Luke French Interview
On Kevin Calabro, ESPN-710, about 3:20.
We loooooove Kevin's work, but he did start off the segment with an out-of-character rebuke for all the 'nerds' out there. He'd obviously read the 'net griping about his previous interviews and the minor league bus-work.
"Hey, Luke, sorry, the nerds could not care less about you as a person; they just want to hear about your pitches. So let me get the seamhead stuff out of the way first off.... "
LOL. Was expecting the "And don't even think about bringing that stuff in the paint on KIRO, you pencilnecks" finish. When Kevin goes off on somebody, you know he's torqued.
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I/O: French says that this year, with Detroit, he has been "going through a dead-arm phase" (that has lasted the whole year).
This dead-arm phase has had his fastball down to 84, 85 mph, and he can't quite understand it.
Wednesday, he did feel better, was able to get on top of the ball more, and throw a FB that "is more normal for me."
Crunch: Glad that he used to throw 88-89 and glad that he can still throw 88-89 for a few innings, if on long rest. But the above doesn't sound too rosy to me.
French says that he's, quote "anywhere from 85-91," which is a terrifying characterization for a pitcher to put on himself. That is what John Halama and Jorge Campillo would say.
But French is confident that he sits 88-89 and obviously doesn't see his own fastball as a problem. So that's interesting.
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I/O: French throws, according to him, in order:
- Two-seam fastball
- Four-seam fastball
- Changeup "may be my best pitch"
- Slider "just started throwing a year-and-a-half ago"
He does say that, even when he touches 91, "I'm more of a deception guy than somebody who will blow it by you."
Crunch: the good news is, maybe his slider will get even better. Against the M's it was terrific.
The bad news is, very possibly the AWOL slider on Wednesday is going to be AWOL a lot.
French's slider DOES have a nice run value on the year and, if he's encouraged to stick with it, it could be his meal ticket to a little productivity.
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I/O: French was "surprised" at "how good Rob Johnson is back there."
Per French, he's smart, he knows the hitters extremely well, and just gives a pitcher a feel that he knows what he's doing, can outsmart the hitters.
Surprised to be on the same page with Johnson as much as he was for a first game.
Crunch: Okey doke. :shrug:
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I/O: French saw Mauricio Robles in ST. He throws low-90's, mid-90's, yeah, pretty live arm ... when are we done with this interview? We're going on four minutes now.
Crunch: An ML pitcher on the cusp, isn't feeling real warm and fuzzy towards a young kid with an arm twenty times better than his. Fringe-O-Vision translation, yeah, Robles' arm stands out in a crowd.
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I/O: Did you know you were going to the M's? No, but I was like, yeah, whatever.
Who'd you root for as a kid?
The Mariners. Yawn.
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I/O: French couldn't seem to get off the phone with Calabro fast enough.
Crunch: For four minutes, French's personality reminded me a whale of a lot of John Halama's. FWIW. Maybe we'll get to see French blow bubbles on the backstroke out there too.
We report you decide,
Dr D