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Scouting Party: MLB Scouts Liking What They See in New and Improved Rangers Starter Brandon McCarthy

PEORIA, Ariz. - The two long-time scouts had been baking in the hot Arizona sun all afternoon Thursday. Maybe their assessment of Ranger starter Brandon McCarthy’s outing against Seattle was colored by heat stroke or sun blindness.

But, if it wasn’t, wow, McCarthy hasn’t received these kinds of reviews since the Rangers first traded John Danks to Chicago for him in December, 2006.

In a 9-1 win over Seattle, McCarthy displayed superb command of his fastball and showed off his new slider with panache. He was only supposed to throw three innings or 50 pitches, but because he was so effective at getting ahead of hitters – he threw first pitch strikes to 11 of 13 Mariners – his pitch count was low enough after three innings to send him out for a fourth. Even after a perfect fourth, he was still a handful of pitches away from reaching his limit.

When McCarthy was done, the scouts took turns trying to top each other in lauding his performance.

“The best breaking ball I’ve ever seen him through,” said one.

“You can call it a ‘slider’ or you can call it a ‘slurve’ [slider/curveball hybrid],” the other responded. “But whatever you do, call it an above average pitch. It was very, very good.”

The slider – or slurve – has been a spring-long project for McCarthy, who has shelved dreams of throwing one dramatic, tumbling curve ball after another for the time being. He had been delayed slightly from showing it off by a slight shoulder twinge. That forced him out of one “A” game start.

On Thursday, it looked like the delay caused him no worries whatsoever. He struck out the first two batters of the game, getting ahead with a fastball that consistently ranged from 90-92 mph (one report had it touching 94) and darted to the lower outside corner of the plate and then coming back with the breaking pitch to put them off balance. He struck out leadoff hitter Ronny Cedeno with a fastball, then made No.2 hitter Chris Woodward flail hopelessly at a breaking ball. He also threw a slider to complete a strikeout of Wladimir Balentein to end the second inning.

“I really wanted to get the fastball down as much as I could,” said McCarthy, whose two seasons with the Rangers have been marked more by high pitch counts and injuries than by memorable performances. “I was able to get Strike One with it and that’s important. I can’t work up in the zone. I have to work on being more economical with my pitches. When you get up 0-and-1 in the count and can put the batter a little bit on the edge, you are going to have a real chance at being more efficient.”

Said manager Ron Washington: “He used all of his pitches today and to both sides of the plate. He got ahead, worked ahead and stayed ahead. It’s something I’d like see more of that from our guys this year.”

McCarthy has opted to make the slider/slurve his primary breaking pitch to reduce stress and torque on his arm. He came up with the idea over the winter and made the suggestion to new pitching coach Mike Maddux. Maddux let him run with the idea.

Maddux has said he doesn’t want McCarthy to forget about the curve ball, but was willing to allow him to experiment with the slider. He’s now one of three pitchers in camp experimenting with it; the others are Thomas Diamond and Scott Feldman.

For now, though McCarthy – and his stuff – stick out from the crowd. Where a year ago, he had scouts shaking their heads in disappointment; now they are shaking their heads in disbelief.