Tatsuya Yogo

Armed with a blazing fastball, a tantalising drop-curve, and a knee buckling slider, Yogo always had the raw stuff to trouble any lineup. Now he has managed to maintain greater control in the strikezone, he has emerged as the true ace of the staff this year. Another year of experience has surely helped since the ups and downs of his rookie season in 06/07, and his greater pitching acumen has allowed him to retire batters more consistently. An ability to lower his pitch counts by pitching to contact earlier in the the count could be seen as the only possible improvement he could make. His stats speak for themselves: a strikeout to walk ratio of 1.82, a baserunners allowed per inning of a measly 1.58, and an earned run average of 3.75 are all outstanding indicators in the offense driven world of university baseball.

Adam Peel

The number two man in the rotation has had an outstanding start to the season. His ability to hit the corners with a wide repertoire of pitches has been tantamount, and his ability to induce groundouts and popouts with his subtle movement remains the key to his success. Focus is needed in getting ahead of hitters by throwing more strikes early in the count, but his competitive nature has seen him dig himself out of a few potential jams by making big pitches at crucial moments.
These pitches have seen him maintain a stellar earned run average of 2.08, and the high walk rates (10 in 5 innings) that marred the drunken cup victory seem to have been lowered in the new year (7 in 9 innings), pointing to more success on the horizon. This is Peel's final season before hitting the free agent market, so the Thieves will be hoping to make him a competitive offer and lock him up to a long term deal.

Shannon Henry

Unfortunately ineligible for the Drunken Cup in April, Henry has been a revelation since his introduction to the Thieves pitching staff against the Birmingham Mapleleafs. With an excellent fastball and a tight slider, he has shown an ability to get important outs when necessary. Three shutout innings against Birmingham were followed by a victory in an error-strewn, offense dominated game against Herts which raised his ERA somewhat, but expect to see that reduced to manageable proportions after a few more outings. His WHIP (1.88), and K/BB (1.13) are all in the right areas to point towards his underlying ability.

Adam Brown

Having been the most consistent Nottingham pitcher through 06/07, Brown has suffered a disappointing setback at the start of the 07/08 season, picking up his first loss as a Thief. He will hope to bounce back in time to be able to contribute in the Drunken Cup, working on being able to throw his secondary pitches for strikes so he doesn't have to rely on his fastball so much should he fall behind in the count.

Patrick Igoe

The Thieves relief pitcher has acquitted himself well so far on the hill, but needs to work on his control early in his outing if he is to be successful in the longterm and reduce his walks and hit batters totals. Perhaps a more rigorous preparation in the bullpen would assist in this?

Peter Cho

The rubber armed swingman showed promise in his first outing for the Thieves, and management will be hoping he can continue this improvement if called upon to spot start in the Cup.

George Lintern

 

Next Week: The men behind the mask: Catching for the Thieves