Saturday a.m. Rangers things
by Adam J. Morris on May 9, 2009 9:15 AM CDT
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PrintI still don't get exactly what has happened with Matt Harrison. But all of a sudden, he's gone from looking like a poor man's Kason Gabbard to...well, I don't know. A good lefty pitcher who throws pretty hard and who throws strikes.
Evan Grant says that the most impressive thing about Harrison's complete game shutout yesterday was that he did it against a team he had faced just five days earlier. Conventional wisdom holds that it is harder for a pitcher to come back that quickly against the same team, because the hitters have seen all his pitches and know what he throws and when, which gives the offense an advantage. Harrison's ability to shut the ChiSox down again, twice in less than a week, is a credit to how he is throwing.
Anthony Andro's game story has Matt Harrison offering his explanation for his new success:
Matt Harrison has a simple answer for why he’s suddenly become impossible to score on.
"I’m just throwing the ball," Harrison said.
* * *
"He started throwing the ball over the plate," Rangers manager Ron Washington said. "Harry has good stuff. He played on the edges. He’s stopped playing on the edges and started making them swing the bat and put the ball in play."
The one bad thing about yesterday's game was Michael Young going out with a lower back problem. The S-T blog says he hurt it diving for a ball in the third inning, and that he did something similar in Detroit a couple of years ago, resulting in him missing two games. He's apparently going to see how he feels today, and make a decision then about whether he can go. Given what he's shown in the past about his pain tolerance, if there's any way he can play today, he'll be out there.
Andro also has some injury updates...Josh Hamilton took batting practice yesterday, did well, and is ready to go on a rehab assignment this weekend. And Jon Daniels had this to say about Neftali Feliz's shoulder soreness, which led him to miss yesterday's scheduled start:
General manager Jon Daniels wasn’t too concerned about the shoulder.
"Typically something this minor wouldn’t warrant a medical update if the subject was a lesser name," Daniels wrote in a e-mail.
Derek Holland has to carry the pink Snow White backpack since getting called up.
T.R. Sullivan has some bloggy notes up, that includes comments from Marlon Byrd on supplements and advice that Elvis Andrus was given in spring training.
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Vizquel
This was definitely a good signing. That guy has handled himself with nothing but class and he seems to do something good every time he comes into the game.
G G G E-flat_______ F F F D__________....
Maybe its the limited exposure
But I am loving how he has been hitting. Obviously not much power there, but he has been able to slap the ball around pretty well in almost all of his starts. He certainly doesn’t look like the guy that San Francisco got the past couple of years.
By 2028, Mark Teixeira will be in the HOF.
-The Outlaw
To add on to this now
Our SSs have this line on the year:
114 PAs .308/.339/.442 with a 124 OPS+(compared to other team’s SSs). I don’t think anyone here saw an Andrus/Vizquel combo working out that well this early in the season.
By 2028, Mark Teixeira will be in the HOF.
-The Outlaw
Yes, that's what I mean
even with this small sample I didn’t expect that pair to be hitting this well, especially at the same time.
G G G E-flat_______ F F F D__________....
Ozzie
wonder what he thought of Harrison’s outing this time….jackass
by death of the cool on May 9, 2009 9:51 AM CDT reply actions
Agreed
If I was Harrison, I would have turned to the Sox dugout after the last out and said, “Was that efficient enough for you you loud mouth douchebag!!!”
"calmer than you are dude" Walter (Big Lebowski)
by Arlington Stadium Legend on May 9, 2009 9:56 AM CDT up reply actions
Ozzie's take on the game and hit batters...
‘’Our offense is on and off,’’ Guillen said. ‘’We have a lot of guys struggling right now, a lot. I didn’t even know it was that many. We are not swinging the bats right now the way we think we can swing the bats, and that doesn’t help, either.’’
As for general manager Ken Williams’ call for Sox pitchers to work inside more against the Rangers, Contreras filled the need, hitting No. 9 hitter Taylor Teagarden in the fourth inning.
