Velasquez was shaky, settled down after he got a big lead but was really tentative the first couple innings.
Compared to Pivetta, he's a "max effort" FB guy, seems to overthrow a lot, when he got the lead he relaxed and had the same velocity but better command. If Velasquez was a raw rookie you'd write it off to inexperience, but at this point you wonder if he just doesn't get it.
When he overthrows his FB straightens out and is very hitable (velocity is overrated, they pounded the Marlin pitcher throwing 98-99 because he had no command or movement). His breaking ball is very inconsistent and his change up is rarely used and is a minus pitch. The stuff is there but is the mental aptitude? Makes me think of "Meat" in Bull Durham.
Thompson had a nice outing but the Marlins had raised the white flag. Touched 92 a few times but his breaking ball was either very good or two feet off the plate. A month or two in Lehigh to work out his kinks isn't the worst thing that could happen to him right now.
Alfaro is really, really talented, it remains to be seen if he's the hitting equivalent of Velasquez, when he relaxed and stopped trying to hit the ball 450 feet he managed to hit it 430 feet. And a great defensive play on a dribbler, after a horrible throw in the 1st inning he never should have made.
