| Has four pitches in his arsenal. Arguably his best pitch is a mid 90's fastball that he throws with relative ease. Kazmir also throws a hard breaking 10-4 slider that comes in the low 80s that works well as a major league pitch as well. His third pitch is a changeup which according to a scouting report published by Baseball America, appears to be a major-league quality pitch as well at times. Kazmir struggles with his changeup at times however, sometimes not being able to make the bottom of the pitch fall out like it is supposed to. His final pitch is an 11-5 curveball that while having good movement, often comes in too fast to be an effective pitch, usually clocking in the high 70s to low 80s and looking too much like his slider. Another one of Kazmir's strengths is that while he is a strikeout pitcher, he tends not to give up a lot of home runs. In 32 games in 2005, he led all rookies with 174 strikeouts while only giving up 12 home runs over 186 innings (or 1HR every 15.5 innings).
Kazmir has a couple other weaknesses other than the aforementioned issues with his changeup and curveball pitches. Kazmir at times has shown a lack of aggressiveness with his pitching, which has resulted in a high number of walks. Often Kazmir will get ahead of a hitter in the pitch count, only to attempt to finish the strikeout by 'painting the corners' with his fastball and slider, and throwing the pitches off the plate instead. He led all of the American League last year with 100 walks. Kazmir also has been criticized for struggling to hold runners on bases, but showed improvement last year, allowing only 7 stolen bases in 2005 while he was on the mound. Kazmir did not have a very good pickoff move to first, which was especially unusual for a left-hander. However, in 2006, his pickoff move had improved greatly and he was among the leaders in the category of baserunners picked off.
2006-
Kazmir started the season opener April 3 at Baltimore. At 22 years, 2 months and 10 days Kazmir was the youngest opening day starter since Dwight Gooden with the Mets in 1986. He lost the decision after 6 ER in 4 IP, but has been extremely impressive since with an overall 10-8 record with 163 strikeouts and a 3.24 ERA in 144.2 innings pitched. Kazmir has won decisions against Cy Young winner Roy Halladay, two-time 20 game winner Jamie Moyer, two-time All Star and 20 game winner Dontrelle Willis, 2001 World Series MVP and 3-time 20 game winner Curt Schilling, 2003 World Series MVP Josh Beckett and Tim Wakefield, who is 14-2 lifetime against the D-Rays. He currently ranks in the Top 5 in the AL statistically in wins and strikeouts.
On June 22, 2006 Scott Kazmir passed Sandy Koufax and put himself in the 22nd spot in MLB history for most strikeouts by a left handed pitcher before his 23rd birthday. He also picked up his team leading ninth victory in the process. On July 3 Kazmir threw his first career complete game shutout against the Boston Red Sox while striking out ten and giving up only two hits.
On July 2, 2006, Kazmir was elected by the players to appear in the 2006 MLB All-Star Game, his first all-star appearance. According to reports, he was flown to Pittsburgh for the game by fellow All-Star Alex Rodriguez, whose New York Yankees played at Tampa Bay in the series right before the game, in A-Rod's private jet. In the All-Star Game, Kazmir threw a perfect sixth inning, retiring Freddy Sanchez, Carlos Beltran, and Albert Pujols.[1]
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