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**Kitty** · 05-01-2008, 11:48 AM

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Max Scherzer major league debut Tuesday night was one of the best ever for a pitcher working in a relief role. After a disappointing Arizona Fall League performance, what was better about Scherzer last night?

• Improved velocity: Scherzer worked in the mid-90s as a starter in college, but his velocity slipped during his junior year when he hurt his shoulder; it was still off when I saw him in the Arizona Fall League last year. At that point, his velocity was anywhere from 88-96 mph, but he sat 90-92 and only dialed it up to 96 after he'd been hit around a bit. Last night, the TV gun had him sitting mostly at 93-96, averaging around 94.5 and touching 98. Even better for Scherzer: His fastball had good life. His command, while not great, was much improved, with several fastballs in his final inning of work hitting the edges of the strike zone, including a 97 mph fastball at Michael Bourn's knees and a 96 mph fastball on the outside corner to Miguel Tejada.

• Underusing the slider: With his fastball more effective and the Astros chasing, Scherzer could use his slider later in counts rather than trying to use it as a substitute for his fastball earlier in at-bats. The pitch was sharp, but mostly out of the strike zone, which is partly why you don't want to see him using it when he's trying to get ahead.

• Aggressiveness: Scherzer, pre-injury, was nasty on the mound. When I saw him with Team USA in the summer of 2005, he pitched in relief and went after every hitter, making up for iffy command with plus stuff and challenging hitters to hit his best stuff. In the Fall League, he went the other way, nibbling too much and leaving too much in his arm, rather than just airing it out, which is why I thought then and still think now that he's better suited for relief work. Last night, he held nothing back and took advantage of the NL's least-selective lineup, running a 2-0 count on the first hitter and never doing it again.

Nothing was "worse" about Scherzer, although his head-jerk was still pretty clearly visible, even from the center-field camera. Very few pitchers even reach the big leagues if they have that kind of violence at the end of their deliveries, as either poor command or injury selects them out of the pitcher pool. Scherzer's head-jerk is less pronounced than it was last fall, but it's about on par with where it was in college -- and when you combine that with the high amount of effort in his delivery, it still points to a bullpen role, long-term. Given how he pitched, however, it's hard to argue with a decision to put him into Edgar Gonzalez's spot in the rotation four days from now.

ESPN.com - Blogs - Keith Law Blog

The D-Backs have prospects for days, this kid looks like he is the real deal!