Daily Notes: Kevin Gausman Preparedness Manual

Table of Contents
Here’s the table of contents for today’s edition of the Daily Notes.

1. Featured Game: Baltimore at Toronto, 19:07pm ET
2. Today’s MLB.TV Free Game
3. Today’s Complete Schedule

Featured Game: Baltimore at Toronto, 19:07pm ET
Regarding This Game, Who’s Starting It for Baltimore
Starting this game for Baltimore, in terms of a pitcher, is Compelling Baseball Prospect Kevin Gausman. The appearance will mark Gausman’s first in the majors.

Regarding Gausman, Some Potentially Useful Information
Originally drafted by, but ultimately refusing to sign with, the Dodgers in 2010, Gausman was ultimately taken by the Orioles fourth overall in last season’s draft out of LSU — behind, that is, only Carlos Correa (Astros), Byron Buxton (Twins), and Mike Zunino (Mariners).

Regarding Gausman, His Prospect Status
Prior to the season, Gausman predictably appeared on all the notable top-100 prospect lists. Here are some examples of where, specifically:

Baseball America: 26th
Baseball Prospectus: 13th
Bullpen Banter: 15th
FanGraphs: 15th
John Sickels: 23rd
Keith Law: 26th

Regarding Gausman, His Performance
In 13 minor-league starts between last season (at Low-A Aberdeen and High-A Frederick) and this one (at Double-A Bowie), Gausman has posted the following line: 61.1 IP, 9.1 K/9, 0.9 BB/9, 0.9 HR/9.

Regarding Gausman, His Projection
Gausman’s rest-of-season projection according to Steamer is as follows: 63.0 IP, 8.0 K/9, 2.7 BB/9, 1.0 HR/9, 3.93 ERA, 3.79 FIP, 0.8 WAR.

Gausman’s Repertoire: Fastball
Reports, like J.D. Sussman’s very recent one that appeared in these electronic pages, generally place Gausman’s fastball in the 96-98 mph range with good movement.

Here’s an example of Gausman’s fastball from this spring, against Boston’s Brock Holt:

Gausman’s Repertoire: Slider
Again according to Sussman, there were questions with regard to Gausman’s breaking ball out of college — questions which he seems to be answering rather well. Gausman throws his slider in the 82-84 mph range, generally.

Here’s an example of it, again from this spring, this time to elicit a swinging strike from Jonny Gomes:

Gausman’s Repertoire: Changeup
Reports of Gausman’s changeup are almost entirely gushing. Like the slider, he throws it in the 82-84 mph — although with that pitch’s signature fade and depth.

Here’s an example of the pitch to Jackie Bradley from this spring:

And that same pitch in slow motion, for no purpose other than the reader’s Continued Amusement:

Readers’ Preferred Broadcast
Per the results of our crowdsourcing project from the 2011-2012 offseason, FanGraphs readers prefer Toronto Radio, probably (link).

Today’s MLB.TV Free Game
Minnesota at Detroit | 19:08 ET
Scott Diamond (39.2 IP, 113 xFIP-, 0.1 WAR) faces Rick Porcello (38.0 IP, 84 xFIP-, 0.3 WAR). Here’s Rick Porcello’s career strikeout rate: 13.1%. Here’s his strikeout rate this season: 17.0%. And, finally, here’s his strikeout rate over his last four starts (25.0 IP): 25.0%.

Readers’ Preferred Broadcast: Detroit Radio.

Today’s Complete Schedule
Here’s the complete schedule for all of today’s games, with our very proprietary watchability (NERD) scores for each one. Pitching probables and game times aggregated from MLB.com and RotoWire. The average NERD Game Score for today is 5.8.

Note: the following table is entirely sortable.

Away		SP	Tm.	Gm.	Tm.	SP		Home	Time
Edwin Jackson	CHN	5	5	5	7	3	PIT	Jeanmar Gomez*	12:35
Kevin Gausman*	BAL	12	7	7	4	2	TOR	Brandon Morrow	19:07
Scott Diamond	MIN	2	3	5	8	8	DET	Rick Porcello	19:08
Zach McAllister	CLE	4	9	6	8	6	BOS	Ryan Dempster	19:10
Joe Blanton	LAA	5	5	6	7	7	KC	Ervin Santana	20:10

To learn how Pitcher and Team NERD Scores are calculated, click here.
To learn how Game NERD Scores are calculated, click here.
* = Fewer than 20 IP, NERD at discretion of very handsome author.