Hanging him out there to dry for one last batter when Wilhelmsen was ready and standing there waiting just felt like saying, "please, lose this game." We apparently ARE playing for Top-5 draft standings.
Okay, yes, we wanted to see how he'd respond to the pressure and the men on base and THIS is the time in a lost season when you get to do that. How did he? Not well.
But I think that's a problem with pitching from the stretch. He doesn't normally walk a lot of guys and struck out a ton in the minors. He looked great tonight from the windup. That change-curve was a thing of beauty and watching him pound the hands of opposing batters all night was wonderful.
I'm sorry he was left in too long, for his sake. Since I also want an early draft slot so we can draft a Trey Williams type, I can't be reeeeeally angry about it, but I was still miffed. When a guy goes 7 strong against the Angels and is hanging zeros, don't let him eat runs in the 8th for a loss.
That said, seeing his arsenal in action tonight when he had multiple pitches working gave another glimpse of why the Ms think he might be a good starter. It was a little weird seeing the guy with the typical starter's motion come in as the reliever, and the starter with a bit more arm-action and awkward falling off the mound tendencies, but Furbush threw really well.
I was pretty impressed. Can we make him pitch from the stretch for his entire next start just to get the hang of it?
~G
Furbush finishes off his 3rd strikeout
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=== INPUT ===
FASTBALL. ... runs a solid 90-93 mph, averaging 91.3 per F/X.
Furbush, without any question, has very good deception, a rather sidearm delivery, and his breaking stuff comes out of his hand obviously hard to separate from his heater.
This means that his fastball "plays up," a la that of a George Sherrill or Erik Bedard, and he gets plenty of swing-throughs on straight fastballs.
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Furbush's sidearm fastball has unusual drop to it, which is why he gets a better-than-average number of groundballs -- despite pitching up in the zone a lot.
This chart is from the PITCHER's point of view. Notice that the 2-seam fastball arrives with a 3- or 4-inch sink compared to league-average fastballs:
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CHANGE CURVE. His sweeping "change curve" comes in as much as -20 mph slower than his fastball, is obviously hard to read, and has a hard late break.
The arm action on it is terrific. In fact, I thought he was actually "tipping" the curve a bit by coming through harder than on his FB.
It gives lefthanders fits, and he can backdoor it very effectively to RH.
This pitch is either (1) good or (2) great. Need to see it more. But it is a strikeout pitch, without a doubt.
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SLIDER/CUTTER. Comes in at 81-83 mph, splitting the velo difference between curve and FB, and you can see perfectly from this chart.
He throws it with good arm action, but its break is disappointing, and too often looked like a batting-practice fastball to me.
Indeed, its F/X run value for the season is terrible, at -2.5 runs per 100 cutters thrown.
Which means only that SSI is dubious about the pitch. Need to see more.
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MOTION. Furbush's elbows-and-knees, high front side, sidearm deception has hitters consistently confused and "in between" pitches.
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COMMAND. As discussed in the post on his mechanics, he doesn't have a starter's rhythm that is conducive to hair-fine location.
Not all starting pitchers rely on location....
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TEMPO. Furbush has a smooth, controlled, very aggressive pace on the mound.
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=== OUTPUT ===
Furbush fanned 10+ men per game in the minors and is fanning 7+ already in the majors. He's got nice bite on his pitches and a good mix. He's definitely a pitcher with some electricity to his game.
His body language, timing, and commitment to throwing strikes --- > convincingly leave him in command of the at-bats.
He mixes three pitches, pitches ahead in the count, and doesn't get chased off the plate by homers or loud outs.
The downside is that, with his aggressiveness and lack of command, he's going to get some 91 mph fastballs hit over the fence. He's trading HR's for strikes. And, indeed, his HR rate is a sky-high 1.6 so far as a rookie.
In this sense, Safeco is a gorgeous match for him. Aggression is his game, and he's now got Big Brother Safeco standing behind his shoulder, backing his attitude.
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Dr's Prognosis: A promising young lefty with sharp, strikeout stuff and killer's attitude.
Ceiling as a starter may be in the 4.00 FIP range, if his K/BB ratio is going to stay at 7.0 / 4.0 (which we predict that it probably will).
Could get excellent synergy from Safeco, leading a 4.00 FIP into a 3.00-3.50 ERA result with the stolen LHP home runs.
As a reliever, looks like the key lefty (#3 reliever overall) in a contender's bullpen.
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