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This was awesome to watch. I'm getting more excited about RRS each start.
I hear that RRS idolized Pettite as well. It makes sense that he would mold his game to fit. Good comp indeed.
Rowland-Smith vs Pettitte
=== Andy Pettitte ===
Amusing that, a week after we suggested the RRS-Pettitte comp, here they were book-ending each other in each half of the inning.
Pettitte, the last few weeks, has had a real good cut fastball going. Therefore, he threw fewer curves on Friday -- actually throwing a Jarrod Washburn game, move the FB around the strike zone.
So we didn't see a mirror-image on the mound, exactly; Pettitte was in cutter mode. But still, he and RRS looked similar even on a physical level.
I'm going with the comp. :- )
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It was weird, seeing Pettitte agonize over each pitch when he got in a jam. Stands on the rubber, hitter calls time, back on the rubber, catcher runs out ... I think Posada came out twice during one hitter.
And then Pettitte would deliver a perfect pitch. Reminded me of Jamie Moyer, taking 45 seconds to decide on a pitch -- and then it always being the right one. LOL.
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One of my old high-school friends became a golf pro. I asked him the secret. He said, It's just like any sport, Jeff. You make sure to visualize your shot perfectly before you actually strike it.
Jack Nicklaus did this: stood over the putt until... until he was ready. 10 seconds, 180 seconds, he putted when he had the visual.
Same with Moyer. Same with Pettitte. The men are champions.
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=== Smitty ===
Outpitched Pettite's 10K's and 1BB: Rowland-Smith would have had a shutout had the regular defense been in. He'd have had a shutout with ANY regular defense in, much less Wilson and Beltre.
He didn't, so the game was tied late. RRS might as well have shut out the 1961 Yankees as shut out these guys, this week.
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The yakker was sensational. RRS threw it around 1B and back over the plate. Again and again the Yankees flinched and froze and futzed on the frisbees.
When they guessed curve before the pitch, they swung, but... the ball arrived at an angle as though dropped out of the rafters, and they pounded it into the dirt.
I'd love to see what the run value is on RRS' yakker for the rest of the year. RRS might throw that thing for a CBv lower than Bedard's over the course of one season.
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The FB was running up to 91-93 mph at times. The change (again magnified by the CB/FB whipsaw's dominance) was causing hallucinations -- he threw one up in Swisher's eyes, who swung through it for strike three and then BARKED at himself before slinking back to the dugout.
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Again, if RRS can execute exactly these pitches, he IS a top-30 starter, right now. ANYBODY who could throw exactly these speeds and arcs, even a pitching machine, would be effective.
The question is NOT whether the league will adjust. It will not! You don't "adjust" to a plus-plus yakker backed by a FB 20 mph faster and a change 10 mph faster. Nobody ever adjusted to Andy Pettitte or Jamie Moyer.
The only question is whether Rowland-Smith can keep twirling like this. What say you? Will he?
RRS might be even better than top-30, perhaps ready to put up a few seasons that would ... um .... fit onto Andy Pettitte's baseball card. :- )
Be Afraid. Be Very Afraid,
Dr D
Comments
2
Do you have any more info about the Pettitte thing? That is hilarious :- )
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It was briefly mentioned during the game...I can't remember the details.
4
Pettitte got his outs against the lefties with the curve, so it wasn't completely absent. It looks like his plan right now is cutters away to get ahead, curveballs for the punchy against left handed batters and cutters in on the hands for quick strikes and outs and change-ups away to get outs on righties.
But the YES announcers (I'm in NYC...no choice but to watch on YES) spent most of the middle innings talking about how much one reminded them of the other. Seriously.
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Get a nickel each time somebody does that over RRS' next 225 wins?
Kidding...
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...I think the only thing that will get in RRS' way is his health. He's already had dead-arm before. He is at risk of having arm problem in the future. But if he can stay healthy, he might very well turn out to be the best pitcher the Mariners have developed inhouse (other than King Felix) since Mark Langston.
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Actually, Mark Langston's curve was very similar to RRS' now. It was just a bit quicker, as I recall, but same basic shape.
Add 2 mph to RRS's heater ... take AWAY the change ... give him a Mark Lowe mask :- ) and you've GOT Mark Langston.
Langston used to lead the AL in strikeouts, of course, pre-offensive-explosion. He was a hot pitcher when he was young. Leapfrogged AAA to lead the league in K's as a rookie, and often finished top-10 in ERA despite pitching in the Dome.
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Langston never had arm trouble except for a brief DL stint in 1985. He was inconsistent with his command the first few years as well. But he had a rubber arm...could handle 250 inning seasons without flinching etc. I'd say he came of age around 26...which is coincidentally how old RRS is now. ut yes...stuff-wise, they were pretty similar. Langston, fastball had more Pettitte-style cut on it and was thrown 93 instead of 90, but he had a much flatter breaking ball and no change-up.
The Mark Langston career totals:
2962 IP, 108 career ERA+ (112 career DNRA+), and 2400 Ks to 1200 BBs might not be a bad upside projection for RRS.
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I thought you were 22 and lived in New York, Matt? :- )
If nothing else, I thought I had the right-of-way on Alvin Davis, Mark Langston and Harold Reynolds :- )
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The later Mark Langston morphed a fair amount. The first five years, he could throw his FB by people, plus he had the Bedard/RRS hook.
For all that, I'm not sure that sabermetrically the two are going to share career paths. Langston always worked hard to get strikeouts, even later. RRS is more of a pitcher already than Mark ever was, IMHO, but it's hard to comp to Langston's sheer talent.
As you mention, Langston had some weirdly smooth centrifigual action going on that made the game effortless for him. And that was how he approached the whole game: ain't no thang.
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Langston would comp much more to Erik Bedard, sabermetrically, than to RRS. But they all show the value of a skullcrushing yellow hammer.
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...I wouldn't have picked Langston as my top comp for RRS (I am sure you wouldn't either)...but I think crossing RRS's pitchability and apparent love of pitching backwards with his Zito-esque curveball and you might, if things break right, end up with a Langston-like career.
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...I'm 27, not 22...will be 28 in October. :)
12
Point conceded. :- )
How long have you been following the M's? How many games can you catch on TV?
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And since about 1999, I've been watching 120 or so games a year one way or another...since 2000, through MLB.TV. When the Mariners are competitive I end up watching 150 games that year (plus playoffs if they make them)...when they are not, it goes down to 75 or 80 games.