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As long as he doesn't go all Brandon League on us and keep throwing the same predictable stuff up there regardless of how it's working, she should be OK.
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Matt Joyce: Your Destiny Isn't Entirely In Your Hands, Kid
This one wasn't fair. Farquhar worked the count to 0-2, then threw a "tease" fastball that was way outside. Great pitch.
Joyce took a tiny little girlie-man wave at it, "blonked" it squarely, and a two-bouncer happened to two-bounce right between Miller and Franklin.
Zobrist held up at 3B until the ball went through. If the ball happens to hit an infielder, there's one out, and Farquahar is a strikeout away from saving the game.
Hey, you know what? Felix Hernandez gives up runs. All cliches aside, that is the way the game works: if you don't strike everybody out, you're going to give up runs. And you can't strike everybody out: all they have to do is stick the bat out there and they can touch the pitch.
(Felix' last shutout, blown in the 9th inning, went askew on two bloopers that fell in. Imagine yourself as the best pitcher who ever lived, every pitch absolutely perfect, and you're still losing games 1-2 and 0-1. Your destiny is not in your own hands!)
...........
By the way, those first two pitches were high sliders, right down the middle, if I remember right. Zobrist's homer long triple hadn't chased Farquhar off the idea of high, centered -4 MPH fastballs. Gotta love the attitude, chest bared against the enemy machine guns.
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Evan Longoria: MVP Double
Farquhar doubled up on two slow minus 4 MPH fastballs ... er, sliders ... okay, "cutters" :- / and the second one was to another "mistake" area. Longoria lashed it down the line for a ringing double.
By the way, the pitch and the result were as in Edgar Martinez' double off Jack McDowell in 1995. There, did some of that bad feeling go away? As you know, we live to serve...
Here's a tough one. I'd be interested to know whether Gordon -- and you other guys -- think that Farquhar, with his unconventional "Mike Marshall Dice Roll" approach, has license to throw this pitch. Classically speaking, it's a mistake pitch under any circumstances, but part of Farquhar's shtick is his irrationality.
One thing I'll say: why so MANY sliders tonight?! His other two pitches are better pitches. I definitely wouldn't be "doubling up" on the slider so much, SHOWING the velocity and then OFFERING it again back-to-back. Not to great hitters.
But maybe that's Monday morning quarterbacking. I can't decide.
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Jason Bourgeois: Victim of Circumstances
Bases loaded, 0 out, the outfield drawn way in, Bourgeois could afford to simply try to lift a fly ball. (If you just joined us, you hit the ball in the air by going the other way -- your bat is lower in the zone, earlier in the swing.)
Farquhar threw a good slider, away, but that was right onto the barrel of what Bourgeois was trying to do. Bourgeois got the ball in the air to right field. Game over.
Had Matt Joyce's two-bounce hit a fielder, none of this would have occurred this way. But, whatever.
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Dr's R/X
It's clear that Farquhar is pitching with a childlike obliviousness innocence out there. Tonight, a great lineup beat him, a great lineup that had a bouncing ball go through the infield at the critical moment.
Absolutely no bloom off the rose for Dr. D. Keep chuckin', Danny, and try to learn a little somethin' while you're at it.
BABVA,
Jeff
Comments
2
To keep rookies from making rookie mistakes? I mean, if Zunino was behind the plate then I'd understand maybe they got too cute together, and Blanco would throw a 62 year old arm over Mike's shoulder after the game and give him some words of wisdom. But Quintero has been in the majors for a decade, right? What's his excuse?
I agree Doc, you shouldn't lead with the cutter. Only Mariano Rivera can do that, and you ain't him. Maybe he couldn't find the fastball in the bullpen, but ya gotta at least show it even if it's for a ball.
Rookie mistakes I can live with. Like you said, part of the learning process. What works in the minors doesn't always close games in the bigs against the big boys on playoff teams.
It's not like he was facing the bottom of the order for the Astros or something. The Rays did what they had to do on pitches they could hit (even if they got a little lucky) and Farquhar didn't make it quite hard enough for them.
Go get em next time, kid. Keep learning on the job. This is the year to do it, and even if you're "demoted" to set-up man next year, these lessons are valuable whether it's the 8th inning or the 9th.
~G
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That since Zunino went down, there's obviously been a disconnect between video room, and pitching coach, and catcher, and pitcher... they're out of synch all the time.
I'm sure from an MLB(TM) camera angle, the disconnects have been glaring, and from a Gordon(TM) camera angle it's perceptible. Impressive amigo. :- )
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Unless he plans to haul the fastball and curve into dry dock and start throwing 70% sliders all the time :- )
It's a good point. The predictability factor here is not liable to turn against him any time soon.
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Wow - one more reason to be impressed with Zunino. He was only on the club for what - six weeks? - and he pretty well owned it in that short time.
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He's fabulous with the pitchers...while he was here, we were hot with the pitching stuff...even guys like Harang and Saunders were in as much of a groove as they could possibly be given their abilities. When he went down, everyone started throwing like they were drunk.