...whether taro is concerned with Pineda's mechanics the way he was a while back. Now that we've seen him pitch in Seattle. I'm not a mechanical expert really...I know some basics and to my eyes, he looks butter smooth with few reasons to worry about undue stress on his arm...but taro is better with this than me and he was worried last year at this time that Pineda wouldn't hold up. Is he still worried long term? That impacts my assessment. Sandy would no doubt say "all good pitchers have stretches where they look as untouchable as Pineda is right now...the difference between the long-lived ace and the streaky guys like Jackson and Beckett and Burnett is consistency...Pineda hasn't proven that he can be consistent at this level yet"...it's a valid point. Pineda could well have stretches where his command is only plus...not plus-plus-PLUS...and then he'd be what...a 3.25 ERA pitcher with a 3 K/BB and 8 K/9 and a few more dingers? We don't know yet because we haven't seen it...so...I guess we'll have to wait and see.
Spectator hooks us up. Thanks amigo!
All the strike threes in 38 seconds rightcheer: http://seattle.mariners.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=14879961
You might watch a few times just for the general ease and good cheer that you will bring to the rest of your day...
But then, with this 16 Mps download of strikeouts, compare the swings that the seven batters take. The first strikeout, Plouffe, he takes a normal swing. Normal means this:
- The clubhead accelerates through the golf swing, including the finish
- Plouffe uses some effort to keep his balance at the end (bathead bob)
- Plouffe is trying to do something with the ball if he makes contact
But then compare strikeouts 2 and 3, from lefty bangers Kubel and Morneau, as they feel for the pitch. There is zero acceleration through the zone, there is no weight transfer, etc etc.
Strikeout 4 has a great ump's-eye view. Jose Bautista compared Pineda to Nolan Ryan. That pitch was what Nolie looked like, back in the day.
Strikeouts 4 and 5, the batters take firm swings without weight transfer - they do accelerate the bat, but only with their arms.
Strikeout 6 is an attempt to feel for the ball, and strikeout 7 has weight transfer but no bat acceleration (he yipped as he saw the pitch pop the parachute).
Gracias Spec :- )
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=== He Who Must Not Be Named, Dept. ===
Ghost says what everybody else is chicken to say:
Is it alright to wonder whether Michael Pineda is actually better than King Felix? i.e. might have an even better chance to throw 5 no-nos, win 25 games some year etc? Felix is consistently outstanding...but...can he dominate the way that Pineda can?
Pineda is better than King Felix ...at the moment. In one sense. Give me a Game 7 against the Boston Red Sox - on May 21, 2011 - and I'll select Pineda to start that game.
.........
But.
There are things that Felix has proven, such as whether he can stay healthy, milestones that he has skipped over, which Michael Pineda (and Stephen Strasburg) may possibly trip over. Here is where the "let him pay his dues first" cliches do carry some force.
I don't have a lot of doubt that Pineda's mechanics (and command) will hold up, but objectively speaking ... we haven't seen Pineda go through a rough patch and come out the other side.
Maybe Pineda will lose velocity like Lincecum did? ... not that such would diminish him necessarily. But how do we know what Pineda would be then?
........
For me, the 'downside' for Pineda (aside from the injury scenario!) is to slowly settle in as Justin Verlander II. :- )
... Pineda is better than Verlander at the moment: he has more command and a better breaking ball, and Pineda even chooses to throw the ball harder (Verlander can hit 99 if he wants to, but doesn't want to).
I could see Pineda deteriorate a little, over the course of a year or two, and echo Verlander's evolution.
Which would leave him as one of the 5 best AL starters, but would not leave him ahead of Felix, right?
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Felix' status as the best pitcher in the AL is diamond-hard. He chews 230+ innings a year, gives you strings of 20 straight quality starts with plenty of shutouts thrown in, and SSI just couldn't pick Strasberg (or any rookie) over Felix, to start a ballclub.
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Is it your conviction that Michael Pineda is --AS-- likely to keep executing his pitches, as Felix is to keep executing his? Then you are in the clear: take Pineda over Felix if you like.
Push Pineda as the best pitcher of the last 20 years if you like. He's not going to show you up. Nobody can hit a 96 fastball painted.
For me, the last remaining question is, will Pineda throw another 15,000 of these pitches over the next five years. Felix will. Strasburg won't. Pineda's looking promising to do so.
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BABVA,
Dr D
Comments
The thing about Felix, is that he closes his own games. When a team goes up against Felix, they can expect the following:
1. No new pitcher. Felix will be in the game 8-9 innings all year long.
2. No dead ball. Felix' arm will not get tired. There will be no drop in command, bite, or velocity as the night goes on.
3. A fluid change in weaponry as the situation dictates. Felix goes from being the strikeout king, to the groundball king, whenever he wants. He has four great pitches, and, on nights when one is not working, he goes to the other, and so on.
4. No mercy with all of the above. Felix's games are quick, efficient and deadly, like a man cleaning prawns: pop the head off, pop the tail off, grab the next one.
These things set Felix apart from all of the other six-inning wonders out there. Pineda is great, but he has not yet locked down every start and unrelented for every game of an entire season.
Felix' lack of sky-high K's sort of annoys me, but I've got to admit that Efficiency is a huge part of his game.
The man threw 500 innings in 2009-10 without breaking a sweat, which is why he's 55-60 runs above replacement. Volume counts, too.
That 7th and 8th inning shtick -- those are high-leverage innings. Felix is his own setup reliever. Huge.
Michael Pineda has yet, in his big league career, to fail at pitching into the 7th inning. It's fun to look down Pineda's game logs and see the IP's. :- )
He's 6+, 7+ innings every start, and that's despite a pitch count limit that he probably doesn't need. Pineda could pitch some 8th innings, but the fact is that he doesn't.
Somebody should go figure out, the last time that a rookie SP pitched 6+ in his first eight starts...
Pineda would have 100% career QS, except in the 7th inning in Texas he gave up the 4th run, late.
............
But yeah. Felix is his own setup man and that is big.
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Felix, having heard the negative press about lacking sky high K's, now leads the AL in K's at 77. He recently struck out thirteen hapless padres in one game. He is currently in a race with the likes of Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee and Tim Lincecum for the title of strikeout king.
He demands a retraction!
Objection sustained.