Edinson Volquez: Playable.
You hear the scouting term "playable" with regard to how hitters project.
"We drafted him as a catcher but we think, if it's necessary to make a position change with him, that his bat is playable on a corner."
Edinson Volquez's effort on the mound in Anaheim today? That was playable.
The box score looks good enough. Five innings, three runs on seven hits and a pair of walks, four strikeouts. Strikes 64 percent of the time.
But no matter what the statheads take from Volquez's performance, the scouts are probably even more impressed. He had command of his fastball, a brutal problem for him in his previous big league seasons, and for the most part he kept the ball down. Not a lot of hard-hit balls. His offspeed stuff worked, the change was nasty at times. His tempo was good. He looked confident, without any strut.
Statistically speaking, it wasn't a Quality Start.
From an observational standpoint, however, that was unquestionably a quality effort. Looking forward to more.
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