DMN Blog, MJH: Diamond back to a slider
This was hard to post while slamming my head into the wall repeatedly. I'm thinking that, later, I will be breaking my fingers one-by-one and tearing clumps of hair out of my scalp.
Even if it's a good slider, where the hell did that curveball go?
about 3 years ago
NoNameOnCard
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I'm so confused.
I feel like I don’t know which way is up.
by NoNameOnCard on Feb 25, 2009 2:52 PM CST up reply actions
You should email Hindman, see if it’s definitely a long-term thing.
Go Strangers.
by hightowersmith on Feb 25, 2009 3:13 PM CST up reply actions
The curve was legit.
It was at least a 60, but it played down just a little bit. If he could throw it where he wanted to every time, that would have played as a 65 or better.
Command could be a reason for scrapping it, but he seemed to have enough command of it to keep chucking it at the batter.
It was definitely a useful pitch, and if nothing else, he should keep it in his bag as a show-me pitch.
by NoNameOnCard on Feb 25, 2009 3:52 PM CST up reply actions
Correction.
Read what I wrote again. I said it played down (more like a 55) because of command. I then said that if he could put it wherever he wanted to, it would have been a 65 or better.
You turned my “ifs” into absolutes.
by NoNameOnCard on Feb 25, 2009 6:29 PM CST up reply actions
No
You said quote
It was at least a 60, but it played down just a little bit. If he could throw it where he wanted to every time, that would have played as a 65 or better.
You said it was a 60 when it was playing down. Nowhere did you say it was a 55
Bryan Smith (12:17:17 PM PT): Justin Smoak and Josh Hamilton. The AL West might just have found their Bash Brothers, v. 2.0.
Ok, so I wasn't clear.
I was trying to say that it was a 60 that played down.
by NoNameOnCard on Feb 25, 2009 6:34 PM CST up reply actions
Easy enough to understand,
if you know the parlance of the trade.
"...my balls are really like a veiny flesh color" blueballlefty on Jun 4, 2008 7:44 PM EDT
"you gonna lose your horse. seriously." FX2
Yes we can! November 04, 2008
A young trophy wife,
in the parlance of our times…
"Hang-Dai, Wu...Hang-Fu$&ing-Dai"
by Walter Sobchak on Feb 26, 2009 1:08 AM CST up reply actions
Brant cant watch though, unless he pays $100
by thedudeabides on Feb 26, 2009 1:40 PM CST up reply actions
it was great
I’m going to try and follow up on this. Perhaps my sources are wrong and he’s simply added a slider, but I was told that he was FB / CH / SL during the intrasquad game on Monday.
BA has him thowing a curve before switching to the slider in 06
is this inaccurate?
“….his long arm action caused him to abandon his overhand curveball in favor of a promising 82-83mph slider in 2006.”
So by this account he started with a CB switched to a slider went back to the CB and now back to the slider? Confusing….
he switched a lot
pretty much every year; the curve he was throwing last year had legit 12-6 break and just froze people; it was much better than the slider he was throwing in 2006, and it wasn’t even close
Maybe the curveball wasn't as repeatable?
Maybe he scrapped it because he though it would lead to an injury. That’s kind of weird though.
Signature! I don't need no stinking signature!!
I wouldn't rule out pain as a factor.
I just don’t think it’s likely.
by NoNameOnCard on Feb 25, 2009 3:53 PM CST up reply actions
To me
a slider was always more “painful” than a CB though.
by Michael Cave on Feb 25, 2009 7:39 PM CST up reply actions
if he can get the slider down...
and it is better than the curveball, let him work the slider while continuing to develop the curve. as rare as curve are these day, could throw one in time to time.
Rob Traeger
http://secondbaser.blogspot.com
That's mostly why I'm hoping that it's not completely scrapped.
Hopefully, Mike will have more to report on this soon.
by NoNameOnCard on Feb 25, 2009 3:53 PM CST up reply actions
My initial reaction
(after thinking you’d jump off a cliff) was that he would continue to work the curve in at least occasionally.
