So does that mean you would have offered more than the Yankees did?About the negotiations with Miller, all I'm saying is the Red Sox offered less that I would have.
So does that mean you would have offered more than the Yankees did?About the negotiations with Miller, all I'm saying is the Red Sox offered less that I would have.
Brimac in Projo says yes, he is still tipping his pitches.We know he has had problems with tipping his pitches in the past, is it possible he was tipping again? Perhaps the alterations he has made to his pitching motion to protect the knee caused the pitch tipping to resurface? He looked like he was trending upward in his start vs the White Sox...and then this crap fest against the Tampa Bay flacid batsmen?
You could have the Pawsox catcher be on the lookout for tipping pitches. If he sees the tip then he could let the batter know what's coming al la Bull Durham.I hope they make certain that the opposition in AAA knows exactly what to look for with the tipping. Since there's not as much video scouting in the minors - the Pawsox should go out of their way to test any revised delivery against knowledgeable hitters. He's not going to fix it otherwise.
Finally, a scrap of a hint from the coaching staff about what's going wrong with the starting pitching. Willis just basically confirmed that Sox starters are being actively taught to give their primary focus during games toward countering the "attack of the hitter."Brimac in Projo says yes, he is still tipping his pitches.
"Eduardo Rodriguez is still tipping pitches.
The focus for Rodriguez during his stint with Triple-A Pawtucket, however long it lasts, will be to break the habits that leave him repeatedly broadcasting his intentions to opposing hitters and to develop new habits that allow him to pitch without having to think about tipping.
"It's no secret -- hitters know what's coming," Red Sox pitching coach Carl Willis said. "He has worked on it extensively during bullpen sessions, dry work periods. He makes progress. He shows the ability to make those adjustments. However, when the game begins and the game situations start and his focus gears more toward the attack of the hitter, the old habits resurface."
Why was he left in to surrender nine runs in his last start if he was still tipping his pitches?Finally, a scrap of a hint from the coaching staff about what's going wrong with the starting pitching. Willis just basically confirmed that Sox starters are being actively taught to give their primary focus during games toward countering the "attack of the hitter."
That's probably about as much insider-based confirmation about how the Sox strategizes during pitchers' meetings as we'll ever get. But it there's also the context of Willis's later quote in the article that when EdRo's "focus turns to the glove, it obviously takes focus from pitch location and attacking the hitter."
This is fully consistent with the story we got about how Price's adjustment of his mechanical check-points (like glove location) was suggested by Pedroia rather than the coaching staff. Focus on "pitch location and attacking the hitter" while identifying the "attack of the hitter" is being coached as a greater priority than maintaining focus on those mechanical check-points which allow each next pitch to be executed the best it can.
The only starter who can't buy into such a strategy and actually has to focus entirely on the execution of each pitch rather than out-guessing the batter is Steven Wright.
Those starters who haven't mastered their own mechanics yet to achieve command consistently -- and I'm looking at Owens and Kelly here, as well as EdRo -- are getting lit up.
Those starters who have generally mastered the consistency of their own mechanics with consistent command -- Porcello, Buchholz, and Price -- are able to employ this strategy, but are still suffering heightened HR/9 rates.
It fits very neatly, if you think about the HR rates as being linked to the pitcher "guessing wrong" about how to attack the guy at the plate.
Buzzkill, I'm not sure you are reading that quote correctly. I took at as, when he focusses on tippinng in bullpen sessions, he can improve/fix it. When he gets in the heat of competition, and cannot focus only on not tipping, the old habits crop up. I think Willis is talking about different environments affecting mechanics/tipping, not strategy .Finally, a scrap of a hint from the coaching staff about what's going wrong with the starting pitching. Willis just basically confirmed that Sox starters are being actively taught to give their primary focus during games toward countering the "attack of the hitter."
That's probably about as much insider-based confirmation about how the Sox strategizes during pitchers' meetings as we'll ever get. But it there's also the context of Willis's later quote in the article that when EdRo's "focus turns to the glove, it obviously takes focus from pitch location and attacking the hitter."
