Ladies and Gentlemen, Mark Melancon

The highly touted Mark Melancon threw his first Double-A pitch for the Thunder tonight.  In fact, here is that first pitch.

As for the rest of them, he had a so-so eighth inning, allowing one run on two hits while striking out two. 

Melancon — pronounced like “Mell-ann-son,” not “Mell-ann-cone” or “Mell-ann-con” – then came out for the ninth inning to close the game, getting a first pitch fly out to center, followed by two more strikeouts.

All in all, he allowed one run on two hits, walked none and struck out four.

“He certainly throws the ball with a lot of velocity, and his curveball was very sharp,” said Thunder manager Tony Franklin.

“He came right on time as far as I’m concerned.  We were beat up a little bit in the bullpen after the past few days, but he’s right on time.  I liked what I saw out there tonight.”

Usually, Franklin won’t know too much about any of the players he gets before he sees them play.  This was not the case with the much-hyped Melancon.

“He comes highly recommended, and with some very good credentials,” Franklin said. 

“This is his first full season, but people have always liked his arm.  They liked his arm when they signed him, and they continue to like his arm.  It’s unfortunate that he suffered the injury and had to begin all over.”

He was around 92 MPH with his fastball for the eighth inning when I was checking out the gun, but I did see him touch 94 early in the frame.

Here’s a look at him from behind the plate.  Maybe someone more qualified than myself can describe his arm action…to me, it looks like a long, sweeping motion.  Kind of like a catapult.  Might be hard to see from the videos.

Melancon was not available for comment after the game because he was in the weight room for a good thirty minutes before reporters eventually left to go home.

Mike Ashmore, mashmore98 AT gmail.com