Monday, June 06, 2011
John Axford is Trying to Kill Me
But at least he isn't Carlos Marmol.
Man, I don't understand relief pitchers. Or maybe it's baseball in general, but I might have an idea. You see, I thought scouts worked all year long. But now I'm thinking that they only really get all their ducks in a row in the off-season. Why? Well, today I've come across a few examples:
1. I read a quote from a scout about Carlos Gonzalez on the Rockies. The scout said: "He's finding out what it's like not to get pitched to when you're a star. After the year he had last year, everyone's a lot more careful with him. He's seeing breaking balls and changeups even when the pitcher is behind in the count. He's rarely getting challenged, and you can see he's visibly frustrated by it." (source: Baseball Prospectus)
This year, Cargo is getting on base about 50 points less and slugging 200 points less. And the only difference is they aren't pitching to him? Who cares if he is a superstar or not a superstar? If a guy can't handle hitting when he doesn't get fastballs down the middle, don't do it. An out is an out, no matter who is up.
2. Carlos Marmol. OK. So today I wanted to write about how, despite the BrewCrew's 3-game streak against the Merlins, they've only gained a game because the stupid Cubs blew two leads to Albert Pujols. The guy who pitched to him yesterday - Rodrigo Lopez, yes, *that* Rodrigo Lopez - apparently had held him 0 for 11 for his career. So sure, why not pitch right to him. He's only Albert Pujols. It's only a tie game in extra innings and he is leading off, with three backup outfielders hitting behind him. I mean, come ON! Let John Jay, Allen Craig, and Skip Schumaker beat you! They have a combined 37 career home runs. Pujols hits that many before he takes his morning dump. The Cubs are IDIOTS!
Anyway, so it was Marmol pitching in the 9th, though. Carlos Zambrano (lots of Carloses today) helpfully points out that Ryan Theriot can't hit a good fastball. He knows this because he was a teammate of his. Carlos Marmol knows this. Carlos Marmol can throw the ball one million miles an hour. Yet, he blows the lead by throwing Theriot something off-speed while the defense is shifted the opposite way. Have I mentioned that the Cubs are IDIOTS? Maybe the Crew can get Big Z on the team.
So, lots of people are ragging on Marmol. I looked up his stats, though. I mean, Marmol is pretty awesome. He's a lot better than Axford. (Sorry, Ax-man.) What's the problem here?
Well, it looks like his K/9 are down, but they'd have to be as he was at historic levels last year - 16.0? *swoon* They aren't down that much but actually his K/BB is the same pretty much as last year. So, his walks are down too. What's up? His hits per nine. So, what's happening here? It looks to me from stats and from anecdotes that he's being coached into more contact, being more around the strike zone, and laying off the fastball a bit. Hey, Cubs. It ain't working. Let the man pitch the way he likes to. Let him walk a few people and strike out everyone else. (ps Why is Doug Sisk and his lifetime 3.4 K/9 in Marmol's top comparables?)
3. Speaking of walks. Hey, John Axford! (He's Canadian? Of course he should be.) Axford walks people. I don't think this is something he is going to get over. He has done it all through the minors. 6 walks per 9? Oy. It seems like hitters know that they don't need to protect the plate when it's 0-2, at least not until 3 pitches later.
Does Something Called Tim Dillard have a closer's mentality?
And hey Josh Wilson got his day! No team can be this lucky. Are we making it up from before or are we looking for a very bad spell coming up?
But at least he isn't Carlos Marmol.
Man, I don't understand relief pitchers. Or maybe it's baseball in general, but I might have an idea. You see, I thought scouts worked all year long. But now I'm thinking that they only really get all their ducks in a row in the off-season. Why? Well, today I've come across a few examples:
1. I read a quote from a scout about Carlos Gonzalez on the Rockies. The scout said: "He's finding out what it's like not to get pitched to when you're a star. After the year he had last year, everyone's a lot more careful with him. He's seeing breaking balls and changeups even when the pitcher is behind in the count. He's rarely getting challenged, and you can see he's visibly frustrated by it." (source: Baseball Prospectus)
This year, Cargo is getting on base about 50 points less and slugging 200 points less. And the only difference is they aren't pitching to him? Who cares if he is a superstar or not a superstar? If a guy can't handle hitting when he doesn't get fastballs down the middle, don't do it. An out is an out, no matter who is up.
2. Carlos Marmol. OK. So today I wanted to write about how, despite the BrewCrew's 3-game streak against the Merlins, they've only gained a game because the stupid Cubs blew two leads to Albert Pujols. The guy who pitched to him yesterday - Rodrigo Lopez, yes, *that* Rodrigo Lopez - apparently had held him 0 for 11 for his career. So sure, why not pitch right to him. He's only Albert Pujols. It's only a tie game in extra innings and he is leading off, with three backup outfielders hitting behind him. I mean, come ON! Let John Jay, Allen Craig, and Skip Schumaker beat you! They have a combined 37 career home runs. Pujols hits that many before he takes his morning dump. The Cubs are IDIOTS!
Anyway, so it was Marmol pitching in the 9th, though. Carlos Zambrano (lots of Carloses today) helpfully points out that Ryan Theriot can't hit a good fastball. He knows this because he was a teammate of his. Carlos Marmol knows this. Carlos Marmol can throw the ball one million miles an hour. Yet, he blows the lead by throwing Theriot something off-speed while the defense is shifted the opposite way. Have I mentioned that the Cubs are IDIOTS? Maybe the Crew can get Big Z on the team.
So, lots of people are ragging on Marmol. I looked up his stats, though. I mean, Marmol is pretty awesome. He's a lot better than Axford. (Sorry, Ax-man.) What's the problem here?
Well, it looks like his K/9 are down, but they'd have to be as he was at historic levels last year - 16.0? *swoon* They aren't down that much but actually his K/BB is the same pretty much as last year. So, his walks are down too. What's up? His hits per nine. So, what's happening here? It looks to me from stats and from anecdotes that he's being coached into more contact, being more around the strike zone, and laying off the fastball a bit. Hey, Cubs. It ain't working. Let the man pitch the way he likes to. Let him walk a few people and strike out everyone else. (ps Why is Doug Sisk and his lifetime 3.4 K/9 in Marmol's top comparables?)
3. Speaking of walks. Hey, John Axford! (He's Canadian? Of course he should be.) Axford walks people. I don't think this is something he is going to get over. He has done it all through the minors. 6 walks per 9? Oy. It seems like hitters know that they don't need to protect the plate when it's 0-2, at least not until 3 pitches later.
Does Something Called Tim Dillard have a closer's mentality?
And hey Josh Wilson got his day! No team can be this lucky. Are we making it up from before or are we looking for a very bad spell coming up?
Comments:
Post a Comment
