We have threads for Cespedes, and Craig, who isn't even playing, and Ranaudo who made one start. Then poor Kelly goes out, and gives up one run against his former team and no one wants to talk about this shiny new toy who might be in the rotation for years? No sir.
Looking at the pitchF/X data for the game: http://www.brooksbaseball.net/pfxVB/pfx.php?month=8&day=6&year=2014&game=gid_2014_08_06_bosmlb_slnmlb_1%2F&pitchSel=523260&prevGame=gid_2014_08_06_bosmlb_slnmlb_1%2F&prevDate=86&league=mlb
He seems to have good stuff, even if the K numbers (and the swinging strike numbers) aren't there. 94 mph average on the fastball and the sinker (he very rarely throws the straight fastball, apparently), 84 on the change (which had almost the same differential and movement as RDLR's the night before), and a curve that he throws a lot. He also has a slider that he only threw 6 times, but it generated 2 of his 6 whiffs.
The thing that stood out was the fact that he wasn't fooling guys much. They just didn't swing a lot at his pitches, and if they did they tended to make contact. He stayed mostly at the bottom of the zone when he threw strikes, which is good, but only threw 54.6% strikes.
This jibes with his season and career numbers of having a 52% GB rate, but low K numbers (5.97/9) and about a 2-1 K/BB ratio, giving him consistent peripherals suggesting a 4.00 ERA to be expected.
His stuff seems better than that, but considering that he was playing mainly with Molina, I don't think we can blame sequencing or framing for numbers not matching the stuff. The slider doesn't lack for movement, nor does the change, but he is basically a two-pitch guy (78 of 97 pitches were sinker/curve). Can he throw a few more strikes, especially up high? It seemed like when he got ahead of hitters CV would want him to throw some gas up, but he was always too far out of the zone to get many people to chase the FB.
What are your thoughts?
Looking at the pitchF/X data for the game: http://www.brooksbaseball.net/pfxVB/pfx.php?month=8&day=6&year=2014&game=gid_2014_08_06_bosmlb_slnmlb_1%2F&pitchSel=523260&prevGame=gid_2014_08_06_bosmlb_slnmlb_1%2F&prevDate=86&league=mlb
He seems to have good stuff, even if the K numbers (and the swinging strike numbers) aren't there. 94 mph average on the fastball and the sinker (he very rarely throws the straight fastball, apparently), 84 on the change (which had almost the same differential and movement as RDLR's the night before), and a curve that he throws a lot. He also has a slider that he only threw 6 times, but it generated 2 of his 6 whiffs.
The thing that stood out was the fact that he wasn't fooling guys much. They just didn't swing a lot at his pitches, and if they did they tended to make contact. He stayed mostly at the bottom of the zone when he threw strikes, which is good, but only threw 54.6% strikes.
This jibes with his season and career numbers of having a 52% GB rate, but low K numbers (5.97/9) and about a 2-1 K/BB ratio, giving him consistent peripherals suggesting a 4.00 ERA to be expected.
His stuff seems better than that, but considering that he was playing mainly with Molina, I don't think we can blame sequencing or framing for numbers not matching the stuff. The slider doesn't lack for movement, nor does the change, but he is basically a two-pitch guy (78 of 97 pitches were sinker/curve). Can he throw a few more strikes, especially up high? It seemed like when he got ahead of hitters CV would want him to throw some gas up, but he was always too far out of the zone to get many people to chase the FB.
What are your thoughts?