Mat Latos to make his major league debut Sunday

[HollywoodLeo]

Latos will make Sunday's start for Padres | padres.com: News

Josh Banks DFA to make room on the 40 man roster

SAN DIEGO -- On Sunday, Padres manager Bud Black alluded to impending player movement for the second half of the season, saying "... in the next week to 10 days, you're going to see a few new faces."
One of those players will be 21-year-old right-handed pitcher Mat Latos, who will officially be recalled from Double-A San Antonio for a start Sunday against the Rockies at PETCO Park.
Latos is considered to be San Diego's top Minor League pitching prospect.
In order to make room for Latos on the 40-man and 25-man active roster, the Padres designated pitcher Josh Banks for assignment.

[ljshorty89]

Nice to see some young guys getting a chance, and hopefully succeeding, since the team as a whole isn't going anywhere this year.

[HollywoodLeo]

I agree

It's kind of cool to see Blanks and now Latos get play time.

Blanks has started off kind of slow, but you expect that from a rookie.

[NYgiantsfan5689]

What's with guys named Matt using one "t"? Mat Gamel, Mat Latos, is it the new fad?

[ljshorty89]

I agree

It's kind of cool to see Blanks and now Latos get play time.

Blanks has started off kind of slow, but you expect that from a rookie.

Leo, what is the word surrounding Latos from the Padres fan's perspective? What kind of pitcher is he, how highly touted is he, etc?

[HollywoodLeo]

Leo, what is the word surrounding Latos from the Padres fan's perspective? What kind of pitcher is he, how highly touted is he, etc?

Padres fans are excited to see him come up because he's our top prospect.

A Padres specific forum I post at has been running a "Mat Latos call up countdown thread" all season long.

That being said, they hear/read "top prospect" and get excited about it no matter who it is.

To be honest, i don't really know what type of pitcher he is. I don't follow the minors all that well. I just know he's our top pitching prospect.

[ljshorty89]

Padres fans are excited to see him come up because he's our top prospect.

A Padres specific forum I post at has been running a "Mat Latos call up countdown thread" all season long.

That being said, they hear/read "top prospect" and get excited about it no matter who it is.

To be honest, i don't really know what type of pitcher he is. I don't follow the minors all that well. I just know he's our top pitching prospect.

Ah. Part of the reason I ask is because I had him in one of the sim leagues, TPSL I believe, and he was ok.....something like a 10/6/7....never really got to be as good as I hoped.

But anyway, hopefully he does better in real life.

[HollywoodLeo]

OOTP also has Matt Bush as a serviceable player.

[ljshorty89]

Yeah, in TPSL Mat Latos is a 10/6/7.....sucks against RHB(is only a 10/6/4), and for his career, here are his stats:

181 IP, 142 Games(all relief), 2-9, 5 Saves, 5.97 ERA, 1.62 WHIP, .310 BABIP against, 197 H, 120 ER, 43 HR, 97 BB, 184 K

[HollywoodLeo]

Some fans have suggested he be our future closer, but I think if he's good enough he should start.

But, as I said, I don't follow the minors enough to have a reliable opinion.

[ljshorty89]

Some fans have suggested he be our future closer, but I think if he's good enough he should start.

But, as I said, I don't follow the minors enough to have a reliable opinion.

Gotcha. And, well, as we all know, OOTP stats do not dictate everything.

[padrefanforever]

Closer ? Hell NO.......this guy is a top of the rotation starter guys........he's filthy, had multiple "+" pitches, and is continuing to work on a change up that is expected to turn into an add'l + pitch.

This guy as a Closer would be a giant waste of talent, and is NOT being thought of as a bullpen arm. They talk about this guy as another Jake Peavy talent wise, but he very well might be better. His arm delivery is clean and easy and the ball explodes out of his hand and hit's a legit 97-98mph on the gun .....

He throws what most consider a
+2 seamer
++ 4 seamer
above avg Change up (called very dirty and could turn into a +) and actually throws two different change up pitches
above avg Splitter that he didn't use for a while so he could work on other pitches

Most with very good downward action and pounds the zone, and he's not afraid to challenge hitters. He's a free easy guy away when on the bench, but when on the hill he's focused......This guys is a goodie folks......if he can stay healthy we've got a very very good one

[HollywoodLeo]

Just to be clear, I was not advocating making him a closer. Simply stating what I heard some other fans say...admittedly a year or so ago.

He was pretty nasty the first 2 innings of his debut. He probably let nerves get to him after that.

[ljshorty89]

Not bad for a MLB debut. Didn't go deep into the game, but I've heard that he had a lot of pitches in the first inning due to a dropped pop up. Only gave up a couple runs, and overall, reporters seem impressed with him.

Congrats Padres fans, you may be moving in the direction of building a good team.

[padrefanforever]

Not bad for a MLB debut. Didn't go deep into the game, but I've heard that he had a lot of pitches in the first inning due to a dropped pop up. Only gave up a couple runs, and overall, reporters seem impressed with him.

Congrats Padres fans, you may be moving in the direction of building a good team.

He wont go deep into any starts he makes while up this year....and is on a strict pitch count. He's up to get his innings pitched in and that's all, then he'll be shut down for the year. That mean we'll probably see him pitch another 25-30 innings or so, something like that.....so 5 more starts going 5 or so innings depending on the pitch count.