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Q.  Who or what is a Danny Farquhar?

A.  You wanna know the truth, tonight was the first time I saw him throw a pitch.  HEH!  

In case you were wondering just how married I am to the local baseball team.  That give you a feel for it?

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

I heard something about he used to be an 89 MPH side-armer, and somebody taught him to throw overhand, and he gained velo.  ::shrug::  If true, it would explain his previous obscurity, I guess.

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Q.  Is it possible for a guy with this pitch arsenal to close, over any length of time?

A.  Farquhar's feature pitch is a 77 MPH two-plane slider.  Man, oh MAN does he llooooo-OOOVE to throw! it.  First two guys in the 9th on Tuesday, two lefty MOTO guys, Zobrist and somebody.  He started them with HIGH slow curves, BREAKING IN TO THEM, and froze them like icicles.

From a baseball guy's point of view, here's the issue.

Granted, Zobrist and whoever didn't swing today.  But will the day come when they do?  If this 77-MPH inshoot curve ever gets triangulated by lefties, it's back to the minors for Farquahar, right?  And it very well could be that it is the novelty of Farquhar's hook that is getting him off to a hot start.

MLB teams like for their closers to have bread-and-butter weapons.  Kimbrel fastballs, Rivera cutters, League splitters.  Do you really want to spend your season hoping that Ben Zobrist won't swing at a "hanging" change-curve?

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Q.  Has any right-hander ever pitched backwards with a slow curve - and closed?

A.  Jason Isringhausen used to.

In fact, Isringhausen's entire arsenal was a carbon copy of Farquhar's:

• About 30% slow curves, opening act of the nightly circus
• About 40% fastballs in the 92-95 range
• A really good 88-90 "cutter" that was more of a super-slider

I mean to tell you that Farquhar's skill set is Isringhausen's, down to the Scrabble victory.  ... True, Isringhausen's yakker didn't break in so much to lefties.  That's not a dealbreaker.  If you want to know exactly why it's not a dealbreaker in this specific case, ax me sometime.

:- )

But yeah.  It is very, verrrrrrry rare for a right hand pitcher to close, featuring a change curve as his best pitch.  Quick, Spec.  Get me a Fathead Tom Gordon wall sticker, and give it wings.

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Q.  Still.  Could you really close with such a funky pitch arsenal?

A.  It is highly un-desirable, amig-O.  At least, it's unpleasant to watch.

On the other hand, Tom Wilhelmsen and Brandon League have been unpleasant to watch at times, for rather different reasons.  I'd rather watch an unpleasant 5-4 win than an unpleasant 7-5 walkoff loss.

There is one factor that might overwrite Farquahar's weird arsenal ...