Friday, April 26, 2013
Yu Darvish’s Consistent Delivery
(kottke.org)
posted on April 26, 2013 at 08:22 AM by The Clarence Thomas of BBTF (scott) to awesome, gifs, rangers, yu darvish
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28 comment(s)
Read More...One of the most formidable tools in a pro baseball pitcher’s arsenal is the consistency of pitching motion when throwing different kinds of pitches. If your delivery looks the same to an opposing batter when throwing a 95-mph fastball, a 80-mph curve, and a 85-mph change-up, well, you’ve really got something there. Texas pitcher Yu Darvish is ripping up the AL this year with a 4-1 record, 1.65 ERA, and 49 strikeouts, which prompted Drew Sheppard to layer five of Darvish’s pitches on top ...
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< 1 2 3 4 5 >Could anyone read Craig's lips when LaRussa was questioning him after the first CS? I tried but failed. All I could make out was that LaRussa asked him something, and then he replied, and then LaRussa, after listening intently, said: "Who?" Then Craig elaborated.
Seems like LaRussa didn't put the first hit-and-run on. But, again, even if true, I don't think that absolves LaRussa, since there is no reason he should have allowed Pujols that authority. (Or, at least, I've seen no good baseball reason that has been offered.)
Everyoine squawked about this during the game, but is there actually a video of him hitting his knee with the bat, because I didn't see that.
I thought he thought to do so, realized he would break his knee, and then just gripped it in frustration over failing in a venting of frustration.
It all still looked ridiculous, of course, but I really don't think he actually tried to break it over his knee unless I really missed something.
Punto has received 9 IBBs in his decade in the league. He's received 2 IBBs in this postseason.
That is likely what caused him to entertain notions such as actually thinking he could break a bat over his knee.
I would say it's just a matter of a veteran player who has proven himself in terms of ability and wisdom to his manager being given trust much the way a base stealer would have carte blanche to run.
Of course if Pujols is going to put on his own hit and run he has to swing even if the pitch is over his friggen head. I was always taught that as a hitter if it's a hit and run (or a suicide squeeze) you MUST do everything you can to put the bat on the ball. "Oh, it was going to be hard to reach" was not an acceptable excuse.
I heard Jim Rice once checked his swing and broke the bat.
And another time he bunted for a home run!
I could see that being grounds for a perpetual 3-0 green light.
But, why would you assume that a great hitter would be good at judging the baserunning ability of the guy on base, the pick-off move of the pitcher, and the arm-strengh of the catcher?
Those seem far outside his area of expertise.
But, why would you assume that a great hitter would be good at judging the baserunning ability of the guy on base, the pick-off move of the pitcher, and the arm-strengh of the catcher? Those seem far outside his area of expertise.
That's a bit of a reach. The recollection and application of those two or three facts isn't exactly rocket science. Especially for a smart veteran, which Pujols most certainly is.
Yea, it was hilarious. He carried the bat with him all the way to first for some reason, then when Murph caught the ball, got frustrated and put the bat on his knee, and then tried to push down on both ends like he was going to break it. That's definitely not how you break a bat if you're as small as Nick Punto.
Punto seems to wear his frustrations on his sleeve more than anyone else on the team. You can see him visibly upset when he got that called strike out against Oliver and when he couldn't cleanly come up with the ball that hit Rzep. This must be why sportswriters love him. SEE HE CARES MORE THAN ANYONE ELSE!!!
I once saw Rice hit a home run without swinging. He just glared at the pitcher who turned and threw the ball over the Green Monster in terror.
I'm not saying it's the right move but I'm sure LaRussa and Pujols have had more than a passing conversation over the years about baseball strategy. Pujols strikes me as a pretty cerebral player and LaRussa probably trusts his judgment in a variety of phases of the game. I wouldn't be surprised if Pujols has a pretty good handle on all of the things you listed.
I wouldn't want my hitter calling the hit and run there but I can see LaRussa having justification for believing in Pujols' ability in that regard.
I'm not seeing any tangible reason there, Jose.
As Snapper says, I can see the baseball reason for a green light on 3-0: you trust the hitter to take a crack at crushing a cookie.
I see the baseball reason for giving Rickey Henderson a perpetual green light on the bases.
I see the baseball reason for allowing pitchers and catchers to call their own pitches.
I can't see any baseball reason for allowing a hitter to strategize whether a runner should take off.
Why not? The same reason a hitter would be able to decide to swing 3-0 would come into play on a hit and run, a hitter like Pujols should have a good sense about whether or not he is likely to put the ball into play against a particular pitcher.
I wouldn't give my hitter that kind of freedom, I don't disagree with you on that front. I'm just saying I can understand LaRussa's logic.
