.

I/O:  Pitchers who have great 12-6 curves, and great high fastballs, are great pitchers.  Michael Wacha was a joy to watch, doing this, and doing it great.

CRUNCH:  Sabermetricians went through a cycle.  Groundballs were everything.  Because of that, high fastballs were dumb.  The pendulum swung a long, long way in that direction.

While the pendulum swung, Bill "Founding Father" James demurred.  "I don't like groundball pitchers, and I don't trust groundball pitchers, and I don't want them on my roster.  The ace pitchers who last, are the ones who throw high fastballs."

Dr. D couldn't agree more.  He remembers Sandy Koufax.

..............

We haven't covered it much, but the Mariners have two pitchers who have 12-6 curves, and who innately prefer high fastballs:

• Taijuan Walker
• James Paxton

It's wired into their DNA.  Taijuan and K-Pax naturally throw the fastballs letter high.  If you want to get them to move the ball down, you have to beat them about the head and shoulders.  Preferably with something hard and rubbery.

Felix Hernandez prefers to throw the ball at the knees, with a sinking action, and it is part of the reason that he has underperformed.  (He's been great; he should be Pedro.)

A lot of people think that pitchers who have great arms should --- > pound the knees, "pitch to contact."   These people include "Felix Hernandez."  These people are simply wrong.  Pitchers who have average arms should do that.

Pounding the knees is dreary.  Pounding the knees is pessimistic, a "glass half empty" way to live your life.  You know the batter has the advantage, and you're trying to control the damage.  Fastballs letter-high?  That's the way to live, brother.

..............

Believe it now, or believe it later.  Taijuan and K-Pax like to throw the ball high.  This is to your lasting pleasure, as a Mariners fan.  

Whether you're talking about Clayton Kershaw or Nolan Ryan or Pedro Martinez or Dwight Gooden, It's a joy to watch a pitcher throw this way.  And you got two of 'em in the rotation next year.

Here is James Paxton's Sept. 24 start, in which he fans 10 Royals.  Two or three of them come on --- > that super-weird "Stukka" dive-bomb fastball, but most of them come on the yellow hammers and the high fastballs.

Every city goes into March thinking that good things can happen, but not every city has a Taijuan and K-Pax who splashed the AL with huge wins in their first few appearances.  Those two kids are not only blue-chippers, but they're blue-chippers who are a whale of a lot of fun to WATCH.