Contenders? We Got Felix
As you might recall, on May 19th, Felix opened the game with 16 straight fastballs to the Anaheim Angels, who pounded him for 6 runs on 11 hits.
After the game, Don Wakamatsu said he didn't think Felix' head was in the game, specifically said that Felix' effort "comes and goes" quote-unquote, and challenged him (in essence) to grow up.
After the game, Felix shrugged and denied that he'd given any subpar effort, and stated that there was nothing whatsoever wrong with his performance.
After the game, Dr. D once again wrote that nobody, not even King Felix, can just go out and heave the ball toward the strike zone. Randy Johnson tried and failed, and if Randy Johnson couldn't pitch mindlessly, neither could you. So we said.
Felix, bloated 4+ ERA in tow, sort of wandered off unfazed by it all.
=== Let The Rejoicing Begin ===
Since Wok's callout, Felix has started seven (7) games and been unhittable in every blinkin' one of those games. He has given up 5 runs, count them, in those seven games -- and if he'd been taken out one pitch sooner against Arizona, he'd have given up 3 total runs in those seven starts.
That is vintage Bob Gibson Territory. The NL. 1968. Felix has been in a time warp.
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I was particularly taken by Felix' back-to-back detonations of Blake and Ethier in the 6th:
BLAKE: on 1-0 count, toss two gorgeous curves right down the middle, freezing him like a Yeti for a 1-2 count. Then blast a thunderous 96 jam pitch tight against his hands ... for a garbage-swing strike three.
ETHIER: lock him up with a first-pitch yakker for 0-1, get the second strike called 96 m.p.h. RIGHT ON the black .... .show him a curve inside to go 2-2, and now with Ethier confused by the offspeed pitches ... blast another 96 thunderbolt RIGHT ON the black and Ethier does not move a muscle.
After both of these K's, Felix had precisely the "You're Not Good" demeanor that Randy Johnson used to show when he literally waved guys out of the box with the back of his hand. It was this demeanor that was the key for me. Felix, FROM HIS POINT OF VIEW, is toying with the hitters.
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=== One Problem ===
I went to tally up the glorious stats of the last 7 starts... all the K's, the tiny BB's, the oodles and noodles of groundballs ...
And guess what? Felix' component stats aren't any different the last 7 starts.
:- /
I mean, you can quibble about small differences in the splits (though I hope you won't, because the broad point is important here). Felix has 51 K and 13 BB in his last 53 innings -- but that ratio is not fundamentally different than his overall season total.
I expected to see a higher GB rate his last seven starts. It's not higher. Not so's you'd hang a theory on it. He's throwing lots of fly balls in his glory run.
I thought his LD% would be nonexistent. It isn't. For example, he gave up 5 line drives last time out against Arizona, just like he did against LAA. ... you might find a little difference there, but it wouldn't explain a 4.25 ERA vs. a 0+ ERA.
....................
Really, Felix only had 3 bad games this year, but.... check it out. The one where Texas got him for 6 runs? He fanned 9 men and walked 0 that game. Aren't we behaving like 1960's sportswriters here? Looking at a guy's 7-16 record and assuming he's a loser? We're going off Felix' losses and runs allowed and forgetting that maybe he was just unlucky.
And it started to alarm me: perhaps Felix was right after the Angel game. Maybe he WASN'T doing a blasted thing different. Maybe we were just being 1960's sportswriters, us and Wok and everybody together.
Maybe, maybe not. That's a subject for a column next week. But give it some thought. Maybe, just maybe, we were all yelling at Felix for something he didn't do.
Felix had two or three off games in May. If it wasn't mostly just bad luck, I'm guessing he just didn't have the great movement those nights, or whatever. But it's pretty tough to say that Felix evolved starting on May 12, because his component stats say that he has not.
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=== Pronator Teres Dept. ===
Shifting gears: Felix *is* throwing the type of swerveballs that he did in Boston in early 2007. (And he has been, most games, since Opening Day.) Rob Johnson is practically giggling about the joke pitches here.
I don't know whether his arm matured and now can handle the stress, or what, but he is evidently finishing those pitches with the kind of finger pressure that is creating crazy swerve on his fastball and sinker.
As we've said since early 2007, when Felix' ball moves like that, everything else is moot. The hitters can't gear up for centered fastballs because payday will never arrive. You throw a 95 screwball and you can pick whatever pitches you want.
For one game in Boston in 2007, Felix and his 95 frisbee was "The 30-Year Pitcher." In 2009, Felix seems to have that video-loop spliced and ready to cue up any time he wants.
After Felix' couple of off games in May, Dr. D opened his big yap about his being the M's #2. There is no doubt this time: I'll take Felix #1 in the big leagues if we're picking sides tomorrow.
Because of Felix, I like the M's chances to stay in it.
Cheers,
Dr D