Q. Are fangraphs' values on the SL / CB reliable?
A. No. Let's see:
Think we've got a little bit of a differentiation problem there with the f/x?
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Actually, that "slider" only shows up like 3% of the time. So you combine the "slider" and the curve into one, nightmarishly bad, pitch.
Whatever the bender is, it's a show-me pitch only.
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Q. The Yankees told him to throw all (83 mph) fastballs. Did that work?
A. In previous seasons, Yoogth the Yeti had a profile like this:
But in 2010, Yoogth threw:
This was apparently the Yankees' version of Don Wakamatsu's telling Vargas to streamline his repertoire.
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Now, granted, that was only in five games. Which is one more reason that SSI is dubious about Yoogth.
But those five ML appearances were kind of the highlight of his calendar year, I would think. If the concept of [all fastballs, slow 'em down] caught and gained traction, I give Yoogth a shot in 2011.
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Q. So how did that work out for him, the fastball-only shtick?
A. Thusly:
It is haaaaarrrrd blinkin' work to run a -3 value when you're putting zero, zilch, nada pressure on a pitch. Vargas, er, Royce put ALLLLL the pressure on his FB, and threw it low 80's, and did great with it.
You see why the guy is harder to GPS than a Yeti. Show me some other sub-88mph pitcher who throws all fastballs and does great.
Anybody seen Royce and Burleigh Grimes in the same room together? Maybe they brought back slippery elm.
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Which begins to triangulate the truth here, though we work with inference rather than video. ... there have been several elite ML pitchers who dared not throw anything other than their one (1) effective pitch.
Visualize yourself with a magic palm ball that phased through hitters' bats, and you became a big star. Standing on the mound against the Yankees, would you dare throw any of your mortal pitches? How would you feel, throwing your 61-mph fastball to ARod?
It's possible, even probable, that Ring is in just this predicament. One ML pitch, and the rest of his pitches are high-school level.
There was a famous Dodger / Yankee pitcher whose secondary pitches were high school level...
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"Show me some other sub-88mph pitcher who throws all fastballs and does great."
George Sherrill throws 65-70% fastballs at 88-89 MPH. He couldn't get anybody to buy in for a while either, though it looks like Royce is working a little bit below George's level in both velocity and results.
Deception and evil sink on the ball can work wonders, but I don't know that Royce has that going for him. I don't mind finding out in the spring though.
~G
Gotta say, though, George was around 90 with a short-arm delivery, and the overall effect was pretty quick, I thought. And we know about his El Sid slider.
Agree that he had more than his share of skeptics because some scouts thought his stuff was a little shy. They'd have that in common.
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This dude Ring is timed with a calendar :- ) although, as you imply, if he's hiding the ball super well, or something, then maybe he's sneaky fast to the plate.
Tough to draw a bead when you don't have a single vid, ain't it? LOL.
Billy Swift pretty much had one pitch going for him and it was a fastball at the knees that sank when it got there. When he was young he had a bit more pace to his pitches but not much.
Perfect example of a sinker without a lot of pace on it, thrown pitch after pitch.
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We remember being SO frustrated at Jim Lefebve insisting on using Swift's 2.00 ERA in the pen -- just random jobs, not even closing -- because, quote, "He's just sooooooo valuable to us out there."
Then Swift joining the Giants and giving them 2.00 ERA's in the rotation. Thanks for that too, Jimmy.
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Another example of sinkers in the bullpen, though.
He was always a high-80's guy (at least with us) who simply PAINTED the outside knees to righties, and sent them packing with little to show for it but weak contact.
Fangraphs shows him having a slider he threw ~13% of the time that was a positive pitch also, but I only remember that auto-K to the far corner at the knees against righty batters.