Whats wrong with Mujica?

soxhop411

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Dec 4, 2009
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JF seems to think its due to "infrequency of use,"
Mujica has appeared in 10 games and had precious few incident-free outings, with an ERA of 10. Even more alarming is the fact that he's walked four in nine innings, after walking just five in 64 2/3 innings a year ago with the St. Louis Cardinals.
"He was in a more clearly defined role last year,'' said Farrell, "so there was more frequency of use. He got on a little bit of a roll last year and carried it throughout nearly 40 saves last year.
"It has been command (that's been an issue this year) within the strike zone, not just base on balls. It was evident tonight, with the first pitch to Loney - he trying to go down and away and he pulls it across the plate for a double. And we've seen it a few times, where there's been some mislocation. He's starting to gain some arm strength now that we're (almost) through the first month, and increased velocity.
"But still, to me it's more infrequency of use to this point.
 
http://www.csnne.com/boston-red-sox/mujica-struggling-through-infrequency-use
 
 
 

DennyDoyle'sBoil

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Looks like command to me. Ball is missing the gove, and he knows it. Tonight he was throwing get me over meatballs. He threw at least 5 of them tonight, although one of the few good pitches he threw got hit for a single. Moss got three batting practice balls. He missed the first two and hit the third for a hard line drive out. Velocity is not great but maybe that's him taking something off for control. As for the theory that he needs more work, tough to guess. Seems like something that someone outside the clubhouse can only guess about.
 

Clears Cleaver

Lil' Bill
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Aug 1, 2001
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Command issues are usually related to injury. For a guy who walked five in64 innings to walk four in 10 innings tells me he's got a physical issue that causing a change in delivery. Anyone want to put up film of him in June 13 v now?
 

joe dokes

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Jul 18, 2005
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I think that both he and Breslow are in the middle of the "can't use 'em if they suck; they suck if they dont get used" conundrum.  Although Mujica throws harder, both are dependent on accuracy. Mujica threw a lot of strikes that got hit ("too good") and Breslow walked a guy and went a full count on another (just missing).
 

WenZink

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Apr 23, 2010
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Dan to Theo to Ben said:
If you put them on the DL, can you then give an extended minor league rehab stint, or is that against the rules?
 
I'm sure it's done all the time, but, the player has to be willing to play along, and a team can't abuse the process by doing it with every pitcher that's under performing.
 
Most veteran pitchers have at least one thing or another that's less than 100%, but Mujica would have to first assent to being shut down for a couple of weeks and then spending 3 weeks riding AAA buses to get his arm strength back, which is different than Victorino driving down to Pawtucket for a couple of days.  Mujica's going to be 30 next week and has a 2 year deal, so unless he really has an injury, would probably tell the Sox to go shove it if they asked him to play make-believe.  And I can't blame him.
 

Red(s)HawksFan

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Dan to Theo to Ben said:
If you put them on the DL, can you then give an extended minor league rehab stint, or is that against the rules?
 
Major league pitchers on the disabled list get a maximum of 30 days to rehab in the minors.  To extend that time by resetting the rehab clock, the pitcher has to be shut down completely for a minimum of seven days.  To get the player to the rehab assignment, he'd have to shut down for at least a week, probably two, before the assignment begins in order to sell the "injury".  Can't see where that is optimal even if the pitcher goes along with it.
 

soxhop411

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Some more JF thoughts on Mujica 
 
"There's been a few things at play here," Farrell said today. "The arm strength is increasing, we're seeing better velocities, (but) his command has been a little bit less than what it was a year ago just by the number of walks he's issued already."
Consequently, Farrell said the Sox are "trying to create a little deception in his delivery" that will allow Mujica to hit the edges of the plate rather than keeping the ball in the middle. And until those changes are perfected, Mujica ideally will pitch in lower-leverage situations, like when he inherited a five-run lead Friday night.
"But Edward's going to be critical for us," Farrell said. "He and Bres (lefty Craig Breslow) getting back in the mix more consistently, we're going to need those two guys to spell others and allow for proper rest for the entire relief group."
http://bostonherald.com/sports/red_sox_mlb/clubhouse_insider/2014/05/red_sox_making_changes_to_struggling_reliever_edward
 

PaulinMyrBch

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MYRTLE BEACH!!!!
I think his stride is off. The first video is last year and his left leg lands left of the center line pointed towards the general area of the left batters box. I'm never crazy about lead legs landing too far to either side of center, but I understand for some guys they've developed that over the years and it works. So if we assume that is "normal" Mujica, then that's sort of a baseline. Look at the land on the second video and it appears the lead leg landing even farther off center than last year. Too much of that and you're open too soon. I haven't seen a bunch of Mujica this year but what I've seen was sliders missing left and back door two seams not finishing in the zone. I think if he gets that leg closer to the center the control might improve.
 
I know that's an opinion on a small item, and its hard to pick up on just two videos, but it seems to me he's open too soon when he's pitching bad. 
 
(Freeze first vid at 3 sec and second vid at 4 sec)
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmtHtSXx0dM
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Us5svO6mnow
 

soxhop411

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DL stint?
“@Hannable84: Mujica didn't pitch the ninth because of oblique tightness while warning up. Reevaluated tomorrow.”
 

Lose Remerswaal

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Another bad outing last night, there comes a time when you cut bait on a guy who just isn't performing and move on to the next guy.
 
Relievers on the 40 man roster who are not on the big club include:
 
Britton
De La Rosa
Ranaudo
Webster
Wilson
Workman
 
Both Workman and Wilson have been up with the big club this year, Wilson didn't get any appearances.  Of course if you waive/DFA Mujica you can add anyone you'd like.  I don't know what the contract arrangement is with (Milton's Own) Rich Hill, but in 4 games this month, he's gone 5.2 innings, giving up 4 hits, 1 run, 2 BB and 7 Ks.  Of course he's a lefty, and they have plenty of lefties already here.
 