‘’I want a mean team,’’ Guillen said before the game. ‘’Kenny was right. I like to fight with people, but I was mad at myself because I know he was right and I couldn’t respond back.
‘’If you get two guys hit in the hands and out for two days, three days, four days, and you don’t throw one pitch in, I’m not that type of guy. I like to play the game the way we should be playing.’’
"Just take the ball and throw it where you want to. Throw strikes. Home plate don't move." - Satchel Paige
"Josh Hamilton doesn't act like he is Josh Hamilton. He acts like a guy who knows a guy who knows a guy named Josh Hamilton." - Jason Parks
remembeer when they got carlos quinten for a bag of bolts?
yeah that was funny
mormons stole me and held me against my will with Oklahoma beer and 12+ hour work days.
Actually
They got him for a really well regarded minor league first baseman, Chris Carter.
by Adam J. Morris on May 9, 2009 1:04 PM CDT up reply actions
Who, if i recall correctly,
the sox had attempted to trade to the rangers for aki before his health reports nixed it.
the preceding post was a great success.
Yep.
¡Prefiero morir de pie que vivir siempre arrodillado!
by inactive lsb user on May 9, 2009 1:11 PM CDT up reply actions
Then maybe he'd get ejected.
I mean, we did well against him last time, but I’d rather make the bullpen go all nine.
is he really that much better?
I tend to be a “results oriented” baseball fan…if a guy has a good line in the box score, then i think he did well. Sometimes, that’s not always the case….is Harrison actually pitching that much better than he was at the start of the season? Can we really expect him to be a 30 start, 3.00ish ERA, .250BA allowed type of guy? He’s looked quite amazing as of late, but what type of guy will he be when he settles back from the stratosphere?
"Does this effectively hide my thunder?"
Of course not
But even if he winds up being league average, that’s pretty good for the 4th-best player from the Tex trade.
by mikedallas45 on May 9, 2009 10:25 AM CDT up reply actions
If he is a
4.5 ish ERA guy who can put up 30 starts and go 6 innings, folks will turn cartwheels.
4/10/09 - Josh Hamilton's last walk.
"You know a pitching prospect isn't any good if John Daniels doesn't trade him away but keeps him insteaad." - http://crops.mlblogs.com/
"You probably can throw Neftali Feliz on that group of overblown Rangers pitching prospect failures." - http://crops.mlblogs.com/
Yep
If he could consistently be, say, 2004 Ryan Drese, that would be a very fine thing.
by Adam J. Morris on May 9, 2009 12:20 PM CDT up reply actions
Yep
As long as he doesn’t then turn into 2005-Present Ryan Drese.
LoneStarBall....You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy.
by LSBUser on May 9, 2009 12:46 PM CDT up reply actions
Harry's velo
Unable to watch the game yesterday, I went over to the MLB Gameday summary to look up his pitch types and velo. I was astonished to find one 98 and a 97, with a peppering of 96s. His velo increased starting in the 5th inning, and he also threw about 80% (or more) FB from then until the end of the game. Did anyone get these same velo measures for him via any other source (tv, radio)? I’m liking this version of Harrison that we got glimpses of last year, the anti-gabbard.
LaLoosh says
A good friend of mine used to say, "This is a very simple game. You throw the ball…
I was hoping for a little more out of Harrison.
The only differences I can see in Harrison are that he’s throwing more fastballs and he’s not worried about painting the corners. He has a little more movement on his fastball according to pitch f/x.
Wonderboy, what is the secret of your power? Wonderboy, won't you take me far away from the mucky-muck now. -- Tenacious D
Maybe
he is keeping his new-found wisdom of the secrets to pitching prowess in the clubhouse.
Hopefully he and Milly are giving tutorials to Pads, BMac, and Scooter on how to throw strikes.
