Mark Cohoon Scouting Report (2010)
Mets prospect followers must be wondering at this point who the real Mark Cohoon is? After posting a 1.30 ERA in thirteen starts including three consecutive strikeouts which earned national attention, Cohoon was promoted to AA with significantly less success. After four starts, a bloated 6.38 ERA has sucked some of the helium from his heightened prospect status.
Physical Projection: At 6'2", 195 lbs., Cohoon is fully developed and does not make his living off of rearing back and throwing hard. He's a good enough athlete to repeat his delivery and his mechanics are effortless. However, the polish comes with virtually no physical projection leaving him a lefty with little room for error going forward.
Mound Presence: An intelligent, steady pitcher with both poise, and a strong understanding of how to pitch, Cohoon was simply too advanced for "Sally" hitters to handle. On days where he did not have his best stuff, Cohoon showed a keen understanding of his limitations and pitched to his strengths.
Fastball: Featuring an 86-88 MPH fastball, topping out at 89, Cohoon can cut the pitch to either side of the plate. When at his best, he is able to use the pitches glove-side run and drop to give both right and left-handed hitters fits. It's late action makes it difficult to barrel the ball and causes more than its share of ground balls and soft contact. Due to his ability to throw multiple breaking pitches for strikes, his velocity plays up at this level giving him an unfair advantage over younger, less seasoned wood-bat hitters.
On an isolated occasion, Cohoon struggled to locate his fastball to the point he dropped his velocity to 84-86 MPH just to throw strikes. A handful of 2-seam fastballs registered at 82 MPH which served as a strong reminder of just how little margin for error Cohoon has. In other leagues, he would have made an early exit.
Curveball: More of a slurve than true 12-6 offering, he was careful not to challenge hitters with the pitch, instead choosing to backdoor right-handed hitters and sweep it away from lefties. His least impressive pitch, it's a fringe average to below offering at 70-74 MPH. Without enough bite to make batters swing-and-miss, it's a pitch he may be forced to shelve has he climbs the ladder to focus on his fastball/changeup combination.
Changeup: With excellent arm action and the ability to spot on the outside corner to right-handed hitters seemingly at will, Cohoon's changeup can be a weapon. At 81-83 MPH, he pulls down on the pitch which gives it excellent drop and fade away from righties. At present, he's comfortable throwing it any count and has shown the ability to backdoor the change to lefties without risk of centering the plate.
While Mark Cohoon's present stuff plays well at the lower levels, his lack of projection will likely leave him short of a quality starting pitcher on a first division ballclub. As a former 12th round pick, a career as a swing man or LOOGY could allow him a long and successful big league career as lefties seem to hang around forever. With a fastball south of 90 MPH, he will inevitably have his share of bumps at the upper levels as he works to improve his command/control to pinpoint status from solid average to a tick above. In originally dismissing him as more of an organizational lefty, multiple scouts have pointed to a strong ground ball arsenal and pitchability which talent evaluators may covet in the event of a multi-player deal.
Physical Projection: At 6'2", 195 lbs., Cohoon is fully developed and does not make his living off of rearing back and throwing hard. He's a good enough athlete to repeat his delivery and his mechanics are effortless. However, the polish comes with virtually no physical projection leaving him a lefty with little room for error going forward.
Mound Presence: An intelligent, steady pitcher with both poise, and a strong understanding of how to pitch, Cohoon was simply too advanced for "Sally" hitters to handle. On days where he did not have his best stuff, Cohoon showed a keen understanding of his limitations and pitched to his strengths.
Fastball: Featuring an 86-88 MPH fastball, topping out at 89, Cohoon can cut the pitch to either side of the plate. When at his best, he is able to use the pitches glove-side run and drop to give both right and left-handed hitters fits. It's late action makes it difficult to barrel the ball and causes more than its share of ground balls and soft contact. Due to his ability to throw multiple breaking pitches for strikes, his velocity plays up at this level giving him an unfair advantage over younger, less seasoned wood-bat hitters.
On an isolated occasion, Cohoon struggled to locate his fastball to the point he dropped his velocity to 84-86 MPH just to throw strikes. A handful of 2-seam fastballs registered at 82 MPH which served as a strong reminder of just how little margin for error Cohoon has. In other leagues, he would have made an early exit.
Curveball: More of a slurve than true 12-6 offering, he was careful not to challenge hitters with the pitch, instead choosing to backdoor right-handed hitters and sweep it away from lefties. His least impressive pitch, it's a fringe average to below offering at 70-74 MPH. Without enough bite to make batters swing-and-miss, it's a pitch he may be forced to shelve has he climbs the ladder to focus on his fastball/changeup combination.
Changeup: With excellent arm action and the ability to spot on the outside corner to right-handed hitters seemingly at will, Cohoon's changeup can be a weapon. At 81-83 MPH, he pulls down on the pitch which gives it excellent drop and fade away from righties. At present, he's comfortable throwing it any count and has shown the ability to backdoor the change to lefties without risk of centering the plate.
While Mark Cohoon's present stuff plays well at the lower levels, his lack of projection will likely leave him short of a quality starting pitcher on a first division ballclub. As a former 12th round pick, a career as a swing man or LOOGY could allow him a long and successful big league career as lefties seem to hang around forever. With a fastball south of 90 MPH, he will inevitably have his share of bumps at the upper levels as he works to improve his command/control to pinpoint status from solid average to a tick above. In originally dismissing him as more of an organizational lefty, multiple scouts have pointed to a strong ground ball arsenal and pitchability which talent evaluators may covet in the event of a multi-player deal.
