Anthony Ranaudo

[Cornboy14]

Any educated guesses on an innings cap for him, since he spent so much of 2012 on the DL?

 

[LesterFan]

Keith Law

Anthony Ranaudo, RHP | Boston Red Sox
I'm stretching a little here to discuss Ranaudo, as it's not clear that he'd be the next pitcher recalled if the Red Sox need another starter. I loved Ranaudo at LSU, even though he did not have a huge fastball, because hitters didn't see the ball out of his hand at all and he could miss bats with the curveball.

An elbow issue messed with his junior year, dropping him out of the top 10 on my 2010 draft rankings and into the second round in the real world, and his career seemed to stall out after a shoulder injury and a groin strain wrecked his 2012 season. This year, his stuff is more than back -- he's been 92-95 consistently with a plus-plus curveball, hard in the low to mid-80s, and he's back to his old aggressive
dare-you-to-hit-this mentality on the mound, as well.

I don't expect the Red Sox to rush him, but, at some point, they'll have to try someone other than Allen Webster to fill a hole in the rotation.

 


http://insider.espn.go.com/blog/keith-law/post?id=840

 

[ALiveH]

Not sure Law is right on that one.
 
Ranaudo's never even pitched in AAA, let alone the majors, and apart from Webster, the Sox already have another pretty good starting prospect in AAA.

 

[Dionysus]

Yeah I agree ALiveH. I have no desire to jump Ranuado to MLB. Kid's finally getting himself on track, why toss him to the sharks and risk screwing with his apparently newfound confidence?

I'd definitely take a cautious approach with his advancement.

 

[Brianish]

Very nice little interview up on ESPN Boston, including a discussion of the help Pedro has offered him.
 
http://espn.go.com/blog/boston/red-sox/post/_/id/29038/video-checking-in-with-anthony-ranaudo

 

[Brianish]

Promoted to AAA
 
http://news.soxprospects.com/2013/08/anthony-ranaudo-promoted-to-triple.html
 
And our system gets a little more top heavy, and I get a little giddier. 

 

[The_Powa_of_Seiji_Ozawa]

how's his FB velocity been in the last few starts?

 

[OttoC]

how's his FB velocity been in the last few starts?

 
They didn't show pitch speeds on the broadcast tonight but around the 5th or 6th inning the announcer said he overthrew a pitch and that it registered 93-mph and was his fastest of the night.

 

[marcos10]

there has been nothing on Ranaudo in almost a year!  he has been one of the better starters in pawtucket all year, much better than barnes.  9-4 on the year with a 2.35 era.  teams hitting .202 against him.  he's not striking out a ton (81/95 inning pitched) but he is 6'7!
 
 

 

[mabrowndog]

MLB.com
 

 
Farrell said there's been a lot of discussion about giving Anthony Ranaudo a shot to start for the Red Sox, if a starter is needed at any point this season. Brandon Workman, in Triple-A now, would likely be the first choice, but Ranaudo would likely be next. The 6-foot-7, LSU product has posted a 2.62 ERA and .213 average against in 19 starts with Pawtucket this season.
 
"He's been talked about a lot," Farrell said of Ranaudo, the club's No. 8 prospect. "The reports have been strong. He's been in the discussion if a starter was needed. He's doing everything he can to impact that."

 

[ALiveH]

makes sense with RDLR's pitch count.  but i'd think Webster is in that discussion too and possibly Wright.

 

[mabrowndog]

So, a pretty cool major league debut for the kid. He beats the Yankees for his first career win, and strikes out his childhood hero Derek Jeter for his first career K.
 

Joon Lee ‏@iamjoonlee 1h
.@Anthony_Ranaudo got two game balls: his first strikeout against Derek Jeter and the game ball. Said he will give one to each parent.

Ryan Hannable ‏@RyanHannable 1h
Ranaudo on striking out Derek Jeter: “That’s something that’s going to be part of my life for the rest of my life ... It's pretty awesome."

 
Photo by SoSH member Sitting Still (aka Kelly O'Connor) Great shot!
 

 
Let's break it down with Jnai's superb PITCHf/x tool at BrooksBaseball.net
 
Ranaudo threw 91 pitches over 6 innings, 53 for strikes. The most notable events (other than the Jeter whiff and Beltran's solo HR) were probably the first-batter walks he issued to lead off the 1st, 2nd and 6th innings. Those happened to be the frames with his highest pitch counts (18, 18 and 22 respectively). All four of his walks on the night were to LHH (Beltran, Ellsbury, and Gardner twice).
 
His first-pitch location didn't help, as he was consistently leaving his initial offerings to Yankee LHH up.
 

 
 
And that was regardless of pitch type:

 
 
In terms of pitch mix, he relied heavily on the 4-seamer (68 in all, 75% of his work). He added 16 curves (18%), 4 changeups (4%) and a few 2-seamers (3%). He threw the fastball 91-95 mph through the first 3 innings, but was pretty much 90-93 from the 4th on.
 

 
 
Here's the Beltran HR in the 4th (catcher's view). The money shot came on a 90.5-mph fastball on the outer third of the plate near the top of the strike zone. The next one of those Carlos misses will be the first.
 

 
 
And here's the three-pitch strikeout of Jeter. All fastballs and all pretty much perfectly located on the outside edge, with the swing-and-miss on the 2nd pitch in the upper-outside corner.
 

 
I mean, holy shit.
 

 

[JimBoSox9]

Brooks also reports on the 4-seamer an average velocity of 93.6 and horizontal movement of -6.2 inches; numbers which favorably compare to one Michael Bowden (for all you gamethreaders out there).
 
On a more personal note, that 2-seamer he snuck into McCann's kitchen for the K in the 6th made me chortle in happiness.  If he has more than 3 of those a game in him, I may look to trade in my hater card for a bandwagon ticket.