Add new comment

THIS is why.  Down-and-in is the wheelhouse for every left-handed hitter ever born (except Smoak, I guess, because that dude seems to have been born without a wheelhouse...sad day...) so you DON'T throw there unless they're looking somewhere else.  Maurer works best when he attacks ALL the edges of the zone.
The problem? chest-high fastballs easily become belt-high fastballs if you're not careful (unlike knee high fastballs that tend to become balls). And working up the ladder makes pitching coaches nervous.  I don't really know when that happened.  Brandon Morrow loves the rising fastball up in the zone but we didn't want him to throw it when he was here.
Maurer needs permission to work the high strike. Especially against lefties. He can work inside and outside, and he changes level with his breaking ball, but if he's struggling with offspeed then he needs the high-heat in order to effect his game.
It'll make some folks uncomfortable to see those higher pitches coming in, but it's for the best.  Have faith.  That goes for fans and coaches (who are probably telling him not to throw there).  Maurer's a fighter and I'm glad he was able to go 4.  Could have gone more but we were trying to triage and salvage the game.  Too bad Beavan was the long man.
This was one of those games where you wished you had a Big Three type hanging out in the pen to play Fireman for a few innings, instead of bringing a can of gasoline to a bonfire.
~G