Danks' Development

by NorCalRangersFan on Jul 10, 2008 4:10 PM CDT Comment 6 comments

There is an interesting post on Beyond the Box Score about The Emergence of John Danks. Its an analysis of his pitching this year and looks at the Pitch F/X data to see what has changed that led to his breakout year. The things that jumped out at me were that he has added a new pitch (the cutter) and has added a couple of MPH to his fastball.

I still don't question the trade which I think was a good idea at the time. What I do question is whether he could have put together this year's season in the Rangers' organization. I don't think he could have for a couple of reasons:

1) I don't think Mark Conner and Co. could have provided the instruction to quickly add an effective fourth pitch, or to add 2 MPH to his fastball. Ever since Hershiser left, I don't see a lot of improvement in our pitchers once they reach the Major League level. This presumes that Danks would have been called up to the Majors, which brings me to my second reason...

2) I don't think he would have been given the chance to stay in the rotation after putting up the numbers he put up in Chicago in 2007 (which probably would have been even worse in Arlington). Chicago had the patience to let him learn and are being paid off for their patience.

0 recs | Comment 6 comments

Story-email Email Printer Print

Comments

I'm not sure you're right but...

...I do think these are the sort of arguments that must be considered before one just assumes that Volquez (just to name one former pitching prospect) would have the same type of success here as he is having in Cincy.

Physician: Primum non nocere

Batter: First, make no out

by Chad Crudup on Jul 10, 2008 4:20 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

whats the argument?

that our pitching coach is inept and cant teach pitches we need for our pitchers to be effective(danks), that our organization isnt patient enough. that our club is busy screwing up arm slots (volquez and beaven) instead of getting the most out of them?

yeah i agree.

ive wanted conner gone since the day he was hired.

"Do they know who I am? Do they know my status? Thats what I thought."
-Miles 6/21/08

.501 or bust!

by Jayslick on Jul 10, 2008 6:21 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

What is the general impression of Conner? We always hear about Rudy but I don’t hear too much about Mark. I know he isn’t considered top tier but where is he ranked among pitching coaches?

by thedudeabides on Jul 10, 2008 4:28 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

New attitude

It seems apparent that this year the rangers are devoted to a long-term development plan that was not prioritzed by Daniels/et al in 06 and 07. The rookies are being given chances and shown patience and veteran journeyman are gradually being thinned out throughout the minors. As for Volquez, he is a ranger’s success story, as they were the one’c who initiated the radical rehab program demoting him to the minor dregs. I have read however, that druing spring trainging with the reds, he went back to an old arm angle that the rangers had disabused him off and it is likely that he would not have found it again here. However, his new foundation was rebuilt here and th reds are now the beneficiaries. As for Danks, I think that he was not thought of as ready (for a team that was thought to be competitive) and was never given a chance even in spring training of that year. If we had him now, I think things would be different – he would be here to stay (whether with the new cutter or not I’m not sure). As for Conner this year, I think he should be given some credit for shifting Feldman to a starter.

by Goyogringo on Jul 10, 2008 4:36 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Danks

i was JUST saying today that i really don’t think danks would be developing like he is now if he were with the rangers.
While I don’t personally have any knowledge of what connor is or is not like it just seems they aren’t getting the developmental success across the board from young guys.

look at cincy and how they put volquez back to where he was before the rangers changed his delivery.

"I'm against picketing, but I don't know how to show it." - Mitch Hedberg

by rentz on Jul 10, 2008 4:46 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

I have heard that

Buerhle is the one that taught him that cutter. If that’s the case, you have to wonder if he would have learned that pitch if he was still here.

Just seems the the perfect storm to me: Danks leaves, learns how to throw one of the best cutters in the league, while the other young, promising pitcher has a terrible rash of injuries befall him leading to the conclusion that he is a bust.

I don’t think that based on the information that Daniels had available to him at the time (that’s all we can make decisions off of), that it was such a bad deal; hindsight has just made it appear as such.

by Lo'Ranger(s)714 on Jul 10, 2008 5:20 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs