2011 Scouting Report 40-man Roster, D.J. Carrasco

D.J. Carrasco- #77

33 years old (34 in April)
7th major league season (didn't pitch in majors in 06 or 07)
6'4" 220 pounds (although some reports have him at 6'1")
Bats R/Throws R

Profile: Drafted in the 26th round of the 1997 draft, he didn't make his major league debut until 2003 with the Kansas City Royals, who took him in the rule 5 draft in 2002.  Since then he's bounced around with the Diamondbacks, White Sox, and split last year between the Pirates and Diamondbacks. He signed a 2 year, 2.5 million dollar contract with the Mets this off-season.

The Good: He has the flexibility to both start or relieve, and has thrown close to 100 innings in a year (2009 White Sox, 93 1/3 innings). He is said to have a "rubber arm", so I wonder if Terry Collins will see if he can blow an arm out quicker than J Manuel did with F Nieve? He's a ground-ball pitcher, and has done very well versus righties in his career (.252 average, 1.26 WHIP), while he finally had success versus lefties last year (.252 average, 1.37 WHIP). When the Mets signed him, pitching coach Dan Warthen joked that he needs a catcher with eight fingers to give Carrasco signs. Not only does he vary his arm angle from 3/4s to side-arm, he also throws: Sinking fastball (90 mph), a hard slider (80 mph), cutter (88 mph), curveball (76 mph) and change-up (84 mph). Last year his two best pitches were his cutter and curve.

The Bad: He's a ground ball pitcher and he doesn't get many swings and misses (7.3% for his career, but it rose it 8.7% last year), and prior to last year, he was only striking out 5.8/9. While his K/9 rose last year to still below league average of 7.5, he also saw his W/9 rise to 3.9. The old book on him was that he couldn't get lefties out, as lefties have hit to a tune of .280 BAA, and a 1.67 WHIP for his career.

Video: 1st Base view:


3rd Base View:


He throws almost effortlessly and has a smooth arm action.


Role: He will be an option in the 6th-8th innings, with the opportunity to pitch multiple innings. Keep an eye on his effectiveness against lefties this year, as well as if he can continue the trend of increasing his swing and misses/strike-out rate while keeping his walk rate from rising again.

My Projected innings: 80 innings, 4.20 ERA, 1.40 WHIP, 60 Ks (6.75 K/9), 30 walks (3.37 W/9)

Previous Scouting Reports:
Chris Capuano
Taylor Buchholz
Pedro Beato
Manuel Alvarez
Manny Acosta