Josh Outman made his major league debut yesterday and pitched 2 scoreless innings, allowing 2 hits and striking out two as well. He was consistently hitting 95 mph on the gun, which is very impressive coming from a lefty. Outman was acquired from the Phillies along with Adrian Cardenas and Mathew Spencer in the Joe Blanton deal. Outman has been used as both a starter and a reliever, he says he prefers to be a starter but that he has liked pitching in relief as well. I would like to see Outman as a starter, not because he can't be an effective reliever, but I think he has too much talent and is far too young to be turned into a reliever right now. He has a plus fastball, a good slider and a decent changeup. If I had to compare him to a major league pitcher, I would say he's like Jeff Francis (Colorado Rockies Starter) they're both hard throwing lefties with good secondary pitches.
Hopefully Outman gets the opportunity to start a game or two this year, so he can gain some experience from starting at the major league level. Outman is not even in the top three pitching prospects for the A's (Brett Anderson, Trevor Cahill, Gio Gonzalez) are all above him, this demonstrates just how impressive the A's minor league pitchers are. As an A's fan as hard as it is to watch them struggle right now, I have faith that they will be a really good team come 2010 if not next year.
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