Better breaking pitches could make Salmon

[The Entertainer]

[quote][size=3][b]Better breaking pitches could make Salmon[/b][/size]
More complete repertoire boosts his effectiveness

BY JOHN FAY | JFAY@ENQUIRER.COM


SARASOTA, Fla. - Brad Salmon is the leader in the clubhouse in the Coming Out of Nowhere To Make the Reds Sweepstakes.

Salmon, the Reds' 21st-round choice in the 1999 draft, is scheduled to pitch an inning in the team's spring opener today against pissburgh at Bradenton, Fla.

He's caught everyone's attention in camp with a fastball that tops out in the mid-90s and a nasty split-finger pitch.

"Hopefully, they'll give me a second look," he said, "and I'll make the decision hard on them."

Salmon got on the Reds' radar by going 7-2 with a 2.44 ERA and five saves last year at Double-A Chattanooga and Triple-A Louisville.

Before last season, he had middling results. His fastball was always above average, but his breaking pitches weren't getting it done.

So after 2005, when he went a combined 3-8 with a 3.34 ERA and four saves in stops at Chattanooga and Louisville, he went to Winter Ball in Puerto Rico with a plan.

"I wanted to work on a few things as far as my splittie and my slider," he said. "It gave me a lot more confidence. I always had decent control of my fastball. My off-speed stuff was what hurt me. I'd get behind in the count and have to throw a fastball because I didn't trust my off- speed stuff.

He began trusting it last season, and it showed in his numbers.

He started the season in Chattanooga, going 2-1 with a 2.70 ERA and two saves in 16 games. He walked 16 and struck out 24.

He did markedly better after a promotion to Louisville. He went 5-1 with a 2.34 ERA and allowed only 36 hits in 57 2/3 innings. But the biggest improvement was in his walks-to-strikeouts ratio: he struck out 72 and walked only 24.

"It seemed to just click," he said.

The Reds added Salmon to the 40-man roster after the season. He got a lot of attention from coaches and scouts early in camp.

Salmon throws 93 to 96 mph - as hard as anyone in the Reds' bullpen. The pitcher on the roster he's most similar to is Todd Coffey, who went 6-7 with a 3.58 ERA and eight saves and led the Reds with 81 appearances last year.

"They're similar," Reds manager Jerry Narron said. "Todd Coffey has very good command of his pitches. That's one thing where Coffey's ahead of him. Salmon may throw a little harder. Salmon's got a pretty good (split-finger); if he can throw that in the middle of the plate and down any at all, he's going to get a lot of swing-and-misses."

Salmon was ready for camp.

"The arm feels good," he said. "I worked hard this offseason. I came into camp in the best shape to try to impress somebody, make them take a second look at me."[/quote]



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