Free Agent Signings:
Carlos Santana
Mike Minor
Michael Taylor
Ervin Santana
Top 10 Prospects:
1 Bobby Witt Jr., SS
2 Asa Lacy, LHP
3 Daniel Lynch, LHP
4 Jackson Kowar, RHP
5 Erick Pena, OF
6 Nick Loftin, SS
7 Kyle Isbel, OF
8 Khali Lee, OF
9 Jonathan Bowlan, RHP
10 Carlos Hernedez, RHP [Reply]
I haven't followed the team closely enough to have a strong opinion about Matheny one way or the other, but it sure seems like he's cost the team several wins this year due to mismanagement of the pen. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Fansy the Famous Bard:
Well, it ain't ****ing working.
I'd expect some changes in the offseason if things don't turn around in the second half.
(It's also worth noting, i think, that Perez has gone from being a bad framer who doesn't steal strikes to being even WORSE at framing and costing his guys strikes at the bottom of the zone and corners because umps see the huge movement and then assume it must have been a ball. That's not helping the strike throwing, either).
I'm just saying I wouldn't expect Sherman to get really reactionary, to Jerry Jones/Daniel Snyder levels. [Reply]
What is wrong with our pitching staff is they can't or won't throw the ball over the ****ing plate.
We are last in the AMERICAN LEAGUE in percentage of strikes to balls.
We are last in the ENTIRE MAJOR LEAGUES in throwing first pitch strikes. Which means we are pitching behind in the counts to more hitters than any team in baseball.
Even when we do manage to get ahead in the count we can't or won't challenge hitters with a fast ball. Ahead in the count we throw more breaking balls or off speed pitches than fast balls by a wide, wide margin.
As for Brad Keller.......in my opinion.......he needs to shut up and pitch. He has pitched in 94 Major League games. He has started 73 of those games. That is not a raw rookie that should need to be taught how to pitch. In fact he was counted on to be a top of the staff starter.
Last year his ERA was 2.47 and his WHIP was 1.024. This year his ERA is 6.39 and his WHIP is 1.803. He has given up more hits (100) and earned runs (54) than any pitcher in Major League baseball so far in 2021. He has walked 37. In 15 starts, he has gone 6 or more innings only 5 times.
He had the same pitching coach in 2020 that he has in 2021.
I don't understand how Cal Eldred is the problem with Brad Keller. Personally..........I think the problem with Brad Keller is Brad Keller. [Reply]
Originally Posted by duncan_idaho:
Well, you'd be wrong.
Pitching coaches are incredibly impactful. Both as sounding boards for pitchers (discussing pitch mix, strategy, etc.) and also a "review" step for what the pitcher is doing. Watching mechanics. Paying attention to potential pitch tipping tendencies. Identifying opportunities for improvement (throw your slider more, throwing your 2-seam fastball less, here, try this grip for the changeup, etc.).
One of the reasons Jacob deGrom IS Jacob deGrom is because Dan Worthen taught him the "Worthen" slider when deGrom came up to the majors - it's a grip and delivery approach unique to him. It's a much better breaking ball than deGrom's curve (which was still above-average, btw).
Hitting coaches generally don't have the same type of impact, unless their philosophy is just really dumb (like encouraging hitters to swing at pitches low in the zone and not worry about hitting ground balls).
But coaches absolutely make differences. Beyond the actual approach and mechanics coaching, their ability to get players to play confidently and relaxed is also a big deal. Some are really good at that.
He is an outside-the-box guy, but he also is not going to be Dan Snyder. Like a good CEO, he's a believer in hiring experts and letting them do what they're the experts at, until they show they aren't experts or it isn't working.
Then why didn't he teach it to everyone?
And he was so great, the Mets let him go. [Reply]
Originally Posted by theoldcoach:
What is wrong with our pitching staff is they can't or won't throw the ball over the ****ing plate.
We are last in the AMERICAN LEAGUE in percentage of strikes to balls.
We are last in the ENTIRE MAJOR LEAGUES in throwing first pitch strikes. Which means we are pitching behind in the counts to more hitters than any team in baseball.
Even when we do manage to get ahead in the count we can't or won't challenge hitters with a fast ball. Ahead in the count we throw more breaking balls or off speed pitches than fast balls by a wide, wide margin.
As for Brad Keller.......in my opinion.......he needs to shut up and pitch. He has pitched in 94 Major League games. He has started 73 of those games. That is not a raw rookie that should need to be taught how to pitch. In fact he was counted on to be a top of the staff starter.
Last year his ERA was 2.47 and his WHIP was 1.024. This year his ERA is 6.39 and his WHIP is 1.803. He has given up more hits (100) and earned runs (54) than any pitcher in Major League baseball so far in 2021. He has walked 37. In 15 starts, he has gone 6 or more innings only 5 times.
He had the same pitching coach in 2020 that he has in 2021.
