Joe Blanton will be taking the mound for the Phillies in Game 4 of their NLCS showdown against the Giants. To help get you ready, we offer the following scouting report.
Joe Blanton: Analyzing The Phillies’ NLCS Game 4 Starting Pitcher
Vitals
6’3, 252
Right-handed
175.2 innings
4.82 ERA
6.9 K/9
2.2 BB/9
2010 Playoffs
N/A. 15.2 innings, 10 runs, 4 walks, 10 strikeouts in 2009.
Repertoire
Blanton is similar to Texas' Tommy Hunter, in that he's a big guy who isn't exactly overpowering. He survives with deception and a broad pitch mix of five different weapons. The one hitters see most is a standard fastball in the 87-90mph range. After that, he kind of jumbles together a cutter, a slider, a curve, and a changeup. His cutter sits in the high-80s and has very slight break in towards lefties, with little sink. His slider's in the mid-80s, and breaks in towards lefties more. He throws a 76-79mph curve of the 12-6 variety. Finally, his changeup hands out in the low-80s and moves like his fastball. He is neither a flyball nor a groundball pitcher.
Facing Righties
Righties see all of Blanton’s pitches, and he peppers the zone against them, throwing strikes more than 68% of the time. There is little he does that’s predictable. He prefers to work up-down rather than side-to-side. He’ll throw any of his pitches first, trying to keep his fastball in and his cutter away. Behind in the count, he’s prone to centering the ball, but the hitter still won’t know which pitch he’s throwing. When he’s ahead, he’ll avoid the center and pitch to each edge, with changeups down and in and sliders away. His best swing-and-miss pitch is his curve, with a contact rate of 66%, although his slider is only slightly higher.
Facing Lefties
Lefties don’t see quite so many strikes from Blanton, but they do see all of his pitches. He likes to try to get ahead with a fastball, with regular fastballs outside and cutters inside. He’ll do the same thing when he’s behind, although he’ll keep the hitter honest by dropping changeups over the outer half. Ahead in the count 0-1, Blanton likes to pound lefties inside with his cutter, and sometimes with his slider. At 0-2, he’ll seldom throw a strike. At 1-2, he’ll keep everything down, with changes and sliders away and cutters in. And at 2-2, he’ll come up a little more and limit his use of breaking balls. His best whiff pitch against lefties is his changeup, with a contact rate of 59% during the year. That pitch lives away, and mostly down.
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