Probably one of those outmoded "leadership" intangibles, Ray. As someone noted earlier, some teams felt it necessary/desirable to have a team captain, or confer odd, random "leadership privileges" upon individuals. This kind of a privilege could fit into that profile. It seems to be a residue of the old-style "male bonding" that was expected to occur on a team.
That said, it seems to be completely wacky in theory and pretty f'ing deadly in practice.
In THIS game, however, I suspect that TLR decided to let Albert do it so that he could avoid the blame for all of the silly sh*t that went on during the game, possibly on the theory that most folks would only remember the last gaffe. He doesn't understand the power of obsessive armchairists who TIVO the game and look for every conceivable managerial tic.
Let me second the emotion for the transcendent brilliance of post #51, a wonderful variation on the "telephone prisoner's dilemma."
Yeah, but why is he the one to make the risk-return trade-off? Especially in the WS?
Why not let the catcher make pitching changes? He certainly knows when the pitcher is losing it, and the batter-pitcher matchups aren't rocket science?
I remember Chili Davis as a master of the over-the-knee bat break.
And if Craig is somehow safe, then they just IBB Pujols, so you've taken the bat out of your top sluggers hands. I don't see the trade off being worth it.
You're really going to equate catcher arm strength, pitcher move, and runner speed as equal calculations to career BA, career splits, pitcher workload, available PHs, and available bullpen?
It seems simple enough to me: Pujols is a HOFer, and TLR - who would make the decisions himself anyhow - trusts Pujols to make them. Because one of the greatest hitters of all time is trusted to make a call like this does not mean we're giving the call to Jeff Francoeur for chrissakes.
Taking your argument to these extremes seems weak.
As Yogi said, "you can't think and hit at the same time".
It seems simple enough to me: Pujols is a HOFer, and TLR - who would make the decisions himself anyhow - trusts Pujols to make them. Because one of the greatest hitters of all time is trusted to make a call like this does not mean we're giving the call to Jeff Francoeur for chrissakes.
Taking your argument to these extremes seems seems weak.
It's not that far off. It's an extension, but not a huge one.
Certainly not extreme. There have been player managers who made those calls while playing in the field.
I just fail to see what is gained by cluttering a hitter's mind with those decisions.
Not to mention the fact that you pretty much never want Pujols to hit and run. With his power, and the possibility of an IBB, it's almost always a bad idea.
What were the chances of Pujols striking out AND Craig being thrown out compared to the chances of Pujols hitting into a GIDP (and that sending Craig would avoid the DP)?
Some quick and dirty numbers from 2011:
Pujols had two strikes on him 257 times and struck out 58 times: 22.6%
Pujols had 133 GIDP opportunities and hit into 29 DP : 21.8% (PI says 30, but regular B-R says 29)
Napoli caught 12 of 33 runners this year: 36%
But it's not a call about hitting. It's a call about strategy having nothing to do with the hitter. It's a call w/r/t risk-reward that the manager should be making. It's a call about the skills of the runner, what kind of jump he can get off the pitcher, whether the catcher can throw him out.
I can see Don's "leadership" justification. I don't agree with it, but I can see it. But that still has nothing to do with baseball, except that it may somehow improve the team in some intangible way (at the expense of killing the team in a very tangible way).
If you told me that Pujols thought that by sending the runner he'd see more fastballs or something, THAT would be a baseball reason. Or if he thought it was going to distract the pitcher so that he'd leave a pitch over the middle of the plate, THAT would be a baseball reason. But "Albert is a great hitter and he should be trusted to do this" is not a baseball reason, and makes zero sense.
Ironically, Pujols grounds into a lot of DPs, but he strikes out a lot more, so sending the runner may result in a greater likelihood of a DP...
EDIT: Danny at #123 brings a lot more to the conversation...
Numbers appreciated. Though don't forget that Feliz is a strikeout pitcher.
I think once you consider the downside of a CS trailing by 2 runs there and with Holliday and Berkman up next, there is quite simply no way to justify the decision.
I appreciate your numbers Danny and I bet that is what TLR was thinking, so it least has some reasoning behind it, but I still think it was a stupid calculation.
He also hits a lot of line-drives, which can easily turn into DPs if the running is going and the ball finds a glove.
Are those counted under GIDP even though they're not ground outs?
Only because you're being willfully obtuse with your wording. Because he is an exceptional baseball player, one would trust Albert to make a decision that encompasses the baseball reasons you cite.
Not to mention the fact that you pretty much never want Pujols to hit and run. With his power, and the possibility of an IBB, it's almost always a bad idea.