It seems to be working somewhat. The three I listed haven’t been too bad themselves.
I think this may have been a result of rushing him..
He came up a bit too early, scuffled and got hit hard, and never quite learned that his stuff can play just fine if he believes in it. Just my guess, but I suspect that’s the hardest thing for the non-studs to actually accept. And getting thrown to the wolves a bit early certainly can’t help with that sinking in.
The Texas Rangers have been synonymous with explosive firepower ever since they emptied 130 rounds into Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow in 1934. - Alyssa Milano
I love it when a newspaper/blog runs a story about something..
which really requires a visual, and then fails to include a picture.
example: Derek Holland backpack.
Amen.
That’s the only reason I clicked on that link.
I had the image of Mad Dog sporting “IT” in my mind and wanted to replace it, but no, S-T did not give me the opportunity.
¡Prefiero morir de pie que vivir siempre arrodillado!
by inactive lsb user on May 9, 2009 1:07 PM CDT up reply actions
I have a friend who went to an Orioles-Rangers game
I know that guy ;-)
"Back on the scene, with a gangsta lean" RW
"you gonna lose your horse. seriously." FX2
Yes we can! November 04, 2008
I will assume...
that those who wanted Harrison out of the rotation a couple weeks ago will be ok with him getting a few more starts now.
Besides MY coming out of the game the only thing that bothered me yesterday was seeing Cruz and Davis K almost everytime up there. I think Cruz will be alright, but whatever CD said he worked on to fix him missing so many pitches didn’t work. Of course I’m not sure there is anything you can work on to fix your swing as long as you continue to swing at offspeed stuff in the dirt. I’m officially worried about him.
"The only good is knowledge and the only evil is ignorance."-Socrates
Was there anybody who didn't want Harrison ot of the rotation
just before he turned it around?
I will assume that nobody, not one person, saw this coming.
I didn't see it coming, but I certainly didn't want him out of the rotation...
This year is MAINLY about getting these young pitchers experience, and seeing if they can contribute before the next wave (HOPEFULLY) pushes some of them aside. I hadn’t seen enough of him to know for sure either way.
The Texas Rangers have been synonymous with explosive firepower ever since they emptied 130 rounds into Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow in 1934. - Alyssa Milano
Exactly...
Of course I didn’t think we would see him go 19 scorless innings, but this is just another example of why people need to be patient with young players. Knee-jerking and saying a hitter needs to be sent down after a bad month or a pitcher after a few bad starts doesn’t help. When you have players who are 21-25 years old you need to stay patient with them. Don’t bench them or send them down when they struggle for a small period of time and screw with their confidence. Young players will struggle, but you have to stick with them.
I specifically remember talking to people here who wanted Harrison down in OKC after 3 starts. I think the Rangers rotation needs to stay just how it is now for at least a couple months unless there is an injury and/or Holland starts to force his way in.
"The only good is knowledge and the only evil is ignorance."-Socrates
holland
not sure how much more he can do to “force” his way in. But, I also don’t think he needs to come in right now either. The rotation as is is either fine or TBD. Holland isn’t getting stunted either
God I love have these sort of roster problems....
After all these years of having to call up “guys named Joe” for a spot start, I’m cautiously optimistic (and periodically giddy) about having a solid rotation developing.
This post will self-destruct if the rotation implodes and I feel the need to do a full 180.
The Texas Rangers have been synonymous with explosive firepower ever since they emptied 130 rounds into Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow in 1934. - Alyssa Milano
I think I finally had enough out of him
the exact game he turned it around. Early in the game he was throwing batting practice, then Maddux went to the mound, and he has been doing great since then.
4/10/09 - Josh Hamilton's last walk.
"You know a pitching prospect isn't any good if John Daniels doesn't trade him away but keeps him insteaad." - http://crops.mlblogs.com/
"You probably can throw Neftali Feliz on that group of overblown Rangers pitching prospect failures." - http://crops.mlblogs.com/
Sure, we've seen in season turn arounds
but to be able to pinpoint a turn around not only to a point in the game is pretty unbelievable.
