Prospect Watch: Mazzaro Dazzles Yet Again

By Todd Gold ProFantasyBaseball.com Oakland Athletics GM Billy Beane has quietly been building up a ridiculously talented reserve of young arms. Brett Anderson and Trevor Cahill were the marque names of the group, Josh Outman has been productive to this point but it doesn't end there...and there seems to be no end in sight. The latest young A's hurler to emerge onto the scene is Vin Mazzaro. The 22-year old righty Mazzaro has made an immediate impact, tossing 7.1 shutout innings in his second big league start this afternoon to extend his scoreless streak to 13.2. 2 starts and 2 wins, it doesn't get any better than that. There hadn't been as much buzz surrounding Mazzaro's ascension to The Show due to all of the other big name prospects around baseball that have been making their debuts the past few weeks in addition to the fact that Vin has been a bit under the radar, pitching in the shadows of fellow A's hurlers Anderson and Cahill. Mazzaro was solid in his debut, but many saw his 4 BB and just one K as an indication that he would not be able to continue skating by. Today Mazzaro responded by not issuing a single walk, striking out 4 and holding the Orioles to just 4 hits over 7.1 innings. At this point it is getting hard to ignore what the young sinkerballer has done to this point, and he is worth heavy consideration, if not a roster spot in most leagues. The downside is that Mazzaro is a groundball pitcher and won't rack up a great deal of strikeouts (44 K in 59.2 IP at AAA earlier this season) and he will be at the mercy of his defense. But quality SPs are difficult to come by and Mazzaro has the pedigree as a 3rd round pick out of high school in 2006 followed by a stellar minor league career and now a pair of excellent big league starts. Todd Gold is a first-year professional baseball scout and a sports junkie who enjoys taking his friends' hard earned money in fantasy leagues and helping his readers do the same. You can contact him here.

Two Solid Pitching Debuts

by Scout Hoffman (seniorbeisbol@gmail.com) http://www.profantasybaseball.com/ There were two high level pitching prospects that made their Major League debuts on Tuesday evening. Vin Mazzaro of Oakland and Antonio Bastardo of Philadelphia both got their first shot at taking the bump in the bigs, and both ended their evenings with their first Major League win. Vin Mazzaro, a 22 year old righty, was touted earlier this year as part of the new ‘Big Three’ in Oakland. Long gone are the original three, Tim Hudson, Mark Mulder and Barry Zito. Mazzaro, along with Trevor Cahill and Brett Anderson are being called the ‘Little Three’ by Oakland media. Mazzaro was the last to make his Major League Debut, joining his teammates Tuesday evening against the Chicago White Sox. Mazzaro did not disappoint, picking up a win in 6.1 shutout innings against the hot White Sox in the hitter friendly US Cellular Field. He struck out only one batter and did walk four, so as far as debuts go, it was far from great. Vin Mazzaro was very solid in the hitting heavy PCL league in this year. His ERA was a solid 2.40 with a K/9 rate of 7.0. Those numbers are in line with his 2008 numbers as he also had an ERA below 3.00 and a K/9 rate of 6.9. He did a good job limiting his walks in the minors and will need to continue to do so since he does not appear to be a big time strikeout pitcher. Mazzaro will certainly be handled with kid gloves during his time in the rotation this year as the A’s continue their perennial youth movement. Oakland is falling further behind in the AL West race and it would not surprise me to see them limit the innings of their youngsters towards the end of the season. Also, if Justin Duchsherer ever returns from injury one of their future stars will head back to AAA. He is someone to keep your eye on in AL-Only and deep mixed league formats, but he should be grabbed in dynasty leagues. Pitching in Oakland will keep his ratios lower than most rookies, but with a poor offense behind him, I do not expect many wins from Mazzaro. Antonio Bastardo drew the tough task of facing Jake Peavy in San Diego for his Major League debut. The Phillies got to Peavy early and he was pulled after one inning complaining of flu-like symptoms. Bastardo was staked to an early 4-0 lead and cruised through six innings allowing only one run on a homerun by Adrian Gonzalez. He struck out five batters and only allowed one walk and four hits. Bastardo was recalled this week to take the place of Brett Myers who may be lost for the season after hip surgery last week. With the Phillies top pitching prospect, Carlos Carrasco, struggling at AAA so far this year Bastardo will be given a few starts to try and earn the fifth starter spot. Between AA and AAA this season, Bastardo has posted a miniscule ERA of 1.90. He has 51 stikeouts in 47.1 innings to go along with only 10 walks. One of his major problems in 2008 was the number of free passes he issues, walking 47 in 97.1 innings. His high home run rate, allowing 15 homers in only 19 games, was also a concern. Some of that could have to do with some arm troubles he was having last year which he is no longer suffering from. So far this year he has been able to cut both of those numbers down significantly, and if he can continue to do this he could be a fantasy contributor for the rest of the year. Bastardo is another guy that I would not waste a high waiver on in a shallow league, but NL-Only leagues and deep mixed leagues should keep their eye on this kid. The Phillies score a lot of runs so he should be in line for some good win totals, but keep in mind that their home ballpark has shown to be a bit of a launching pad. If you are chasing wins (which can be very dangerous) and K’s, Bastardo could be a good option for you.