Scouting Report, RHP Kevin Millwood

I saw Millwood earlier this year when I went to the Twins game; I will try to be as objective as possible on this scouting report, but I will say this to start: He turns into Steve Traschel, aka "The Human Rain Delay", whenever there were runners on base. And as you will see, that is often.

This 14-year major league veteran is 35-years old and was drafted in the 11th round in 1993 by the Braves. He spent 6 years with the Braves, 2 with the Phillies, 1 with the Indians, 4 with the Rangers, and this is his first year with the Orioles. For his career, he's 155-128, with a 4.05 ERA and 1.31 WHIP. He's started 29+ games 10 out of the last 12 years. He is similar to Jon Garland "league-average inning eater". But he is making 12 million dollars this year, and is on the staff to mentor the rest of the young Orioles starters. He's started 20 games against the Mets (most of them early in his career with the Braves), and is 8-5 with a 3.36 ERA and 1.19 WHIP.

He has a small wind-up and throws straight over-the-top. He commands an 88-91 mph to both sides of the plate; he cuts in on lefties and away from righties. He throws a short-late breaking slider and a tight curve any time in the count. He's decreased the use of his fastball to 59% (especially his 4-seam and increased his 2-seam) and increased his slider to 24%. His curve-ball is slow, and averages 72 mph. His best pitch this year has been his change-up and his curve-ball and slider have been pounded this year.

So far this year he's 0-7 with a 4.64 ERA and 1.44 WHIP. He's a fly-ball pitcher who has been victimized by a ton of home runs (16 in 85 innings), which is the highest rate of his career. He's striking out 7.3/9 (best since 2004) and only 2.7 W/9. He's let up six earned runs in each of his last two starts, including two home runs in each of those games (both versus the Yankees). He's allowed two runs or less in three of his 13 starts this year.

He will be on the trade market at the end of July, and I know some Mets fans are clamoring for him already, but I am/will not be one of them