POTD Brandon McCarthy (and Garrett Olson)
=== Mechanics and Health ===
One of the prettiest motions you'll ever see.
Textbook lanky-pitcher's body. Light on his feet. Extends all his limbs and yet stays balanced. Glassy-smooth decel and the arm doesn't even touch his chest. Leverage perfect, everything perfect.
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As a result of this zero-stress motion :- ) he has not one, not two, but three stress fractures in his right shoulder .... and 9,000 other injuries. Even if he were great, he'd be too fragile to worry about.
As a major league pitcher, he makes a great video.
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=== Template ===
Power flyball pitcher with an average- minus fastball. Yum yum. Love the template.
Good command in the zone, can be effective with offspeed, but only flirts with the junkball arsenal that would give him a chance to eat innings. (In particular months he has gone to a 40% FB game and been effective.)
Groundballs go up as offspeed selection goes up (batters swing under FB's and over offspeed). But won't go to the pitch selection that would give him a shot to become Bronson Arroyo.
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=== Performance ===
Consistently runs decent-to-good control ratios -- strikeouts and walks look fine -- but that is because he accepts home runs.
Most pitchers could run a 2.0 control if they didn't mind getting crushed when behind in the count.
We'll say this much: you can't chase Brandon McCarthy out of the strike zone... I wonder why he has never pitched for Lou Piniella.
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=== Mystique ===
For about 15 minutes -- okay, a couple of hours -- McCarthy held a Michael Pineda-type mystique.
In 2003, basically his first year in the minors, he fanned 125 men and walked ... guess how many? 15. Then in 2004, he came back and fanned over 200 men (!) across two promotions and three leagues.
Folks don't realize that there are umpteen Garrett Olsons who just won't throw a ball to minor-league hitters. It's like a slow white guy scoring 27 points a game in NCAA basketball. The same shots just don't work in the NBA; the ball winds up in the cheap seats.
McCarthy will always be the guy who ran fantastic stats in the minors. So will Garrett Olson. Power to them, for building careers out of it. It doesn't mean that we need the righty version to go with the lefty...
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=== Dr's Prognosis ===
From a health standpoint, McCarthy appears limited to relief pitching for the rest of his life. But this does not intersect with the fact that he needs to throw those 88 fastballs about 40% of the time. McCarthy has a starter's rhythm, a starter's arsenal but a reliever's durability.
Every inning devoted to Brandon McCarthy, would be one that couldn't be invested in a guy you plan to win with.
Gutsy kid, wish him the best. Nothing to see here. Move on.
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BABVA,
Dr D