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As with Rodney, I am a convert on Medina. That hard knuckle curve is nasty, his FB is hard with a wrinkle to it and he stopped walking guys. What's not to like? :)
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Dr. Grumpy sez,
Grumpy: At what point do we buy-in on Medina? I know he's had a shaky rep, but he's really been getting it done, and for a while now. He seems like a pretty valuable piece, either going forward or in a future trade.
...
I think his only shaky rep was with me :- )
Ya man, let's re-think for just a second. My complaint had been the 4 walks per game with non-remarkable stuff and ... he hasn't looked very impressive, to my eye. :: shrug :: We weren't throwing him under the bus - just wondering why he seemed to be ahead of Danny Farquhar and several guys who do look very impressive.
...
The last two outings, both of his pitches had EYE-POPPING bite to them.
- He threw a curve that buckled a RH hitter to the ground, then parachuted in for called strike three
- He had two 95 MPH fastballs yesterday that dove to +2 inches above vacuum (cf. Iwakuma's shuuto)
:: taps chin ::
We're here to tell you he snapped those pitches off. You could see the rotation of the ball through the bottom of his right cleat.
What are this guy's splits by rest day? Hmmm ... OK, here he is for 2013-14, which is "career":
| Days Rest | K | BB | AVG | OBP | SLG |
| 0 | 22 | 18 | .423 | ||
| 1 | 24 | 18 | |||
| 2 | 26 | 12 | .202 | .301 | .337 |
| 3 | 25 | 8 | .160 | .242 | .198 |
| 4 | 10 | 0 | .074 | .074 | .222 |
In August, Medina has pitched only 4.0 innings. He'd thrown about twice that in April and May by this point. So, yeah, he came out fresh as a daisy, and ... his stuff was Filthy McNasty.
Something to keep an eye on.
....
Bill Krueger said that he has seen bullpens with 2, 3 guys who were lights out, even 4 guys. But eight? Spain's number two soccer team could blow away most countries' first eleven ... seriously, there are times when "Spain B" is the 4th-ranked team in the world, in this sport or that.
Pat Gillick got here and said the Mariners' #1 problem was "more bullets in the gun for Lou." After his offseason, he sighed with relief: "Now Lou can use Mesa and Sasaki one night, and Paniagua and Rhodes the next night." That's four guys, 2 per night on back-to-back wins. Just like he had done in Balmer. It's an important structural concept, the 2x2 bullpen.
But eight guys? This freshness factor seems to be part of what has them all fanning 8-10 men per nine innings. Zduriencik and McClendon have to get credit for this aspect of the Cinderella season.
P.S. McClendon made a remark about needing the day off, to freshen up his (two) bullpen(s). ?! LOL.
BABVA,
Dr D
Comments
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Interesting data on the days of rest. Maybe Medina needs the Rhodes treatment.
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I spent a few years watching Medina be a miserable starter in the minors, so it's tainted my view of him. I'm always looking for ways he can fail me, but honestly, he's been pretty stellar. His slider values are pretty good, and his fastball has been more of a weapon than it was last year.
Before, Medina had to hope he could throw his slider for a strike, otherwise he was a meatballer (or just walked the rest of the pen into trouble). But the guy is very hard to hit and his WHIP is fine because of that, even with the walks.
Honestly, while his pitch shapes don't resemble Nellie's, that's the kind of reliever he can be.
...But I still don't trust him.
Look, for their big-league careers:
Medina: 2.63 ERA, 3.69 FIP, 3.78 xFIP, 6.3 H / 9.1 K / 4.8 BB per 9
Farquhar: 3.66 ERA, 2.23 FIP, 2.78 xFIP, 7.6 H / 11.4 K / 3.2 BB per 9
So if you like ERA, which is what did happen, then Funky Cold Medina is 1 full run better than Lord Farquhar. If you like what "should" have happened, and therefore what is more likely to happen in the future, then Farquhar is your guy - again, by a full run.
*shrugs* Bullpenners go through rocky patches. Some of em never get it back, some of em go back to being All Stars. I would be more likely to believe that of the two, Farquhar would get it back when they hit that spot, but right now Medina's results have been pretty epic, regardless of how comfortable I feel with him.
As long as Medina isn't closing for us, I'm okay. We seem to be using him in a way that gets the most out of him without betting the pen on him, and that seems like a good approach.
Just keep doing what you're doing, everybody...
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That's actually a very important observation. I thought, intuitively, that most relievers would have a similar pattern of being better with a day or two off than with no rest...I went and checked Danny Farquhar. Aaaaand...NOPE. Farquhar with no days of rest: .588 OPS, 1 day off: .608 OPS, 2 days off: .653, more than 2 days off: .686 OPS.
So...there may be some guys who work better when very fresh and other guys who work better when broken in and loose.
Hmm.