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if you are confident and have control of it. I'm not going to compare the young man to Randy Johnson, but Johnson's slider was thrown to anyone. To a righty he threw it at their back foot, and hit a few of them there while they were swinging over the top of it. Or he could back-door it, making it look like it was outside until the last moment. The one thing Maurer can't afford to do is throw it where it breaks over the middle of the plate and into the loop zone for a lefty. You might as well put it on a tee. It's like real estate. Location, location, location.
I don't think his catcher helped him much, either. Maybe I'm a little harsh on catchers, but dammit the kid's a rookie and it's the catcher's freakin' job not to let him pitch like one. Shoppach has to know better than to let him start the game with four straight fastballs down in the zone. And if you're calling for a slider, make dang sure you set up off the plate.