Archive for Mariano Rivera
Closing it out while fighting an injury
Posted by: | CommentsAs the Stadium emptied out and the Yanks continued to celebrate into the wee hours of the morning, Mariano Rivera stopped by the ESPN stage to chat with Peter Gammons, Steve Berman and Dave Winfield about winning the World Series. Rivera is just three and a half weeks shy of his 40th birthday, and his face expressed elation at capturing a fifth ring.
He started out the interview by talking about the long wait, putting the ghosts of 2001 to bed and Andy Pettitte. Laughing at how Pettitte performed on three days’ rest, Rivera simply said with a smile, “That old goat is wonderful.”
I know Rivera won’t complain about his workload, but he had a very long season this year. Although his regular season innings total of 66.1 was a seven-year low, his 16 postseason innings are the most he has thrown since 2003. He was clearly feeling the effects of making 78 appearances this year. “I’m beat up, man,” he said to the ESPN crew.
And then he let slip a secret. “My side was killing me. I don’t know how I finished,” Rivera said. Yankee fans had a feeling something was wrong with Rivera during Game 4 when FOX caught him holding a heating pack to his right side, and last night, he confirmed what he called a “rib injury.”
Rivera labored last night. He needed 41 pitches to get five outs after using just 13 to get the previous five outs. His velocity seemed to be a tick lower than usual, and his control wasn’t as sharp as it generally is. When the game, the season, the World Series ended, though, Rivera was on the mound, and he could rest his rib. “We did not want to say about it,” he said. “Thank God we finished that today because I don’t think I could go another day with that.”
After the game, though, Rivera said he could keep going. He wants to pitch for another five years and might just be serious about it. “I’m serious,” he said to Chad Jennings. “I hope the organization does whatever it takes to bring me back.”
In today’s Times, Jack Curry writes glowingly of Rivera, and it’s no secret that Mariano is my favorite player. In fact, for every single playoff game this season, I wore my Rivera 42 2008 All Star Game jersey. Now, we hear he is injured, and he closed out the World Series while hurt. Yet, it doesn’t show. He takes the ball; he throws that cutter; he gets his outs. The legend and the greatness of Mo just continues to grow, and five years after he retires, I’ll be in Cooperstown with him, watching a great player earn a spot in the Hall of Fame.
Mariano’s pitch sequences and game theory
Posted by: | CommentsThis is a nerdy subject, so I’ll keep it short and link-heavy. With pitch data freely available, we’re going to start seeing Game Theory used to analyze pitcher-batter matchups. Tommy at Beyond the Box Score touched on this earlier this week, and it’s a good read on pitch type game theory. Today at The Baseball Analysts, Dave Allen looks at Mariano Rivera’s pitch sequences. But, because Marino throws only one pitch, this sequencing deals with location rather than pitch type. An amazing non-game-theory note: Mo is insanely good when throwing to his glove side. Many pitchers have trouble controlling pitches on that side. Allen goes on to show how Mo fares when throwing inside to a lefty after an outside pitch, inside to a righty after an inside pitch, and so on.
As we know, Mo dominates lefties. He’s not quite as good against righties, and he’s particularly bad when going inside after an outside pitch — and is also not quite as good when going inside-outside. Tom Tango runs with that. In most cases with Game Theory, he says, we need to take the batter into consideration, because each batter has different strengths and weaknesses. With the outside-inside sequence, though, the difference is too pronounced to chalk it up to poor choices to certain batters. Mo throws this sequence 37 percent of the time (as in, throws an outside pitch 37 percent of the time after he throws an inside pitch). He would do well to cut down on that. Mo fares best against righties when going with the outside-outside sequence.
