Hendriks

[spideyo]

I'm still a big fan of Hendriks, and I'm excited to see what our new pitching coach can do with him

[glunn]

I'm still a big fan of Hendriks, and I'm excited to see what our new pitching coach can do with him

 

I like Jokin's idea of trying to teach him to throw a good cutter to keep hitters off balance.

[edavis0308]

Hasn't anyone taught him to throw with some sink? Just sink it and cut it a little.

[DelawareTwinsFan]

I saw Hendriks pitch in Anaheim last year, in the game where Weaver threw the no hitter.

 

It seemed to me that Hendriks did not have anything resembling an "out pitch." It seemed to me that the Angels hitters were fouling off a lot of pitches until they got something to hit. If Hendriks could develop an "out pitch" (or something that would at least keep hitters off balance more), then I think that he could be great. I wonder how difficult it would be to teach Hendriks to throw a decent slider or a better changeup. I also wonder if Johan Santana might be available as a pitching instructor after next year.

 

Exactly as I see it. His fastball barely breaks 90. No significant breaking pitch, hardly major league stuff. Guys with marginal stuff need to throw the right pitches at the right times and Mauer and Doumit aren't great game callers. Butera is pretty good (probably why Pavano liked him so much) but his bat is soooo bad, it hurts just as much on the other end. I'm hoping Steinbach teaches Mauer and Doumit a little something about the art of calling for pitches and framing pitches. If so, the whole staff will be better.

[stringer bell]

Exactly as I see it. His fastball barely breaks 90. No significant breaking pitch, hardly major league stuff. Guys with marginal stuff need to throw the right pitches at the right times and Mauer and Doumit aren't great game callers. Butera is pretty good (probably why Pavano liked him so much) but his bat is soooo bad, it hurts just as much on the other end. I'm hoping Steinbach teaches Mauer and Doumit a little something about the art of calling for pitches and framing pitches. If so, the whole staff will be better.

Mauer seemed to call a pretty good game in '08-'10. Of all the catcher attributes, I think pitch calling is the most overrated.

[Haddyz]

Mauer seemed to call a pretty good game in '08-'10. Of all the catcher attributes, I think pitch calling is the most overrated.

 

Wow, stringer bell, I couldn't disagree with you more. As a catcher for over 20 years, pitch calling is ridiculously important. Now, while Mauer enjoyed better years with better pitchers, his pitch calling is by far one of the worst for a starting catcher in the league. I will knock Mauer for this until I die.

 

Go back to watching someone like Henry Blanco. Butera works well with some guys. You'll see the obvious difference. Mauer gets screwed sometimes because of how bad a pitcher misses. He's gotten lazy as a catcher. His footwork has gone downhill every year. His blocking, downhill, every year.

 

Sad part is how obvious it is. The differnce between me calling a game and one of the other catchers on the team I play/coach... are hits, quality hits and runs, every single game. Same pitchers, different catcher calling a game.

[Willihammer]

Go back to watching someone like Henry Blanco. Butera works well with some guys. You'll see the obvious difference. Mauer gets screwed sometimes because of how bad a pitcher misses. He's gotten lazy as a catcher. His footwork has gone downhill every year. His blocking, downhill, every year.

 

career CERA

 

Mauer: 4.050

Blanco: 4.320

Butera: 4.55

 

edit: Doumit: 4.95

[CDog]

Wow, stringer bell, I couldn't disagree with you more. As a catcher for over 20 years, pitch calling is ridiculously important. Now, while Mauer enjoyed better years with better pitchers, his pitch calling is by far one of the worst for a starting catcher in the league. I will knock Mauer for this until I die.

 

Go back to watching someone like Henry Blanco. Butera works well with some guys. You'll see the obvious difference. Mauer gets screwed sometimes because of how bad a pitcher misses. He's gotten lazy as a catcher. His footwork has gone downhill every year. His blocking, downhill, every year.

 

Sad part is how obvious it is. The differnce between me calling a game and one of the other catchers on the team I play/coach... are hits, quality hits and runs, every single game. Same pitchers, different catcher calling a game.

 

Over the weekend I was near a guy who was watching a replay of a swing by Phil Mickelson toward the end of Saturday's round where he reached 24-under after three rounds. This guy had the confidence to point out several mistakes Phil was making, based on his likely-not-as-similar-as-he-thought experience playing the "same" game. I thought that was pretty bold. Here it is, only three days later, and that boldness has been matched. Good times.