I was about to smack James around for calling Felix an up-the-ladder pitcher but slap me silly if I didn't just learn something.
How have I been watching Felix pitch for the last seven years and not noticed that he suddenly went from a groundball pitcher to a neutral pitcher at the precise moment when he went from merely "OK" to CY contender? In 2005-2007, Felix flashed brilliance from time to time but was generally frustrating to watch because you knew he was capable of more. In fact, his HR rates were shocking high for a guy keeping the ball on the ground. Dr. D analyzed this as his not knowing fear and pitching to contact too much against good hitters to avoid the walk. Perhaps it was this defeating attitude of avoiding the walk and groveling for lucky grounders that led to the high mistake rate. Because in 2008, when he suddenly got silly-good, his GB/FB dropped to near 1 and stayed there.
Huh...how the heck did I not notice that?
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