This is fully consistent with the story we got about how Price's adjustment of his mechanical check-points (like glove location) was suggested by Pedroia rather than the coaching staff. Focus on "pitch location and attacking the hitter" while identifying the "attack of the hitter" is being coached as a greater priority than maintaining focus on those mechanical check-points which allow each next pitch to be executed the best it can.
The only starter who can't buy into such a strategy and actually has to focus entirely on the execution of each pitch rather than out-guessing the batter is Steven Wright.
Those starters who haven't mastered their own mechanics yet to achieve command consistently -- and I'm looking at Owens and Kelly here, as well as EdRo -- are getting lit up.
Those starters who have generally mastered the consistency of their own mechanics with consistent command -- Porcello, Buchholz, and Price -- are able to employ this strategy, but are still suffering heightened HR/9 rates.
It fits very neatly, if you think about the HR rates as being linked to the pitcher "guessing wrong" about how to attack the guy at the plate.
That's how I read it.Buzzkill, I'm not sure you are reading that quote correctly. I took at as, when he focusses on tippinng in bullpen sessions, he can improve/fix it. When he gets in the heat of competition, and cannot focus only on not tipping, the old habits crop up. I think Willis is talking about different environments affecting mechanics/tipping, not strategy .
The HR rates to me are much more linked to grooving pitches over the heart of the plate way too often.It fits very neatly, if you think about the HR rates as being linked to the pitcher "guessing wrong" about how to attack the guy at the plate.
I don't think we're actually reading it any differently. I also think that's what Willis meant to be talking about. However, the way he was talking about performance in games seemed revealing...much more so than usual.Buzzkill, I'm not sure you are reading that quote correctly. I took at as, when he focusses on tippinng in bullpen sessions, he can improve/fix it. When he gets in the heat of competition, and cannot focus only on not tipping, the old habits crop up. I think Willis is talking about different environments affecting mechanics/tipping, not strategy .
I hope they make certain that the opposition in AAA knows exactly what to look for with the tipping. Since there's not as much video scouting in the minors - the Pawsox should go out of their way to test any revised delivery against knowledgeable hitters. He's not going to fix it otherwise.
I don't get that at all from the Willis quote. Not even close.Willis is basically confirming that EdRo's primary focus during games is supposed to be "attacking the hitter" or countering the "attack of the hitter" instead of mechanical checkpoints
Yeah, I just thought he was saying (in layman's terms) that in the heat of competition the adrenaline starts pumping and EdRo forgets what he's learned.I don't get that at all from the Willis quote. Not even close.
I know they've had first inning issues the last couple weeks, but has it been a consistent problem since day one of the season? I don't recall it being so blatantly the case in April and May.Price wasn't here last year. It may not be the pitching coach but there's something organizational amiss with how they are preparing pitchers (see: inning, first).
I think some of that is just because opposing batters are getting tired from crushing the ball so many timesSomething that jumps out is the SP is better the more times they go through the order. Isn't this generally the opposite (the pitcher gets exposed the more times through the order)?
http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/split.cgi?t=p&team=BOS&year=2016#times
A possible explanation for that is selection or survivor bias, in that pitching late into a game is conditional on pitching well enough to not get taken out early. If you looked at only those performances where a pitcher faced a batter 3+ times, you'd probably be more likely to see the expected relationship.Edit: just took a quick look at the team splits. Something that jumps out is the SP is better the more times they go through the order. Isn't this generally the opposite (the pitcher gets exposed the more times through the order)?
http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/split.cgi?t=p&team=BOS&year=2016#times
I assume that bullpen coaches are expected to do more than police the spitting of sunflower seeds these days, so they already have two coaches for the pitching staff.Teams have moved towards having two hitting coaches to split the workload. Why have they seemingly not done the same with pitching coaches?
Edit: or have they and the Sox just haven't followed suit?
I would image the bullpen catcher is sort of a de facto coach as well. I'm not sure how many different opinions you'd want to be throwing at a young guy, but there's probably no shortage of them.I assume that bullpen coaches are expected to do more than police the spitting of sunflower seeds these days, so they already have two coaches for the pitching staff.
OK, than three. If the pitching coaches are spending "very little time coaching pitching" - as the article suggests - than something's F'ed up.I assume that bullpen coaches are expected to do more than police the spitting of sunflower seeds these days, so they already have two coaches for the pitching staff.