Diehard Quotebook: Mike Cather

In compiling the Diehard prospect issue, we spoke with numerous coaches, managers and executives throughout the Red Sox organization. Double-A Portland pitching coach Mike Cather, who served in the same capacity at Single-A Wilmington last year, shares his thoughts here on Andrew Dobies, Tommy Hottovy and Mike Rozier. (FREE EXAMPLE OF PREMIUM CONTENT!)

Andrew Dobies: “‘Dobie’s a great kid. We consider him to have an average fastball, but what he has is the ability to locate. He has four pitches that he can throw for strikes at anytime. He developed a cutter last year, which was kind of our big project—to get the feel for throwing the pitch inside to a righty for the simple purpose of just a pop-up or jam shot to shortstop. His velocity is mid-to-upper 80s, which on the major league standard is not a plus fastball. But the major leagues are filled with these guys—the 88 to 90, the 85 to 89 guy that spots his pitches and mixes his pitches well. And that’s one of the tradeoffs if you are short on velocity: You have to make it up with intelligence and pitch selection and location. Andrew possesses all of them.”

Tommy Hottovy: “Tommy’s a great kid. Velocity, again, is kind of middle of the road. He’ll touch 90 every once in a while, but he lives at 86 to 88. He probably has the best feel for pitching out of anybody that I saw last year. And what I mean by that is being able to take in any tiny intricacies or tiny bits of information from hitters on what they’re looking for or flaws in a swing. And that’s one of those things that just don’t go into reports. It’s something that if you ask Tom Glavine or Greg Maddux what they saw, they could probably tell you. It’s a true understanding of pitching and I feel Tommy’s biggest asset is one, his ability to stay calm and work out of situations and two, to be able to exploit weaknesses with the stuff that he has. And he’s a phenomenal worker. Very disciplined. If you had a staff full of Tommy and Andrew Dobies, you’d be ecstatic because they take care of their stuff. There’s no babysitting. They have a purpose and they want to get to the big leagues.”

Mike Rozier: “‘Rosey.’ Only saw him for one game or two. Wide body, good, live fastball. He struggled a little bit with breaking ball command, which is what everybody’s supposed to do in A-ball. That’s where they learn it. And his fastball was up a little bit. Other than that, he’s got the body, he’s got the frame, he’s got the endurance. He had a start at [Portland] this past season and went out and competed. We had a really good report from him. He’s one of those guys that’s not afraid of a challenge and will run it out there for you. I have very little experience with ‘Rosie’ but he’s a good kid.“

Diehard managing editor Jerry Beach can be reached at [e-mail]. To receive a free issue of Diehard, call 888-979-0979.