Knuckle Curve » curve_ball

NL West Seeks Sweep

Geoff Young — Sat, 06 Oct 2007 15:37:14 +0000

Friday belonged to the American League (and the bugs). Today it’s the Senior Circuit’s chance to shine. Two mid-market NL West teams look to complete sweeps against big spenders from the east.

Diamondbacks at Cubs, 3:00 p.m. PT — The good news, if you’re a Cubs fan, is that this one’s in Chicago. The bad news is that Livan Hernandez gets the start for Arizona. Yeah, he’s got an ERA near 5.00 and his peripherals are nauseating, but the guy has been lights-out in the playoffs throughout his career (the World Series is a different story, but we’re not there yet). Plus he’s got the most ridiculous curve ball ever. Rich “Ya Shoulda Seen Me in April” Hill goes for the Cubs in his postseason debut. The playoffs are so weird. Last year we had Yadier Molina. This year it’s… Augie Ojeda?
Phillies at Rockies, 6:30 p.m. PT — The hottest team in baseball comes home needing to win one out of its next two games against a team with inferior pitching. Jamie Moyer has experience on his side, but this may not be enough to overcome a potent offense and what promises to be a raucous crowd.

As always, happy watching!

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Breaking Down Hughes’ Delivery

Geoff Young — Tue, 01 May 2007 16:36:42 +0000

New York Yankees uberprospect Philip Hughes made his big-league debut last week. It didn’t go so well, but that happens. What’s fascinating is this breakdown of Hughes’ delivery by Carlos Gomez at The Hardball Times (full disclosure: I contribute to THT).

In a nutshell, Carlos looks at video of Hughes as a minor leaguer last year and compares it side-by-side with video from his Yankees debut. Carlos mixes in some still shots so we can see where Hughes is during various points of his windup.

Among many other things, Carlos has determined that Hughes’ arm slot is a little higher this season than it was in ‘06. This translates into a sharper downward breaking curve ball and a straighter fastball.

Which is better? That is largely a matter of opinion, and Carlos offers his:

In terms of how his body moves, I would certainly like him to be more like he was in ‘06. Better momentum, better center of gravity, better rhythm, later hand break. I would hate to see him slow down in order to get “balanced” or to focus too much on “staying back.” I don’t think he will keep his velocity throughout his career if he keeps doing what he’s doing now. I wouldn’t be surprised to find that his four-seam fastball’s average velocity is declining slightly already due to those changes.

Folks, this is great stuff. The amount and type of detail Carlos, a former pro ballplayer, is able to detect and analyze is astounding. He offers insights that, frankly, often fly over my head.

Well, at least on first reading…

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Analyzing Beckett

Geoff Young — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 20:45:20 +0000

Ian at Giving 110 Percent examines Boston right-hander Josh Beckett’s first start and finds reasons to be encouraged:

Beckett was using his curve much more often than he did last year. Some were very good, but he was having difficulty locating it. It almost seemed he was being stubborn with it in the same way he would be stubborn with his fastball last year. It’s like Francona and Farrell told him to throw more curves so he did even though he couldn’t locate it that well.

I don’t know enough about Beckett’s stuff to comment meaningfully on the specifics, but I will offer this: It’s possible that if Beckett is trying to feature the curve ball more prominently, he’ll take some short-term losses. The return on investment of having a more diverse repertoire, however, probably will make it worth his and the Red Sox’s while in the long-run.

Perhaps those of you who have seen more of Beckett’s starts might have additional thoughts?

Post from: Knuckle Curve