Sean Nolin's Debut

Sean Nolin’s First Career Start

                There weren’t too many positives about Nolin’s first Major League start. He, although, showed decent control in the first with the fastball (92-89 mph). He didn’t show much control with the change (84-80 mph). The curveball (71 mph) got hit hard, but was well controlled, as it seemed the Oriole hitters knew it was coming, maybe because of extended loop, so the spots didn’t much matter. The one ball that left the park was a slow curve that was out of the zone, as Hardy golfed it over the left field wall. Nolin then gave up a single, but got a ground ball to end the inning.

In the second, the fastball didn’t touch 92, and sat at 88, as he only recorded 1 out, then was lifted from the game. The secondary stuff continued to be hit hard, and Nolin shied away from his curveball usage. He started to leave balls up, and lost most control, possibly due do his cross-body arm action (as pointed out by @SherLander). This arm action can cause a complete loss on control, and it looks like that’s what happened to Nolin in the second, making him pitch more to the heart of the plate, where he can’t survive, ask Ricky Romero.

                Overall, Nolin didn’t impress a sole, nor should a guy who should be in AAA. He shows promise, but needs to tighten the breaking pitches, and clean up his mechanics in the minor leagues. Anthopoulos needs to realize that Buffalo is not in the PCL, and stop rushing guys from AA. There are better hitters in AAA, where the pitchers can face greater adversity before the big league call up.