Just how long can you continue to throw righties outside cutters? I’m not sure. This is where longer pitch sequences would be helpful. For instance, if Mo goes outside-outside-inside, does he fare well? Or is that the sequence that hurts him the most? After all, he went inside after an outside pitch, which for him produces the worst result. But just prior to that he went outside after an outside. This also raises the issue of whether these sequences cover multiple batters. In other words, if Mo strikes out a righty with an inside cutter and opens the next righty with an outside one, is that counted as an inside-outside combination? Or are the sequences limited to single plate appearances? I would think you’d produce a bit of noise if you overlapped batters. Better to stick to single-batter sequences for these analyses.
This is the type of analysis that gets me excited. Even non-stat-heads can enjoy pitch sequencing and Game Theory. It’s an attempt to break down the most fundamental game in baseball, that between the pitcher and batter. Analysis doesn’t get any better than that.
‘One pitch’ lands Mo on the cover of SI
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As part of a Tom Verducci package on Mariano Rivera and his Cutter of Doom, Number 42 finds himself atop Sports Illustrated this week. Here’s what the press release from the sports weekly had to say:
This week’s October 5, 2009, issue of Sports Illustrated, on newsstands Wednesday, features Yankees’ closer Mariano Rivera with the billing One Man, One Pitch: The One and Only Mariano Rivera. As the gates swing open upon another MLB postseason, baseball will once again attempt to divine one of the game’s great mysteries: how a man, closing fast on 40 and armed with but a single pitch, continues to dominate in the clutch like no other player, 13 years and counting.
SI senior baseball writer Tom Verducci reveals that Rivera’s cutter—the defining pitch of his generation—was the result of a happy accident: “God touched Mariano Rivera one June afternoon in 1997, and Rivera shrugged. Just three months into his new role as the closer for a budding Yankees dynasty, Rivera was suddenly unable to throw his signature four-seam fastball straight, not even during his daily toss with pitcher Ramiro Mendoza. Every catch a struggle, Mendoza told Rivera to knock it off, to quit making the ball dip and dart. Rivera assured his friend that he wasn’t doing it intentionally. He was gripping the ball the same way he always had, releasing it the same way he always had. The wicked movement just … happened…. Rivera didn’t have an explanation, and though he says he ‘didn’t have any idea where the ball was going,’ his results did not suffer. He got the save in that game, then in the next three. Still, for a month, he worked with [bullpen catcher Mike] Borzello and pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre to eliminate the cutting action. ‘We were trying to make the pitch stay straighter, [as it had] in ’95 and ’96,’ Rivera says, referring to his first two seasons in the big leagues, ‘but it didn’t work. Then I said, ‘I’m tired of working at this. Let’s let it happen.’ And since that day we didn’t try to straighten it out anymore.’ He smiles. ‘And the rest is history.’ ”
Rivera has become the best closer with the demeanor of a benevolent king; baseball royalty without the arrogance. As a result, he has engendered as much respect from opponents as he has from teammates. Says David Ortiz of the rival Red Sox: “I have respect for Mariano like I have for my father. Why? He’s just different. If you talk to him at an All-Star Game, it’s like talking to somebody who just got called up. To him, everybody else is good. I don’t get it. To him everybody else is the best. It’s unbelievable. And he is the greatest. You know what? Sometimes in those times when he struggles, like when I watch him on TV, I feel bad for him. I seriously do. Good people, you want to do well.”
Those are some might big words of praise from David Ortiz.
Another reason spending time in the bullpen might help a young pitcher
Posted by: | CommentsEarl Weaver thought that the best way to break in a young arm was to have him pitch out of the bullpen. The Yankees have certainly practiced that over the past few years, using both Phil Hughes and Joba Chamberlain in relief. While Weaver’s philosophy has merit, the Yankees have an additional reason to put their young pitchers out in right-center field: Mariano Rivera. He has a lot to teach young pitchers about composure and demeanor (unfortunately, he cannot teach them the cutter). Tyler Kepner has an article up about Mo’s influence on Phil Hughes this season. The 23-year-old seems to get it. My favorite line of the article: “Hughes, 23, cannot imitate Rivera’s cutter, but he shares a stoic demeanor.” In a league filled with emotional young pitchers, it’s nice to see someone who can rein it all in.
