CARTER CAPPS HURRICANE WARNING
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From 1989-1992 ... actually about July of 1992, as we recall ... Randy Johnson was a mediocre pitcher, but a mediocre pitcher who had unlimited upside. IIRC, he had a great finish to 1992.
Bill James issued a major storm warning that winter. That was a pretty good heads-up, considering that it was the Jurassic Era of sabermetrics. These days, being ahead of the curve means you are 1-2 weeks earlier than everybody else. Which, as you know, SSI usually is. We live to serve.
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We might not be any earlier than you on this one, as far as Carter Capps being about to take over the league. But we'll nail down a few of the details that may not yet have gone to wide dissemination...
In 1993, Randy Johnson became an overwhelming pitcher because he started landing on his toe, started keeping his head over his CG (rather than leaning back), and could throw fastballs or sliders for strikes - pretty much at will.
About 1995, though, the Big Unit leaped another plateau because he refined his slider to the point to where he could locate it. In 1993 and 1994, he simply threw the slider at the knees, over the heart, for a strike. But in 1995, he started throwing some of them at RHB's back feet. Moe, Lonnie, you remember watching righties swing at pitches that hit them?
He added to this the ability to really back-door the slider, his "Frisbee" pitch. So he actually did have four different weapons: challenge fastball, challenge slider, slider breaking out of the strike zone gloveside, and slider nipping the strike zone armside against RHB's. (This pitch did not exist against LHB's, because LHB's did not appear in Johnson's games.)
We remember a scout of that era saying, "There's nothing you can really do. He'll throw the slider in, he'll backdoor it. He'll go up the ladder on you now. He's just got so many weapons."
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For the first time on April 8th, Carter Capps threw his slider at will for an armside back-door strike, or down the middle for a de facto changeup, or breaking off the plate for a gloveside sucker pitch.
He located the fastball at 93, or he ramped up to 97 when he wanted.
Mike Blowers marvelled after the game. "As a right hand hitter I can tell you that you have no chance, if he's going to do that."
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Capps threw 13 pitches, 12 of them strikes. What's worse (for the league), he seemed to throw about 10 of those strikes exactly where he wanted them. I busted his chops for "falling in love with the slider," but I was wrong. He was just locking it in, and he was able to go right back to 97 MPH as soon as he'd consolidated.
This is like Capps' 15th game, and already he's finessing the AB's like a third-year guy. Whew.
I don't know if he's going to execute like this, every game from now on. I can only tell you what will occur, if he does. If Capps can throw the slider to three different spots, as he seemed to do easily on Monday, he'll compile Aroldis Chapman type stats.
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Not that he should be a reliever. Chris Sale was an overwhelming reliever before the White Sox decided they'd rather have a Cy Young starter.
TJM said they resisted, this winter, because they wanted to see Capps become more consistent with his breaking ball ... okay, now what?!
Shame they don't slam Capps into the rotation and just sit back looking like a tree fulla owls, as Amarillo Slim used ta say.
Stephen Pryor is also kicking tail and taking names; with the Bartender, Pryor, Furbush and Oliver Perez, they've got the luxury of adding a free 18-game winner to the rotation. Sure, it's a hit to the bullpen. So you think the White Sox should move Chris Sale back to the 7th inning?
But if they want to go with the Aroldis Chapman scenario, that'll be okay too.
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