Article: Myth: Starting Pitcher Velocity

[bird]

 

Not sure why you keep posting this question!

Twins pitchers all season long talked about how the organization wants them to use six pitches to get two ground outs, instead of six pitches to get one strikeout. So much more efficient that way!

 

 

Didn't mean to annoy you Hosken. Funny, but I watched a lot of baseball this season and missed every single one of those conversations you're describing here. If I heard Perkins or Gibson say something this inane, I think I would have noticed.

[bird]

 

In one of the thru the fences posts in the minor league area, Bob quotes scouts from other teams commenting on the Twins costing their minor league pitchers velocity.

 

 

Yeah, I thought this was really interesting. Platoon describes it in post #42. It was cryptic and vague insinuation rather than something definitive, but telling nonetheless.

 

Just wish we had a journalist who would pursue the topic.

[bird]

 

I agree they did, but I'm not holding it against them anymore as I think they changed, at least when it comes to the draft.
 
But I am curious, Ryan has said many times that Deron Johnson and the scouts are really the ones who run the draft, and lately they have been getting harder throwing guys (the results can be a different topic of discussion) yet in free agency, the Twins still seem to favor the control guys.  It also seems that many guys who were drafted with high 90's heat or projections for high 90's heat have now fallen to low to mid-90's guys.  I don't think this is entirely unique to the Twins, and some of that could be due to age, as pitchers seem to lose velocity pretty early into their careers these days, but I wonder if there is any kind of disconnect between what the scouting department covets in a pitcher and what those that develop them ultimately want to see from them.
 This from a recent Bob Sacemento post from Florida: >>>>>>On Saturday, lefty Sam Clay started for the Twins going 4 innings, his fastball was continually 89-91 mph maxing out at 92 mph with a slider around 76-78 mph. I was sitting next to two AL East Scouts (one amateur, one pro), and they were comparing notes on Clay. Last year, Clay's fastball was continually 92-95 mph when he first joined the Twins. They jokingly said that's the Twin's for you, I asked them what they meant and they said happens alot with Twins pitchers. >>>>>>. I wish there was more background or context to that discussion. I don't think the Twins "tell" pitchers to lose velocity. But I do wonder if the overriding lesson from the pitching coaches is control, control, control, that the players drop a little velocity in an attempt to improve their control, and their standing in the eyes of their beholders? That would be a very normal response by a young athlete trying to improve his position in the pecking order.

 

 

Yeah, the notion of a disconnect among scouts drafting fireballers, Ryan signing "control" FA's, and developers struggling to get the Burdi's of the world to the next level is interesting. One thing that seems to stick out is that guys like Burdi, Jones, and Reed struggled, but not because of reduced velocity. Their problems were more about control, right? So I'm not sure that leads us anywhere.

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

Didn't mean to annoy you Hosken. Funny, but I watched a lot of baseball this season and missed every single one of those conversations you're describing here. If I heard Perkins or Gibson say something this inane, I think I would have noticed.

Radio.

 

Also, internet.

[d-mac]

The thing people scouting pitchers and building pitching staffs should be asking is not whether or not the pitcher has velocity, but whether the pitcher can miss bats.