With a golfclap to Doug Miller. Fist of Fury Punches Out O's, that'll do for us too.
By the way: have you ever counted the similarities between Ichiro and Bruce Lee? Power per bodyweight, pioneering in their mechanics, intensity, fitness, speed, no-talk just-fight, impassive assassin attitude, legendary status, etc etc. Ichiro is what Lee would have been, if Lee had been a baseball player.
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Q. May 30, 2011: nine K's. What was happening out there?
A. Fister threw fastballs #1-4 at a velocity of 92-93, threw fastball #5 at a velocity of 94 mph, and his jaw dropped wider than anybody's.
He said, "Okaaayyyyyy." And, pleased with his Jason Schmidt (effectively) 94-98 fastball, threw it into a teacup for two hours.
Doogie got his nine strikeouts the Bartolo Colon way: red-hot heat up the ladder, just off the plate, diving down into the shins. He was muscular throughout. He had 7 swings and misses off his fastball alone, unusual for anybody throwing 70% fastballs.
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Q. Some Orioles hitter sour-grape'd that Fister didn't throw a single pitch over 92.
A. Which is a bald-faced lie. Read this chart. Fister sat comfortably 90-94.
The WSJ article quotes BP as calculating eight miles per hour optical illusion for the 6' 10" Chris Young:
In 2009, Baseball Prospectus conducted an in-depth study of a single fastball thrown by Young, using pitch f/x trajectory data to calculate its flight time. It found that the pitch, which was clocked at 84.1 mph, had a perceived velocity of 92.1 mph to the hitter.
I don't know if Fister gets every inch of a bonus +8, but I'm here to tell you that the Orioles werereacting like the heater was 96, at the least. Half-checks on pitches at the bills of their caps, garbage swings on pitches at the shins, arm-swings at pitches beyond their bats - it was embarrassing.
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Q. Where did this Doogie come from?
A. A quick recap:
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STAGE 1 - Doogie runs a 7:1 CTL in Tacoma. SSI theorizes that with his mechanics, command, and changeup, that he's got a good 50% chance at a Bob Tewksbury, Dick Radke career.
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STAGE 2 - In 2009 and 2010, the M's fall in love with Doogie's FB command and he spends a year-plus as Bob Tewksbury (very low BB's, low K's, moderate effectiveness, league-average starter).
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STAGE 3 - Early 2011, Doogie leaps a plateau. See Did Doug Fister Just Leap a Plateau?, posted after Fister's fourth start this year.
Miguel Olivo started calling for Doogie's overhand curve, a full 20% of his pitch mix. The third pitch caused a geometric effect, and Fister's K rate hopped up over the magic 5.6 galaxy's-end barrier -- opening the possibility that Fister would become a star.
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STAGE 4 - Three games ago, Fister started showing a hot fastball. Monday May 30th, he combinedthat laser-guided missile with --- > his newly-deployed yakker and fanned 9 Orioles.
This Fister, if it were to exist in the wild in significant quantities, would absolutely be an All-Star caliber starting pitcher.
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Q. The Fister we saw on Monday would probably be a star?
A. No, the Fister we saw on Monday would certainly be a star.
If Fister could execute these pitches -- 90-94 into a teacup, a crackling 12-6 curve that dives 25 INCHES (!!) off his fastball, and two other quality pitches, then of course he'd be one of the game's best starters.
Don't patronize me, dude. Anybody who could execute those pitches would dominate. Haven't you ever seen Orel Hershiser pitch? Orel wishes he could throw every day like Fister did Monday.
;- )
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Q. Man, that's a lot of big grades you're throwing around for these M's starters.
A. In case you haven't noticed, the Mariners are on a 21-6 run, give or take four Brandon League meltdowns.
Twenty-one and six! With the worst offense and glovework in baseball? The 1966 Dodgers would not have done that.
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Will admit, though, that I'm dropping Jason Vargas from the Juggernaut Traveling Squad. No sooner do we finally give it up for Vargas, then he shows us up twice in a row. That's what I get for buying in to 86 mph.
No, I'm kidding. But Vargas is defying gravity -- using pitchability to overcome lack of gifts. (Some Mariner soft-tossers defied gravity up to and including 200 wins). Doug Fister is not defying gravity: his pitches are hard to see.
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