Mike Usher  
Starting Pitcher | Retired or Inactive Players

Pitching
Usher's control is among the best in the game. He is adept at coaxing groundballs with his sinking fastball and plunging curveball, so hitters try to force him to elevate his deliveries and hope that they'll catch too much of the strike zone. His fastball is just average, and therefore he relies heavily on placing it in different parts of the strike zone or setting it up with his changeup. He has an above-average changeup and the ability to throw from a variety of arm angles. The running movement on his pitches makes life tougher on lefties than righties.

Defense & Hitting
He's reasonably quick to the plate but needs to vary his pickoff moves. Good baserunners appeared to time him last year. He isn't especially quick off the mound but generally fields his position adequately. Usher is a surpisingly good hitting pitcher. And I'm not sure you can say this about a pitcher, but Usher has some pop in his swing. Interesting sidenote, The Retired or Inactive Players have been known to use Usher as a pinch-runner on occasion.

2014 Outlook
I really like what this kid brings to the table.

          -- Moostard Nyman
 

 

Year Team AS EN CO HR GF vL Hm Sc CL FB CU SI SL CB SC KN Age Exp Delivery Slot CH PH SP FA Nyman Rating
2003 SJ 92 88 96 68 54 57 45 52 50 63 69 0 58 60 0 0 29 4 Overhand Active 0 0 0 50 456
2004 STO 90 86 96 68 54 57 45 52 50 63 69 0 58 60 0 0 30 5 Overhand DL 0 0 0 50 450
2005 STO 89 85 96 68 54 57 45 52 50 63 69 0 58 65 0 0 32 7 Overhand Active 0 0 0 50 452
2006 STO 89 85 96 68 54 57 45 52 50 63 69 0 58 65 0 0 32 7 Overhand Active 0 0 0 50 452
2007 MOS 93 83 96 66 54 57 45 52 50 63 72 0 58 71 0 0 33 8 Overhand Active 0 0 0 50 463
2008 MEL 93 84 96 65 54 57 45 52 50 63 72 0 58 71 0 0 34 9 Overhand Active 0 0 0 50 462
2009 MEL 92 87 96 66 54 57 45 52 50 63 72 0 58 71 0 0 35 10 Overhand Active 0 0 0 50 464
2010 MEL 91 86 96 66 54 57 45 52 50 63 72 0 58 73 0 0 36 11 Overhand Active 0 0 0 48 464
2011 MEL 93 84 96 64 54 57 45 52 50 63 72 0 58 73 0 0 37 12 Overhand Active 0 0 0 47 461
2012 MEL 91 81 96 64 54 57 45 52 50 63 72 0 58 73 0 0 38 13 Overhand Active 0 0 0 46 454
2013 MEL 88 79 96 63 54 57 45 52 50 63 72 0 58 73 0 0 39 14 Overhand Active 0 0 0 46 446
Ratings Delta   -3 -2   -1                         +1 +1             -8
History generated by Biorhythm v2.6.86 on Tue May 10 16:22:47 EDT 2005

Data printed in red denotes that player was in the top two percent for that category and year. Blue data denotes membership to the bottom two percent.