I don't understand how Cal Eldred is the problem with Brad Keller. Personally..........I think the problem with Brad Keller is Brad Keller.
I think that is the case 99% of the time. Player generally either has it or he doesn't. If a player is a small tweak away from fixing something, maybe a coach makes a difference. Most of the time, I don't think that is the case. [Reply]
Originally Posted by cosmo20002:
Then why didn't he teach it to everyone?
And he was so great, the Mets let him go.
The simple answer is each pitcher has a different repertoire and has comfort levels with the stuff they throw and how they are used to throwing it.
But taking it one step further; Who says he didn't?
You can teach a room full of math enthusiasts advanced calculus. Doesn't mean everyone is gonna ace the class and become an elite mathematician.
He left because of a managerial change. And if you read anything about it, you would know most of the Mets young pitchers (DeGrom, Syndergaard, Matz) were not happy about it.
Originally Posted by cosmo20002:
Then why didn't he teach it to everyone?
And he was so great, the Mets let him go.
He did.
Syndergaard, Harvey, and deGrom all started throwing it after they got to the majors, after being curveball guys previously.
Steven Matz dumped the slider he'd always throw and switched to Werthen's slider in the majors.
The effectiveness of a breaking ball is affected by a few things:
1) the arm speed (which creates more spin and more break)
2) consistency in executing the throwing method for said breaking ball
3) a "feel" for throwing a breaking ball. Some guys just don't have it and never will (see: Wacha, Michael). Some guys lose it all times (see: Duffy, Daniel).
With those factors in mind, it shouldn't surprise you that you saw those 3 guys with huge velocity (Thor, Harvey, deGrom) turn it into a wipeout, putaway pitch. Matz had less so it was less dynamic but still good. Robert Gsellman had even less so even the Werthen slider couldn't save him.
But don't get it twisted: being a successful pitching coach isn't just about teaching guys pitches. It's monitoring mechanics, looking for little tweaks to improve consistency, using analytics to scout for opportunities, building confidence, holding the pitcher accountable, and just generally being an extension of that pitcher's brain. [Reply]
Originally Posted by TomBarndtsTwin: The simple answer is each pitcher has a different repertoire and has comfort levels with the stuff they throw and how they are used to throwing it.
But taking it one step further; Who says he didn't?
You can teach a room full of math enthusiasts advanced calculus. Doesn't mean everyone is gonna ace the class and become an elite mathematician.
He left because of a managerial change. And if you read anything about it, you would know most of the Mets young pitchers (DeGrom, Syndergaard, Matz) were not happy about it.
Originally Posted by cosmo20002:
They had a pitching coach with a magic pitch and they let him get away? :-)
The simple answer is that these guys get way too much credit and way too much blame.
Actually, the (obvious) simple answer is that you've never worked with a pitching coach and you don't know what you're talking about.
Even at the HS level, a pitching coach doing their job is incredibly helpful. It was really useful to have an outside observer watching me to let me know if my stride was off or I was flying open or if my release point was dipping or if I was doing something different on my changeup during the windup or stretch, or to kick my ass and make me do all the running I needed to do, or to come out and calm me down
Originally Posted by duncan_idaho:
Actually, the (obvious) simple answer is that you've never worked with a pitching coach and you don't know what you're talking about.
Even at the HS level, a pitching coach doing their job is incredibly helpful. It was really useful to have an outside observer watching me to let me know if my stride was off or I was flying open or if my release point was dipping or if I was doing something different on my changeup during the windup or stretch, or to kick my ass and make me do all the running I needed to do, or to come out and calm me down
Anyway, you can either:
1) Read a little and accept some education
or
2) Keep spouting from a position of ignorance
Your choice.
At the high school level, I would expect a pitching coach to have more impact and I don't doubt that you probably had much to learn.
I don't doubt having an outside observer can help a major leaguer.
What I do doubt is that there's much difference between the 100s of pitching coaches that cycle through the professional ranks. If there was, you would see consistent, long-term results from the same guys. Instead, even the "good" ones bounce around from team to team. I'm sure that some are better than others, but it's amazing how, after several years of being nothing special, a pitching coach suddenly becomes great when he happens to get a group of high draft picks coming up together. And a few years later, he's nothing special again and is let go. [Reply]
By the way the Cardinal twitter has been up on fire everyone, trade everyone bandwagon. You can tell BFIB are struggling, their thread on here has no activity. [Reply]
Jesus Christ, why we keep running out .553 OPS Dozier, .602 OPS Soler, and .608 OPS Taylor is mind blowing. Especially when Olivares can literally play 2 of those players positions and both of them have literally no future with this team. [Reply]
Originally Posted by duncan_idaho:
I see option 2 was chosen.
Cool cool cool cool.
Tell me more about how your high school pitching coach changed your career. :-)
Also, more on how all the successful teams owe it all to their pitching coach...who is then generally gone a couple years later...because so important [Reply]
