...but what can Moyer teach any of our current pitchers about actually pitching? Your gameplan has to fit your repertoire, no? None of the Mariners are truly control artists and only Hultzen has remotely Moyer's caliber change-up (Felix has a good one, but he's a finish product at this point and his is shaped differently).
I would not hire him to pitch for me...when his career is actually over...then I would hire him to coach for me in the minors first...he shouldn't just jump right into the big league coaching assignments...he would need to prove he can still lead when not playing. But that's just me. I do understand the lore of bringing back a Seattle legend with deep ties to the community and our organization and I would, indeed, be amused to see Moyer throw for the Ms as a 50-year-old just once. :)
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Or, as Spec calls him, jamie@49.com.
Dr. D and Jamie are birthday twins, within a week. Dr. D lost his best performances during Bill Clinton's administration. He knows for a fact that, at this time of day, however hard Jamie Moyer trains ... he's fakin' it. ;- )
From a saber standpoint, you can see the atrophy of Jamie's old-man muscles in his mistake rates. Remember that 1.1 homers per game is where you need to be, and 1.4 is where you leave the majors. Here are Jamie's:
- 2011 - rehab
- 2010 - 1.6
- 2009 - 1.5
- 2008 - 0.9
- 2007 - 1.4
- 2006 - 1.4
Ron Shandler also points out that since 2008, Moyer's DISASTER start percentage has always been extremely high.
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It's not that Jamie can't throw a good inning. He can. It's just that the senior atrophy-muscles are going to give out on him five times a game. His 49-year-old arm is just begging to miss one out and over the plate.
Some of the overall numbers don't look so bad -- 5.1 strikeouts, 1.6 walks, 4.50 xERA -- but lurking underneath those numbers, is the mistake rate. He'll look fine for two innings and then, suddenly, throw a few 49-year-old pitches.
I know that they say Jamie Moyer looks exactly the same he did 10 years ago, loose, limber, yada yada. So do I look the same at 48 as I did at 38. The problem comes when I'm tired, and I reach back for it, and the ball weighs a hundred pounds.
At age 38, Jame Moyer was hitting 86-89 mph on the radar gun. Now it's 81-83. So what does a trim waistline prove? His arm isn't 38. It's 48.
Everybody retires. Edgar did. Steve Largent did. Lenny Wilkens retired, but then he enjoyed the sport as a coach.
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Sorry to say, SSI's diagnosis is that he can't pitch any more ...
... MUCH.
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Now, on the other hand, suppose you gave Moyer the #12 or #13 spot on the staff? You let him share his book with the kiddies, and you let them absorb his approach, his extra running, his game face ...and then, come July, you even give him a handful of starts?
Wouldn't bet you anything I was afraid to lose, that he might not put in a good 75-IP year for you.
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The M's, under Armstrong, have always been soft for the Organizational Talisman. Moyer would be a great ambassador going forward - charities, politics, etc. He's got that presence.
And how fun would it be? To watch Jamie Moyer pitch for the 2012 M's?
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=== Tilted Portside Dept. ===
Had you offered the 1997 Mariners a fourth star LHP, say Mark Langston, to go with Unit, Fassero, and Moyer, they'd have said thank you very much.
The Finley-Langston-Abbott Angels never complained about three lefties. When it comes to LHP vs RHP, major league teams are governed by the principle, "Best Available Pitcher."
Give the Felix-Pineda-Paxton-Hultzen Mariners a fifth excellent lefty, say Cliff Lee, and see whether they turn him down... they won't be opposed to Paxton-Hultzen-Vargas, either. The fans and reporters will talk about it, but Zduriencik won't.
Once in a while, you see a team fret that it has NO lefties. Have never heard a team worry that it had too many Mark Langstons. The more so, this being Safeco Field.
If Jamie Moyer were better than Blake Beavan, they'd put him in there, even with Furbush and Vargas. Unfortunately, Jamie isn't better than Beavan any more.
But what a player-coach he'd make :- )
Make it so,
Dr D
Comments
Maybe a dumb question. What could Moyer do out of the pen? Could he do 20-25 pitches without showing his age?
Seems to me they would *have* to bring him in as a bullpen guy, or at least a swing man, spot starter.
Very few 81 mph relievers, as y'know, who aren't submariners or knuckleballers. Moyer's thing is getting in rhythm and then hitting 100 free throws in a row. You don't want a free throw champion to take only 5 shots per day and then sit back down. You want to "survive" his first 5 shots and then let him hit the next 95 in a row...
But Moyer's mechanics are fairly grooved in, I'm guessing, and maybe he could handle the swing man role...
I do smile at the thought of how hitters would handle 6-7 innings of Felix or Pineda and then 2 of Moyer. Only the best would be able to adjust their timing.