"Swihart does not have the yips"

nattysez

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File this under "he doth protest too much."

Farrell acknowledges Swihart is having some issues with the transfer of the ball & throw back to the mound. Said it's not the "yips" #RedSox
Is this a known issue? Has it been reported anywhere before? I'm confused (and likely overreacting) to the fact that Farrell went out of his way to say that Swihart's issue is NOT the yips when I hadn't previously heard anything about this or any suggestion that he was having an issue with the ball transfer.

FWIW, I couldn't really find a thread to jam this into, hence the new thread. Hopefully this turns out to be nothing.
 

Savin Hillbilly

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The wrong side of the bridge....
Yeah, file under "since you didn't ask, I should mention that I've stopped beating my wife."

Did anybody notice anything like this going in in 2015 or early 2016? If it's not a new problem that would explain a ton.
 

joe dokes

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I seem to remember one of the sox several catchers in the last couple of years throwing lollipops back to the mound. That's all I got.
 

nattysez

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This doesn't look good, but it's only one throw:


Then Jen McCaffrey said, in response to someone incredulously asking why this was being discussed:

Well Farrell said this afternoon that the Red Sox were concerned about Swihart and they're working with him to fix it, so yes.
 

luckysox

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If he throws it over Porcello's head in mid March, I'll worry. Until then, seems like something to worry about because there's nothing to worry about.
 

Hank Scorpio

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In his very limited time behind the plate last season, he was pretty brutal. I seem to recall him having trouble holding onto pitches, losing pitches completely, and a couple of instances where a ball got past him and he simply had no idea where the ball was.
 

shaggydog2000

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If he throws it over Porcello's head in mid March, I'll worry. Until then, seems like something to worry about because there's nothing to worry about.
We should worry about it intensely, as should he. That's the only way it's ever going to get better, right?
 

shaggydog2000

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In his very limited time behind the plate last season, he was pretty brutal. I seem to recall him having trouble holding onto pitches, losing pitches completely, and a couple of instances where a ball got past him and he simply had no idea where the ball was.
He had a few bad games catching a knuckleball. Other than that he seemed pretty solid back there.
 

Hank Scorpio

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He had a few bad games catching a knuckleball. Other than that he seemed pretty solid back there.
As I recall, he struggles weren't limited to the knuckleball, and he only caught Wright once in 2016.

Swihart's problems weren't just a couple of passed balls. He was universally bad defensively in his short stint as starting catcher.



There were other instances of this, including a missed routine popup off the bat of Trumbo, who then proceeded to hit a home run immediately after.
 

Mike F

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File this under "he doth protest too much."
Snopes sez "Fake News!"



Is this a known issue? Has it been reported anywhere before? I'm confused (and likely overreacting) to the fact that Farrell went out of his way to say that Swihart's issue is NOT the yips when I hadn't previously heard anything about this or any suggestion that he was having an issue with the ball transfer.

FWIW, I couldn't really find a thread to jam this into, hence the new thread. Hopefully this turns out to be nothing.
 

O Captain! My Captain!

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As I recall, he struggles weren't limited to the knuckleball, and he only caught Wright once in 2016.

Swihart's problems weren't just a couple of passed balls. He was universally bad defensively in his short stint as starting catcher.

There were other instances of this, including a missed routine popup off the bat of Trumbo, who then proceeded to hit a home run immediately after.
Swihart wasn't great in a SSS during 2016, but seemed fine--if inexperienced and still learning--in 2015.
 

nattysez

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Masslive's piece says this has been going on for a couple of days.

He has thrown some over the pitcher's head and some wide. He also has double-clutched at times. He had trouble Thursday and Friday.

***

He said the only thing he's frustrated about is he feels bad for the pitcher.

"I feel fine. I'm not worried. You guys shouldn't be worried either," he added. "I'm working on my craft. And I promise the ball's going to get there."

Boston Red Sox manager John Farrell said. "This is something that has just kind of popped up a little bit. Has always been a good athlete. A good, athletic catcher. Accurate thrower. So there's some technique that he's working through right now. And this isn't even throwing the ball to second base. It's just a matter of his transfer and get the ball back to the pitcher in good shape. So we're working on it right now."
Deadspin also has an article on this, but (as you'd expect) it's just an aggregation of the Masslive piece.
 

shaggydog2000

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I believe those characters are called "Yips".

Worth bumping a 3+ week sleeping thread for? Well . . .
I was amused.

But I have been meaning to ask, have there been any more info on this? It seemed like a big deal for a couple of days, but I haven't heard it mentioned since. The only thing I saw was Farrell complimenting his improved defense a few days back.
 

nvalvo

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