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Great point about everyone changing their approach from attack to defend besides Trout.
Eventually Trout will get his 460ft shots in against Paxton, but this has been fun to watch!
No telling where he could take this thing
K-Pax getting ready to press the SMITE button on his keyboard
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Oddly enough, on Sunday morning Dr. D was driving a rental car and in a VERY near car wreck. Residential area 25 MPH, an SUV pulled to the side as if to catch a Pokemon, I gave him a wide berth on the left, eased by ... WHOOM! HE PULLS A U-TURN WITH THE PEDAL TO THE METAL! How my car missed his, who knows.
Point is: you know the feeling, right, the shot of adrenaline that gives you faster-than-Spiderman reaction? You could make a Konspiracy Korner out of the way that animals react as if in a time warp. Just a little fun driveby thought: how do flocks of birds turn in synch? They don't have time. Literally. You could spend an enjoyable afternoon looking into time-warped animal thought reflexes, muscle reflexes, and instincts.
We were talking about adrenaline shots. Who said this? "We’re starting to see him emerge before our eyes, and that’s why I am obviously really, really hoping everything is OK." Either Moe Dawg or Scott Servais, one of the two. :: lassard :: We have many, many, many, MANY hopes for Paxton's continued rocket arc.
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FASTBALL & MECHANICS
What was new* on Sunday was Paxton's intention to take a bit of fuzz off the heater in order to throw Strike One, 95-96 MPH, low away. This was classic Tom Seaver: he would paint at 94, but he had a separate pitch, the "challenge" 98 MPH. He'd work them to a 2-2 count at 94 and then YUUUUUGHHHHH! he'd grunt and put all his might into a 98+ fastball out and over.
Worked okay for Tom Terrific.
And Verlander does/did this, and Scherzer, and Schilling. However, Paxton has easier velocity than Seaver ever did. Paxton has fifty such bullets in his gun per game, not twelve. (The young Scherzer once put it exactly that way, "I've got twelve good bullets per game.")
Decisions, decisions.
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Many SSI denizens, no, all SSI denizens, grokked the comfort level. I bet you Keith will /cosign the parallel to a golf swing fix for a 12-handicapper. You spend some time thinking about getting your swing keys right ... then they become a little more habitual and you are free to think about the green 180 yards ahead.
In any sport, you have a 90-10 or a 70-30 or a 50-50 or something mix of getting your own execution right, vs. spending time "extending ki." Court vision.
For me, Paxton was extending ki much better -- thinking about spots in the strike zone, thinking about Zunino, looking ahead to a 97 jam pitch that would cause an infield popup to get out of an inning.
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FOSHBALL
It comes out of his hand looking like a FB. Judging by the hitter's reactions, of course. :- ) If it is low, it has four different ways to wipe out a hitter:
- Starting in the zone and dropping below it, he consistently generates SwStr% over the top
- Back-door called strike
- RH hitter's back foot, or LOOGY sweep, another SwStr%
- Dropping to catch the knees, called strike or blonked three bouncer
All this and... the foshball (cutter/slider) is a stupid pitch with stupidly mediocre break to it. LOL. It just plays up because of the lightning bolts and because he sells it so well.
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KNUCKLE CURVE
He's telegraphing it. So they foul it off. He air-brakes his body and arm at release. One of these days he might not. It's not a big deal; given the first two pitches, the third and fourth pitches are "cheat codes" anyway. If he executes them, the batter's best-case scenario is a foul ball.
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CHANGEUP
He threw one 88 deadfish that dropped straight down, low and away to a RH ... honestly my eyes got misty on that pitch. Like Michael Jordan's jab-step jumper from the top of the key against the Jazz.
Pretty sure that was the pitch where Blowers marvelled, "There is no telling where he could take this thing." Blow mentioned a couple of other times, Paxton is starting to realize that ML hitters can't handle him. I remember when my son started to realize that about our one-on-one games ... :- )
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MIKE TROUT
A lot of folks wondering why Trout has half the Angels' strikeouts in every Paxton game. It's because he is the only Angel with the guts to go after James Paxton. The rest of them are taking decelerated swings and hoping to put the ball in play.
The Big Unit had a year or two like that, where a few hitters remained slow on the uptake. After that short period, it was just everybody begging out of the lineup.
Be Afraid,
Dr D
Comments
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That Paxton would "emerge" like this?
Imagine that!
:)
There's a point when you realize that the stuff you bring is really really good. Fearsome good. And when that happens AND you've tweaked yourself into simplicity/consistency....then you're All-World.
Doc, it is worth remembering that if you're Paxton and have mastered the consistent easy 94 that paints, then 98 is only 4% away. That's an amazingly small number.
Carry your 4 iron 200 yards? A 208 carry is just 4% more. It diesn't seem like your swinging out of your skin....You're just getting a bit faster. Good golfers learn how to "easily" apply that gear.
Assuming I can "run" an "easy" 15 second 100 yard dash (I have no idea if I can), then going to a "hard" 14.4 should be doable. Or maybe 20 to 19.2, in my case.
And that has always been something that we figured/bet Paxton would figure out. His hardest stuff is so dynamic that just 4% less, with even more precision, becomes dang dominant.
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Nicklaus put it, "my primary thought in going for a big one is to clear my hip a little earlier." In golf I have no earthly idea what that would feel like, to get 4% without using any more muscle. Will take your word for it, though.
Honestly think you've got this one nailed, flush, no finish wood caulk required. Paxton operating at 95-96 located ... Felix is going to have some mental adjustments to make :- )
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Or, rather, of Trout Sombrero? Sure was fun to watch live on Sunday. Until the comebacker anyway. The gasps were very audible, but the standing ovation in the next moment might have been the loudest point of the game.
We've been in his corner for years now and I doubt it really surprises any here. Allay some fears, certainly. At least make them easier to fight off, I'd think. Made it easier to send Walker down for tuning too.
He was hitting 97 early, 98 by the 4th, according to the stadium sign.