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CHANGE SPEED GAME
We can go into 9,000 "crosschecks" of this pitch against that pitch. They would all miss the point, which is that Miranda's game is that he can get hitters in-between. And he can do it effortlessly. He's a natural for that.
The important question is, how does a pitcher's arsenal jell against itself. Miranda's arsenal is peanut butter and jelly, grilled cheese and tomato, pancakes and syrup. This balances against the fact that he's got little command of these pitches. He's wild in the zone with all of them, but for him, that looks okay.
Here's that Brooks movement chart, ... click the link and you'll get the hitter's point of view. The below is inverted and is from the PITCHER's point of view:
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Notice that we had to drop the red "changeup" area so that you could see the blue "fastball" area. That's because the changeup movement is directly ON TOP OF the fastball movement. At this point you should take a second and re-read Mark Melancon's explanation why this situation "gives batters little chance." Miranda has a real gift here, in the shape of his changeup.
Dr. D always liked the Hamels / Santana / Hultzen template with 94 MPH and a good straight change. Miranda has it with extra 'elan from the rise on his changeup.
Miranda threw the fastball 47 times, the changeup 25 times, the splitfinger 12 times. I love, love, love this arsenal from a 92-95 lefty ... at this point, you probably love it too.
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LIZARDS IN THE CELLAR
The problem is that Miranda gets his 2+ walk rate by simply coming at hitters. That is fine until he's behind in the count, and then he'd better be v-e-r-y careful about challenging. Since he can't paint with his fastball (due to the weird motion) he's simply got to stay out of 2-0 and 3-1 counts, which he did Thursday. Or he's got to go offspeed in pitcher's counts.
Could see three paths from here, and based on one game, have no idea which would emerge:
HI - Make a run at being Chuck Finley, Jeff Fassero (10% chance)
MID - A reliable version of Roenis Elias, at a 6-7K nasty factor (25-50% chance)
LO - His command just doesn't hold up at this level, and the gopheritis (HR = 1.4+ per nine) sinks him
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MIRANDA vs WADE LeBLANC
Supposing it is the two vets and the two kids, plus one of these two guys. Who do you want? You want Nate Karns, obviously. But if you can't have Karns, your choice here is something of an inkblot test.
My inkblot says LeBlanc :- ) but certainly wouldn't be brokenhearted to get another couple of looks at Miranda.
Enjoy,
Dr D
With the control and command he's got a serious leg up. But if Miranda finds better command of just one pitch it's a harder choice. Depending on the pitch. I think in coming weeks, the choice is if one stays in the pen.
Luckily the choice between them long term doesn't have to be made anytime soon, they're both likely to start next year as depth in Tacoma. Unless Miranda goes to the pen and finds velocity and something else.
