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He's asking out of games when he's not needed to save those pitch counts for the games where he needs to throw 125.
He's not throwing every fastball at max effort either...he's making you THINK he is, but then it's 90 mph one pitch and 95 the next...he is mixing speeds on the fastball both to save his arm AND to confuse the hitters (if you can lollygag your fastball sometimes and still get outs...you should)
You know who Felix is pitching like right now? Tom Seaver. He used to pile on the innings by doing exactly what Felix is doing...throwing easy pitches when he wasn't in trouble and much tougher pitches when he was...throwing hard only rarely, but using a motion that LOOKS max effort. Throwing multiple offspeed pitches that literally cannot go straight.
I think the real key to Felix' game is that his velocity curve is not one with neat separations that cluster...he can throw it any velo he wants. His curve ball is anywhere from lollipop speed (70-72) to yellow hammer speed (80-83) depending on what he's trying to do. Last night he lollipopped it several times on first pitches to steal strikes. His slider is anywhere from 83 to 92 mph (yes...92...that has happened a coupla times this year). His three different fastballs are 89-95 and the hardest one is actually his cutter (LOL!) His change-up is a relatively reliable 86-90 mph and it moves in insane ways.
Point is...you can't read curveball and know what the speed will be...you can't real fastball and know what the movement OR the speed will be...and you can't read change-up because he has such good arm action. So if you're a hitter facing him...what is your game plan? How do you take any of his pitches away from him?

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