G G G E-flat_______ F F F D__________....
Maybe he wanted a bigger speed change between his offspeed pitches?
Is it a power slider?
"My mother always taught me that if the only thing you have to say is,
‘(Expletive) Dave Samson,’ then don’t say anything at all.
So I’m not going to say anything at all.
Is my mother the greatest or what?"
- Mariners GM Bill Bavasi, after signing Ichiro to a $90 million contract
so as a question
does this mean that the slider is that good, or that the curve was that bad?
also, why scrap it now instead of last year?
Scout: He was a first-round pick right? Got a huge bonus?
KG: Oh yeah.
Scout: Well, he spent a lot of it on milkshakes.
I fear, if the curve is really scrapped, that he might have lost the feel for it.
Maybe he can’t make it break the way it was last season. I have no explanation, but I’m going to look until I find one.
by NoNameOnCard on Feb 25, 2009 3:55 PM CST up reply actions
A CB is a real "feel" pitch.
So you may have a good idea, right there.
"...my balls are really like a veiny flesh color" blueballlefty on Jun 4, 2008 7:44 PM EDT
"you gonna lose your horse. seriously." FX2
Yes we can! November 04, 2008
good point
should be interesting to see hwo he does or if he even throws it every now and then
Scout: He was a first-round pick right? Got a huge bonus?
KG: Oh yeah.
Scout: Well, he spent a lot of it on milkshakes.
by knockoutking on Feb 26, 2009 11:47 AM CST up reply actions
Booo
Sliders are so overused. I miss the days of the ole Fastball-Curve-Change combo for starting pitchers. Funny how many aces own a good curve: Halladay, Hamels, Beckett, etc. Sliders are for the birds.
thats why some people LOVE neil ramirez
his curve is a true swing and miss pitch
Scout: He was a first-round pick right? Got a huge bonus?
KG: Oh yeah.
Scout: Well, he spent a lot of it on milkshakes.
by knockoutking on Feb 26, 2009 11:48 AM CST up reply actions
Sliders
Isn’t there some thought that they are behind the rash of arm injuries amongst modern pitchers?
Fire Ron Washington
It's one of my beliefs.
Mostly because the pitch is taught incorrectly.
by NoNameOnCard on Feb 25, 2009 4:57 PM CST up reply actions
Pretty sure
sliders exert less stress on elbow ligaments than curveballs do.
Maybe that’s why post-TJ surgery Diamond switched.
"I think an eating contest is really just the beginning of a shitting contest."
- Demetri Martin
I agree with SteveP. (Yeah, I just typed that.)
If thrown properly, no pitch pitch is any better or worse than a fastball for arm health. The way most people throw, however, sliders are much worse than curveballs. At best, they are equal.
by NoNameOnCard on Feb 25, 2009 6:01 PM CST up reply actions
My education
continues thanks.
"I think an eating contest is really just the beginning of a shitting contest."
- Demetri Martin
for what its worth
sometimes teams also keep pitchers from throwing a certain pitch when they are younger to try to “save” their arm
and exmaple is felix hernandez
he was not allowd to throw it early on in his career – 3.3% to 7% to 20% to 12%
also he hurt his arm throwing his slider last year (after that great game @ boston)
Scout: He was a first-round pick right? Got a huge bonus?
KG: Oh yeah.
Scout: Well, he spent a lot of it on milkshakes.
by knockoutking on Feb 26, 2009 12:29 PM CST up reply actions
I never gave up hope...
just put it on hold
"Hang-Dai, Wu...Hang-Fu$&ing-Dai"
by Walter Sobchak on Feb 25, 2009 5:46 PM CST up reply actions
15 wins
Mark it down
Nobody punished like Earl and No one was nastier than Ryan
Hey NoName
Make sure you tear your hair out first before you break all your fingers. Can’t do it the other way around.
The goal is to inflict pain.
I think the pain would be magnified if the attempt was made with freshly broken fingers.
by NoNameOnCard on Feb 25, 2009 6:28 PM CST up reply actions
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