Open Thread: Mo feels good
Posted by: | CommentsThe most important groin in the history of the universe was tested today, as Mariano Rivera took to the Rogers Centre bullpen mound before this afternoon’s game for a 20-pitch bullpen session. Marc Carig reports that there were no ill effects, and Mo could be available as soon as tomorrow.
“Feels good,” Rivera said. “No problems at all.”
“I have to make sure to keep up with my things, keep up with that,” Rivera said of his treatment regimen.
Manager Joe Girardi said he will manage Rivera’s outings a little more carefully the rest of the month to make sure he’s good to go in the playoffs. With an 8.5 game lead in the division (thanks, Gavin Floyd) and the magic number sitting pretty at 19 (notice the counter in the sidebar) with just 26 games to go, that shouldn’t too tough.
Thank goodness Mo will be back soon, I don’t know how much longer I can stomach these “four batters faced, three strikeouts” performances I can handle from Phil Hughes.
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Here’s your open thread for the evening. The Tigers and Rays are on MLB Network, and there’s more college football than you’d know what to do with on TV. You can also come chill with me at MLBTR. Anything goes here, just be nice.
Two relievers, one inning
Posted by: | CommentsLet me offer you a thinly-veiled comparison between two pitchers.
Pitcher A: 55 G, 55.2 IP, 1.78 ERA, 41 H, 9 BB, 61 K, .199/.233/.316
Pitcher B: 31 G, 39.1 IP, 1.14 ERA, 22 H, 10 BB, 48 K, .162/.218/.204
Bite your tongue if you picked Pitcher B over Pitcher A. Don’t tell Yankee fans that, in this admittedly tiny sample size, Phil Hughes‘ numbers look, if not a little bit better than Mariano Rivera’s, just as good as Mo’s. Just don’t.
News broke after the game last night that the Sandman is out with a sore left groin. While I’m holding my breath, Rivera isn’t too concerned. “That’s good, because it’s not my pushing leg,” Rivera said of his left leg. “You don’t want to have that kind of injury, especially in your legs, but it’s nothing we’re worried about. We will take care of it and work at it. Everything will be fine.”
The Yankees, enjoying their 7.5-game lead over Boston, plan to take it slow with Mo. We saw a glimpse of that strategy last night. With the Yanks holding to a two-run lead, Joe Girardi altered the pattern. Brian Bruney pitched some of the 8th, and the Phils joined him. Mr. Hughes stayed in for the final three outs of a blow out, and due to the intricacies of baseball’s rule book, he walked away with his second save of the season. It probably won’t be his last.
According to Girardi and Rivera, Mo first felt the pain in his leg while the Yanks were visiting Seattle a few weeks ago, but it had subsided. It came back on Tuesday night after Rivera appeared in his second straight game. It seems as though every year, Rivera goes through a slight malady. This one is a little late in the season for my tastes, but the Yanks are downplaying the injury. “I don’t even know if I would call it a strain,” Girardi said. “So you just kind of give him a few days and see if he can get rid of it. We’ll get it right, get him healthy and make sure it’s 100 percent.”
For the weekend as the Yanks head to Toronto, Rivera won’t pitch. “It’s a concern for you to run him out there,” Girardi said. “We don’t want to hurt him. We’ll probably give him a few days off and see if we can nip it.”
In his stead, then, the Yanks’ closer will be Phil Hughes. And you know what? I have no problem with that. As Hughes’ numbers show, he has been more than up for the task this year out of the pen. He has allowed one double, one triple and one home run while giving up 18 singles in 31 innings. His strike-out numbers are off the charts, and while he can’t quite match Mariano in the control department, that 4.80 K/BB ratio is right in line with Mo’s 2005 season.
So now, the Yankees will use the luxury of the lead to their advantage. The expanded rosters provide them with added bullpen depth, and the emergence of Phil Hughes as a force gives them, in effect, a second closer. He hasn’t wilted under pressure and wants the ball every day. Phil might run into a hiccup at some point this season, but after watching him mow down the Orioles in the 9th last night, I can sleep easy with the game in his hands.
