Comments on: A little missing from Phil’s fastball

By: Betsy

Betsy — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 17:43:31 +0000

Phil was pitching through a rib injury in 2008 – that explains the diminished velocity

By: Pete

Pete — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 17:27:59 +0000

the thing that i don’t get is, if a guy is considerably past his innings limit, wouldn’t he likely be losing effectiveness fast, and therefore be an unwise choice for significant innings in the playoffs?

By: theyankeewarrior

theyankeewarrior — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 17:26:15 +0000

Btw, I like the post. I didn’t mean for my response to sound otherwise.

I just wanted to note that a reliable changeup will help a guy like Hughes to get through times when his heater isn’t necessarily blowing the world away.

By: theyankeewarrior

theyankeewarrior — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 17:22:39 +0000

His fastball will produce more swing-and-misses when he develops his changeup. Sure, his curve is a nice off-speed pitch, but when he doesn’t have his “best hook” (AJ’d) it allows hitters to look for one or the other in terms of velocity.

Yes, his cutter has helped too, but it’s still a form of a fastball, and the velocity is similar to that of his 4-seamer.

He really needs to develop his changeup, and I hope that throwing it 4 times a week is not their plan to make it a plus pitch.

Ankiel, Podsednik, and the rest of KC’s league average lefties would have been the perfect team to start utilizing it on.

By: Jamal G.

Jamal G. — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 17:18:21 +0000

Does the decrease in the vertical break of his four-seamer have anything to do with what you hear about a pitcher “not getting on top” of the heater? Essentially, does anyone know enough about pitching mechanics to comment on whether this could be logically attributed to it?

By: YankeesJunkie

YankeesJunkie — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 17:15:27 +0000

I would like to mention Hughes’s home/away splits. On the road Hughes has given up 0 home runs while at home he has given up 2.06 HR/9. Neither of those rates are sustainable so maybe part of it is that Hughes has not quite learn how to pitch well in a park that does tend to its fair share of home runs. This is all part of the development of a young starter and there are going to be ups and downs, but hopefully he will take this year and have a better next year.

By: Rob

Rob — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 17:04:35 +0000

This.

By: Doug

Doug — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 16:56:16 +0000

thanks, whozat. you too, CC

By: whozat

whozat — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 16:52:30 +0000

Yes, but essentially the tradeoff point for the organization has changed. The risk is the same to the pitcher, perhaps even greater. But the upside to the org of taking on that risk is higher as well. Flags fly forever, postseason games bring in money, being a consistent contender brings in money and helps recruit players…

You’re always trying to maximize long-term benefit for the organization. One way to do that is to protect your young arms, so that you have cost-controlled quality pitching. Another is to win championships. Once you’re in the postseason, you’re willing to risk more to increase your odds of achieving that increased upside.

By: CountryClub

CountryClub — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 16:49:58 +0000

I don’t disagree with you. But I guess teams figure that once you get to the 2nd season, it’s worth any possible damage to win the title.