Gotta love those lefty-lefty matchups. Doesn't matter if the pitcher is a steaming pile of shit, he's a lefty!
People seriously said they would be disappointed with a borderline HOF career? Wow. And I've had as much of a man-crush on Hughes as anyone... There are two things I don't understand about Hughes' career: He used to throw this sick twelve-to-six low-to-mid-seventies hook. Consistently. And for strikes, at will. I don't think I've really seen that curve since '07. It's gotten loopier and faster. And with a slightly slower fastball, I can see why it's not as effective, especially when he's not able to throw it for strikes. I'm just surprised other people haven't worked on getting back to that old curve. (Or maybe they have, and he's just not able to do it anymore for whatever reason.) The other one is his changeup. That, too, used to be a slower (and more effective) pitch. Now, when he does throw it, it doesn't have the same velocity spread. He used to have a better feel for it, too. None of this is to say he can't be successful (we saw that for much of last season). But he's not likely to be a crazy-dominant pitcher without those two things... things he seemingly had from 05-07. As for this year, his mechanics look way off to me. He looks like he's short-arming the ball... pushing it.
Okay. This is going to get annoying, even by John Sterling standards. Can somebody explain the home run call in french for Russell Martin?
Hopefully Pettitte gets tired of praying by June cause lord knows my stomach's not going to stand watching either Milwood or Carlos f'n Silva get time behind the dish.
Well I mean the best changes ups are when someone has an effective fastball. I agree about the 12-6 curve, I remember a game against the Indians he worked that pitch so well. Maybe this all has something to do with Rothschild being the pitching coach
Right, but I'm going back to well before this season... so I don't think it's Rothschild. That really tight 12-6 curve hasn't really been around since 2007. It's still mostly vertical, but it doesn't have that sharpness to the break. His lower-velocity changeup hasn't been around since then, either. Last year, Hughes had probably the best fastball we've seen from him in the majors... overall, anyway. But his changeup was still faster than it had been a few years ago. As was the curve. And I'm still not sure where that 2006 fastball went. Here's what was reported in some NY papers back then: NY Daily News: "Hughes, whose fastball has been clocked in the mid- to upper-90s, started this season pitching for Class-A Tampa in the Florida State League. He had a losing record there (1-2) but had an impressive 1.80 ERA while striking out 30 hitters in 30 innings." Newsday: "The Yankees' first pick of the 2004 amateur draft, Hughes has a 5- 3 record and 2.75 ERA in 12 starts for Double-A Trenton; he began the season at Class A Tampa. At Trenton, he has 76 strikeouts and 23 walks in 72 innings. Yesterday, he displayed a fastball that topped at 96 mph and a curveball that fooled Dodgers prospect Joel Guzman." The NYT: "The Yankees have been protective of Hughes, their prized prospect who turned 20 last month. Hughes, a right-hander with a 95-mile-an-hour fastball, has a 6-3 record and a 2.85 earned run average for Trenton. He has struck out 90 and walked 25 in 82 innings, after pitching 30 innings for Class A Tampa to begin the season." From a prospect report: "Fastball: Hughes would be an effective pitcher with a 90 mph fastball. That said, Phil Hughes is going to be more than an effective pitcher. He is capable of throwing 96-97 mph, but prefers to sit comfortably at 93-94 or 94-95 on a good day in order to command it better. That said, he is capable of reaching back and throwing a located fastball at 97 if the situation commands it. He locates his fastball with the best of them. Think Curt Schilling as a comparison for the fastball." Here's a video of one of his great starts from last season. He had the fastball working pretty well, but you'll see a handful of curves thrown, and only two of them looked really sharp (despite being effective). 2010 start vs. Indians Here's another video back from 2008... you can see the difference (and it's still different from how it was thrown the previous year, but I can't seem to find any of that video). 2008 start vs. Blue Jays I don't know... I guess some of it could be camera angle. But if you go by pitch value, his curve was an above average pitch in 2007-2008. It was slightly below average in 2009 and well below average in 2010. Maybe it's for reasons other than the execution of that specific pitch. Maybe he's predictable. Maybe he can't throw it for a strike and the batters know it. Maybe he's tipping his pitches. Maybe it's all working off the fastball (which is my bet, at least, as to why he hasn't been successful). But it's still frustrating to watch. I know, but...
:breakdance: His mother is French-Canadian, if you're asking why the French. SI did an article on him and his parents a few years ago.
http://www.newsday.com/sports/baseb...-scratched-from-sunday-night-lineup-1.2811140 Alex Rodriguez was a late scratch from Sunday night's lineup against the Red Sox. He was feeling ill, and Yankees manager Joe Girardi took him out of the lineup. Eric Chavez, who went 3-for-5 on Saturday, will take A-Rod's place in the field at third base, and Robinson Cano has moved up to the cleanup spot....
Sterling blows another home run call, this time with Cano. Fly ball to right field. "THERE IT GOES TO DEEP RIGHT... caught by Drew a few steps from the wall" And of course Waldman immediately starts making excuses for Sterling. "It's windy, that should've been a home run..."
Man, people LOVE to take things out of context. They are saying this is the best Red Sox team ever, and in terms of talent they have a case for sure.