Thoughts?
 

ivanvamp

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Jul 18, 2005
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Lose Remerswaal said:
Another bad outing last night, there comes a time when you cut bait on a guy who just isn't performing and move on to the next guy.
 
Relievers on the 40 man roster who are not on the big club include:
 
Britton
De La Rosa
Ranaudo
Webster
Wilson
Workman
 
Both Workman and Wilson have been up with the big club this year, Wilson didn't get any appearances.  Of course if you waive/DFA Mujica you can add anyone you'd like.  I don't know what the contract arrangement is with (Milton's Own) Rich Hill, but in 4 games this month, he's gone 5.2 innings, giving up 4 hits, 1 run, 2 BB and 7 Ks.  Of course he's a lefty, and they have plenty of lefties already here.
 
Thoughts?
 
Mujica has been a really solid reliever his entire career.  It seems a waste of an asset to just release/DFA him.  If there's nothing wrong with him physically, you just keep him around and use him strictly in very low-leverage situations (i.e., blowouts, one way or the other), or as a last man in an extra inning game kind of scenario.  
 
I think he'll turn it around.  I don't think he suddenly forgot how to pitch after years of being good.
 

ALiveH

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I would DL Mujica.  It seems like in situations like this pitchers are usually hiding some nagging injury that ends up getting much worse and/or they need to figure out some mechanical issue.
 
All the Pawtucket guys have suspect k/bb and bb/9 peripherals.  I just hope they bring up whoever they think is pitching best right now without regard to seniority or anything else.  meritocracy based decisions will instill healthy competition.  It would be a shame not to take advantage of the deep depth afforded by having all these young power arms in AAA.
 
Just looking at the numbers I'd be inclined to go with Webster - he got the bb down (but still on the high side) despite low k rate, but historically he's had a good k rate, so maybe that's a SSS aberration or maybe he's pitching the sinker more to contact.
 
RDLR also looks promising though his bb rate is too high too, but he hasn't given up a HR in 42 innings and has a 0.196 BAA.
 
Workman has had success in SSS this year at MLB but has struggled at MiLB.
 
This is why you pay your baseball guys & scouts to make the tough decisions if the numbers aren't giving you a clean answer.
 

Plympton91

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Given how fickle relief pitching is, how good Mujica was prior to last September, and the fact the he has a two year contract, I can't see them releasing him. They'll let him work it out in low level situations unless you get to a point where the pen is so taxed they have no choice.

If you're going to bring up the minors guys, I'd look at their recent major league performance. If you include the playoff tournament stats, Workman has 38 IP as a reliever, giving up 4 hrs, 15 BB, and 40 K. That seems like it would be a pretty good FIP.
 

DanoooME

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ALiveH said:
I would DL Mujica.  It seems like in situations like this pitchers are usually hiding some nagging injury that ends up getting much worse and/or they need to figure out some mechanical issue.
 
All the Pawtucket guys have suspect k/bb and bb/9 peripherals.  I just hope they bring up whoever they think is pitching best right now without regard to seniority or anything else.  meritocracy based decisions will instill healthy competition.  It would be a shame not to take advantage of the deep depth afforded by having all these young power arms in AAA.
 
Just looking at the numbers I'd be inclined to go with Webster - he got the bb down (but still on the high side) despite low k rate, but historically he's had a good k rate, so maybe that's a SSS aberration or maybe he's pitching the sinker more to contact.
 
RDLR also looks promising though his bb rate is too high too, but he hasn't given up a HR in 42 innings and has a 0.196 BAA.
 
Workman has had success in SSS this year at MLB but has struggled at MiLB.
 
This is why you pay your baseball guys & scouts to make the tough decisions if the numbers aren't giving you a clean answer.
 
You can't just DL someone without him actually being hurt.
 
However, there is the possibility something happened to him last year.  On August 11th he pitched 2 innings for his 31st save.  He threw 30 pitches that day.  He then pitched 2 innings on both 8/13 and 8/15 (17 & 24 pitches respectively).  A report from the St. Louis Journal-Dispatch came out on 8/18 or 19 that he was "fatigued" and was "shut down" for a couple of days.  He did pitch again on the 19th and 21st picking up saves in both, although he gave up his first run since July 4th in the game on the 21st.  Then MLB.com reported on the 21st saying he was bothered by "shoulder soreness".  He picked up 2 more saves in August and had 4 days off before pitching 9/1 in a non-save situation giving up a run on 2 hits.  He then blew his 3rd save on the 4th, but followed that with a save on the 6th (a 2 pitch, 1 out save).  After a couple of more non-save games, he then pitched 3 consecutive games on the 18th, 19th and 20th (pitch counts were 16, 21, 25).  He got his 37th save in the first game, blew the save in the second and got bombed in the 3rd, but was given credit for a hold.  Then on the 21st another report of "fatigue" came out and he was relieved of his closing duties.  It sure looks like the high usage pattern could have been a cause of the problems.
 
Is it possible he hasn't recovered from this yet?  From one of those reports he was quoted as saying  "My body feels like a little bit tired, and my release point is getting a little bit up,"   I looked at the release point charts on Brooksbaseball.com (can't copy and paste for some reason) and I don't really see a difference between the beginning of the year and the end.
 
It looks to me like he got overworked a couple of stretches last year and it messed him up.  I can't explain this year since he hasn't even pitched back-to-back days yet this year.  But maybe he's still being affected.