2

iii. 89 MPH Fastball – swinging strike 3

5^th inning

1) Branly popped out to Allen in foul territory (3/P)

i. 88 MPH Fastball, outside – ball 1-0

ii. 80 MPH Breaking Ball – strike 1-1

iii. 90 MPH Fastball, high and outside – ball 2-1

iv. 87 MPH Fastball – swinging strike 2-2

v. 80 MPH Change-up

2) Cox hit a groundout to Satin (53/G)

i. 89 MPH Fastball – strike 0-1

ii. 79 MPH Change-up

3) Sanabia hit a groundout to Allen (3u/G)

i. 91 MPH Fastball – strike 0-1

ii. 92 MPH Fastball

6^th inning

1) Wates struck out swinging (K/Sw)

i. 78 MPH Breaking Ball, low – ball 1-0

ii. 81 MPH Breaking Ball, outside and low – ball 2-0

iii. 80 MPH Breaking Ball, inside corner – strike 2-1

iv. 91 MPH Fastball – swinging strike 2-2

v. 90 MPH Fastball, inside – ball 3-2

vi. 80 MPH Breaking Ball, outside corner – swinging strike 3

2) Diaz hit a groundout back to the mound (13/G)

i. 91 MPH Fastball, knee high and inside corner – strike 0-1

ii. 78 MPH Change-up, low – ball 1-1

iii. 79 MPH Change-up

3) Hernandez struck out swinging (K/Sw)

i. 81 MPH Breaking ball – strike 0-1

ii. 74 MPH Curveball – swinging strike 0-2

iii. 92 MPH Fastball, up and away – ball 1-2

iv. 82 MPH Breaking ball, bounced and outside – ball 2-2

v. 80 MPH Breaking ball – foul 2-2

vi. 89 MPH Fastball – foul 2-2

vii. 77 MPH Breaking Ball – foul 2-2

viii. 80 MPH Breaking ball – swinging strike 3

7^th inning

1) Bour hit a groundout to Reynolds (63/G)

i. 73 MPH Curveball – foul 0-1

ii. 87 MPH Fastball, outside – ball 1-1

iii. 80 MPH Change-up

2) Canha walked (BB)

i. 91 MPH Fastball, low and outside – ball 1-0

ii. 91 MPH Fastball, up and in – ball 2-0

iii. 81 MPH Breaking ball, high – ball 3-0

iv. 88 MPH Fastball, up and in – ball 4

3) Jensen struck out swinging (K/Sw)

i. 89 MPH Fastball, up and in – ball 1-0

ii. 79 MPH Breaking ball – strike 1-1

iii. 90 MPH Fastball – foul 1-2

iv. 80 MPH Breaking ball, outside corner – swinging strike 3

4) Brantly lined out to Allen (3/L)

i. 80 MPH Change-up – foul 0-1

ii. 89 MPH Fastball, outside – ball 1-1

iii. 90 MPH Fastball, low – ball 2-1

iv. 89 MPH Fastball

Congratulations to Terry Lovejoy on discovering his 5th comet. Details from @universetoday: http://t.co/cVcYLAoUab pic.twitter.com/SQtsA7tZYS
— StarTalk (@StarTalkRadio) August 22, 2014

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