B Mac's slider ...

by Aneel on Apr 9, 2009 5:49 PM CDT

where was the newly developed slider today? All I saw were loopy curves ending on the middle or inside part of the plate?

he pitched well overall; seven K's should be a confidence booster. he knows he's gotta be more efficient with his pitches and i think he was pulling a Padilla with slowness on the mound.

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Nadel

I didn’t get to see the game today but got to listen to a little radio in the car. Nadel paraphrased Maddux about that very issue: “if it looks his old curveball, he’s not throwing it right”.

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by Black Francis on Apr 9, 2009 5:59 PM CDT reply actions

It's more of a slurve than a slider, actually

I missed most of the first 5 innings, but it sounds like he pitched fairly well for a guy who didn’t have very good command. You obviously want to see him go at least another inning deeper into future games, but if this is what an off-day for him turns out to be this year he should be okay.

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by LSJ on Apr 9, 2009 6:01 PM CDT reply actions

It is/was a slurve

Its not quite as loopy as his old curve and the thing I liked about it was his ability to throw it for strikes. Got many strikes looking with it. I was surprised to not see more changeups out of him but he did have a few good ones.

by groundingout on Apr 9, 2009 6:26 PM CDT reply actions

Loopy curve?

If you think what BMac was throwing today was a loopy curve then you never saw him throw his real curve.

What he threw today was much tighter than his old curve.

You’re not going to see a traditional hard biting slider out of BMac, that’s why everyone is calling it a slurve.

by jthig32 on Apr 9, 2009 8:42 PM CDT reply actions

STO broadcast called it a 'over hand curve'

by Aneel on Apr 9, 2009 9:42 PM CDT up reply actions

Agreed

It’s different in that he can throw it for strikes.

That's why they call them business sox

by egriffey on Apr 9, 2009 11:40 PM CDT up reply actions

better than you think...

According to Pitch-F/X…

15 strikes, 5 balls on 20 “curves” and “sliders”
10 strikes, 3 balls on 13 “change ups”

Texas Rangers Prospects: Derek Holland and Zach Phillips - TexasLeaguers.com

by NoNameOnCard on Apr 10, 2009 2:42 AM CDT up reply actions

Sounds good to me.

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by inactive lsb user on Apr 10, 2009 10:15 AM CDT up reply actions

Whoa

to quote Joey Lawrence

That's why they call them business sox

by egriffey on Apr 10, 2009 12:47 PM CDT up reply actions

Yup his problem was his fastball location

by slimshadty12 on Apr 10, 2009 3:38 PM CDT up reply actions

You have to wonder

how much the wind affected both starters. Nadel and Barnett wondered it aloud a couple of times.

"We live, we die, and the wheels on the bus go round and round." - Tony Romo

by kentbenfer on Apr 9, 2009 9:08 PM CDT reply actions

Wind

If this was the old McCarthy, he would have been blown off the mound…

by Andy Seiler on Apr 9, 2009 9:10 PM CDT up reply actions

On TV, it certainly looked different than how I thought it would look.

At the Padres game on March 18, his slurve had a noticeable break to his glove side. On TV today, it looked a lot like his old curve ball. This is probably something of an illusion caused by the camera angle, but it’s not as slidery as I thought it looked in ST.

It’s about 5 mph harder (78-81 mph) than his old curve. The break is definitely tighter, but I’d still call it a curve based on what I saw today.

Texas Rangers Prospects: Derek Holland and Zach Phillips - TexasLeaguers.com

by NoNameOnCard on Apr 9, 2009 11:12 PM CDT reply actions

Pitch-F/X data confirms it... kind of.

The data isn’t perfect, but when I compared today’s game to his April 9, 2007 start against TB, the data backed me up.

The lateral break is almost the same as (a little less than) his old curveball, but the vertical break is about 10 inches less. The velocity difference is approximately 5-7 mph, and like I said above, he’s throwing it for strikes.

10 strikes, 15 balls in 2007.
15 strikes, 5 balls in 2009.

I’m thinking of throwing the graphs together with some analysis for the blog. I’ll post a FanShot if I do.

Texas Rangers Prospects: Derek Holland and Zach Phillips - TexasLeaguers.com

by NoNameOnCard on Apr 10, 2009 2:46 AM CDT up reply actions

His slurve...

looked really good yesterday, he was able to locate it pretty good all day. However he’s going to have to keep his fastball down in the zone or he will get hurt with the long ball, like he did a couple times yesterday.

And for crying out loud throw your change up more McCarthy. The first time he threw one was his second time throught the order. Hafner looked silly on one. He’s going to have to have more confidence in that pitch and be able to throw it more often and for strikes if he’s going to be successful this year. He can’t rely on just his fastball and that slurve. If he can do that I think he could have a pretty good year. If he stays healthy of course.

"The only good is knowledge and the only evil is ignorance."-Socrates

by slc ranger on Apr 10, 2009 10:05 AM CDT reply actions