This I most certainlt don't disagree with, but that not the argument I'm making.
I don't think that argument works. Is Carpenter allowed to decide whether he stays in the game or is lifted for an RP?
Doesn't the manager often at least consider what the pitcher says during the mound conference, before lifting him for a RP?
I think with someone like Greg Maddux the manager would generally defer to him on whether he could finish the inning or not.
So slim that after it happened I held my head in my hands and quietly sobbed in relief :)
I think with someone like Greg Maddux the manager would generally defer to him on whether he could finish the inning or not.
Sure, if LaRussa wants to discuss strategy with Pujols before the at bat, that makes total sense.
But, Maddux wasn't allowed to just put up his hand and wave in an RP.
I used exactly your wording, which was:
Simple question, Lassus: Why is it justifiable for LaRussa, in this specific situation, to allow his (exceptional) hitter to put his runner in a position where his runner is hung out to dry? That play crushed the team's comeback chances.
Also, why did he slow for a step or two between first and second when Holliday hit the ball? No need to look for the ball; look to the coach because you know where he is.
Are you thinking of this Suppan play in 2004?
As I recall, TLR's explanation for this afterward was that Suppan thought he heard Oquendo yell "no, no, no" rather than "go, go , go!"
I was under the assumption that Bo Jackson was the best there ever was at this sort of thing.
I remember him putting the bat on his head and pulling down on both ends and shattering it.
Or Pedro Martinez.
Also, why did he swing multiple times at ball four after he had ordered a hit and run?
Also, why did he order the dumbest hit and run in the history of baseball?
Of course Braggs retired when I was 9, so this is likely a delusion of my sugar-addled pre-adolesence.
Though it would be an odd one as I didn't see many NL games at that age. Possibly it was early 1990 with the Brewers? My first memory in my life I can actually place is being at the SkyDome when the Jays clinced the division in 1989.
Or Pedro Martinez.
How'd that work out for you, Grady?
Yes, that's the one.
That video makes me cringe.
Here's an actual snippet <a href="http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20111024&c>from this MLB article:</a>
"A hit-and-run was put on," Pujols told MLB.com.
"By who?" he was asked.
"By me, is that a problem?" added Pujols, who apparently relayed his signal through third-base coach Jose Oquendo.
The Rangers had hard-throwing Alexi Ogando on the mound, and as Craig took off, Pujols never offered at the pitch.
"It was a 99-mph pitch away that I couldn't even get my bat on," he said. "So I let it go."
Umm, yeah Albert, actually it's a big problem. Not only did you make an incredibly dumb decision to call a hit and run there, you then made your own bad decision even worse by not even swinging at the pitch!
I'll never understand why some people have this need to think that because somebody is great at something, it means that they're a genius and that they're great at everything. Because clearly Pujols is either too stupid to understand how badly he screwed up there, or is too stubborn to admit it. Either way, he clearly should never be permitted to make a decision like that in such a critical situation ever again.
We're making Carpenter a surefire first-ballot HOFer now, are we?
I'm definitely arguing for the justification of an exception to the rule. Carpenter, while excellent, is not an exception.
Ray is right here, and as is almost always the case Lassus is wrong.
I admit when I think I am or am proven so. Until you can do the same re: the Manny thread and Vlad, shoo.
I'll even SAY 'tis my opinion there is compelling and justifiable reason to let Albert make this call, as I said, I'm arguing for the exception. Hell, I'm arguing for an exception, squared, even. If you guys want to be robots, go nuts.
Simple question, Lassus: Why is it justifiable for LaRussa, in this specific situation, to allow his (exceptional) hitter to put his runner in a position where his runner is hung out to dry? That play crushed the team's comeback chances.
I'm confused. It most certainly didn't work. But are you arguing justification with knowledge of the outcome? I'm not even arguing the play was a good idea. I'm arguing that it's not crazy-go-nuts that LaRussa on occasion would let Pujols make this decision, that is it.
Either way, he clearly should never be permitted to make a decision like that in such a critical situation ever again.
And when LaRussa puts in a reliever who gives up a HR to lose the game, he should never be allowed to pull another pitcher ever again, ever.
1. Should players be allowed to make tactical decisions? - YES. They already do in the areas of pitch selection and base running to give a couple of examples.
2. Is Albert Pujols a player who should be given the freedom to make more tactical decisions than most? - YES. From the outside he appears to be a very smart baseball player who is likely to have a good handle on strategy (though last night doesn't exactly make this point for me).
3. Should Pujols be making the decision about hitting and running? - NO. As noted above, having Albert Pujols thinking "I just want to put the ball in play" is counterproductive. Just letting him do his thing is the best strategy.
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