MLB DEBUT OF BEN HENDRICKSON
I got a few emails about top Brewers' pitching prospect BEN HENDRICKSON's MLB debut last night, so I'll combine them all into one sort of question...

"I thought he threw in the low 90s, what's the deal?" or "How come every prospect doesn't throw as hard as everybody says he does?

If you watched the game last night you would have noticed that Hendrickson pretty much lived at about 88mph with his fastball last night. I would offer up a few suggestions as to why he wasn't hitting 90 consistently...

1) He was just having an off day. He didn't have very good command last night (49 of 82 pitches were strikes) so it is possible that his mechanics were out of synch. I've had person experience with this so I know it is possible.

2) He may not have ever consistently thrown in the low 90s. Think back to every pitching prospect you have ever heard about and I swear that almost all of them throw with less velocity than advertised. The reason for this I think is that there is a difference between touching 90 and throwing 90. I've hit 88 on the radar gun before, but by no means do I throw 88. If you're a scout and you're high on a prospect and you've seen him throw 94, you're not really lying when you say he "throws 94", but it isn't really accurate either. I remember when VALERIO DE LOS SANTOS was in the minor leagues with the Brewers and people said that he "threw" 98. I saw him pitch for about three years in Milwaukee and I never saw him cut loose at more than 94mph. Sure, he might have dusted 98 in the minors on one night when everything was going well, but I doubt he ever did it consistently. That is my theory on why a lot of prospects don't throw as hard as advertised.