Still, get well really soon, Mo. I want a seven-inning game come October.
Steve Serby’s Q&A with Mariano Rivera
Posted by: | CommentsSteve Serby of The NY Post sat down for a chat with the legendary Mariano Rivera, touching on everything from how long he plans to keep playing to Phil Hughes to his restaurant. Make sure you give it a read, lots of fun and interesting stuff from the Hammer of God. (h/t Patrick)
A career after elbow surgery
Posted by: | CommentsMarc Carig, The Star-Ledger’s Yankee beat writer, is never lacking for interesting tidbits. During a slow Saturday, Carig checks in with an item on Mariano Rivera.
Over the years, says Carig, Yankee fans have never really understood what type of elbow surgery Mariano Rivera underwent in 1992. I always assumed it was Tommy John surgery, but the Yankees media guide has always just said “elbow surgery” for Rivera. Here’s how the story ends:
“No, sir,” Rivera said, when I asked him the clubhouse on Friday whether he’d ever undergone a TJ.
Rivera then held up his right elbow, and showed me the scar, which will soon be 17 years old. Rivera then explained that when he went under the knife, doctors originally expected to perform a Tommy John procedure. But, as the future Hall of Famer tells it, when doctors got a chance to check out the ligament, they determined that — surprise! — it did not need to be replaced. The way Rivera described it, doctors simply “moved” the ligament.
Moving that ligament created one of the best players in baseball history. Last night’s nine-pitch save was the 516th of Rivera’s career. It was also his 900th career appearance.
A glance at Rivera’s Baseball Reference page reveals just how dominant he has been. His 1.015 WHIP is 1st among active pitchers and third lowest in baseball history. His K/BB rate is 2nd best among active players and fourth best all time. His HR/9 IP — a meager 0.495 — is first among active pitchers.
To me, though, the most impressive number is his ERA+. Right now, Mariano Rivera has a career ERA+ of 200. Not only is that the best mark ever in that category, but the guy in second place — Pedro Martinez — has a career ERA+ of 154. Rivera has been arguably the best pitcher ever in terms of run prevention as compared to the rest of the league.
As the 8th oldest player in the game, Rivera is heading down the home stretch, but he’s still the best. It will be sad day indeed when he retires, but until then, I’ll love watching him head out there every time the Yanks need to save their lead.
Mariano hits annual snag
Posted by: | CommentsIt seems like every year in August Mariano Rivera is unavailable for a few games due to some ailment or another. In the past it’s been little things, like a tight forearm or back spasms — one year, I remember, Mo hurt his back while sneezing. It sounds strange for a guy who keeps himself in such impeccable physical shape, but those seem to be the only bumps Mo hits for the season. Considering the injury rates of other closers, the Yanks should consider it a blessing.
We learned yesterday that Mo was unavailable due to a sore shoulder. “He was feeling a little cranky today,” said Girardi, though there was no indication of whether this related to Mo’s shoulder or his mood. We did see Mo snap at someone while warming up in the bullpen on Saturday, after Jeter’s home run, so who knows. Maybe Mo is actually cranky. Still, the more important part is the shoulder soreness.
This year’s malady is understandable. Not only did Mo not really have one last year, but he underwent off-season shoulder surgery. While he’s bounced back nicely this season, it’s natural for the shoulder to weaken a bit. It’s like pitchers who undergo Tommy John surgery having a dead arm period the year they come back. Combine the effects of off-season surgery with Mo’s propensity for minor spats later in the season, and it’s inevitable that he misses some time.
Even so, Girardi thinks Mo will be set to go if the Yanks have a lead to protect in Seattle tomorrow. All considered, perhaps the Yanks offense should rally behind their closer and give Mo a few more games off via a couple of blowouts. He saves them, so maybe it’s time for them to save him.