And yet, its so obvious. Maddux comes out, and Harrison completely fixes himself.
Yep
I had already composed in my head about 80% of a post I was going to do the next day, ranting about how much i hate nibbling lefties and how Harrison doesn’t need to be in the rotation if he’s going to pitch like that without being able to paint the corners.
And then that happened.
by Adam J. Morris on May 9, 2009 12:22 PM CDT up reply actions
Yeah, I think
I had posted in the GDT that it was time to send him down, and then he starts channeling Sandy Koufax.
Damnedest thing I’d ever seen.
4/10/09 - Josh Hamilton's last walk.
"You know a pitching prospect isn't any good if John Daniels doesn't trade him away but keeps him insteaad." - http://crops.mlblogs.com/
"You probably can throw Neftali Feliz on that group of overblown Rangers pitching prospect failures." - http://crops.mlblogs.com/
That's pretty much what I meant...
General consensus through the 2nd inning of that game was “Get him out of the rotation.”
Then the Maddux speech, and bam.. he hushes us up.
Didn't see this kind of turnaround coming
But I didn’t want to think about moving him out of the rotation until at least June.
By 2028, Mark Teixeira will be in the HOF.
-The Outlaw
I certainly advocated more time for him
but I won’t pretend I expected anything remotely like 19 scoreless innings.
G G G E-flat_______ F F F D__________....
right click on the time stamp of a post
and copy that url.
By 2028, Mark Teixeira will be in the HOF.
-The Outlaw
Close as I got to supporting him
was this.
"[Font} doesn't turn 19 until the end of May and his heater can already hit 99 on the gun. That's baseball porn." - Jason Parks
by hightowersmith on May 9, 2009 4:12 PM CDT up reply actions
OT: I was at
the Round Rock OKC game last night and almost spit out my beer when Matt Kata came up to bat for Round Rock
Derek Holland-2011 AL Cy Young
I like this:
“I just came out early and tried to follow the last start, not change anything unless they made me make an adjustment and they didn’t. So I just kept pounding the fastball. I was in and out and using my changeup like I was the last time. I was able to get ahead of them early in the counts and early in the game and just followed that up with pounding the zone late in the game and they were making great plays behind me.”
At some point, a team might figure out his fastball but as long they don’t, just keep using it. And chances are, if he keeps locating as well as he has, they won’t figure it out until at least the 2nd time through (if at all). That’s not bad from your 4th starter (we’ll just call him that for now)
Yep...
If a pitcher can locate his fastball that’s 91-95 then he will be fine. Like you say, even if hitters do figure it out then he can mix in his other pitches. I remember last night seeing him throw his curve very late in the game and for a minute wondering why he wasn’t using it more. The answer of course is he didn’t need to. He kept going with what was working. That’s not to say he didn’t have other options though if he needed them.
That AB when he sawed off Thome was an absolute thing of beauty. That has been the story of both Harrison and Feldman. Controling their fastballs and getting it in on the hitters. How many guys have we seen them saw off the last couple weeks? Damn it’s nice to have pitchers performing well.
"The only good is knowledge and the only evil is ignorance."-Socrates
Nolan Ryan did this for years...
of course with a much much better fastball…
1st time through pound them with the fastball on the corners.
2nd time through add in the secondary pitches.
By the third time through they are guessing….
by death of the cool on May 9, 2009 11:41 AM CDT up reply actions
These aren't the Matt Kata Rangers
"I will hit you, emo boy." -- my wife to a pedestrian, 8 May 2009
by Lucas on May 9, 2009 3:21 PM CDT reply actions 1 recs
Arias up, Golson down
No more Royce Huffman in left field. Fun while it lasted.
"I will hit you, emo boy." -- my wife to a pedestrian, 8 May 2009
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