Mahle: here we go again?

[I wish the twins were good]

[Richie the Rally Goat]

when your username is "I wish the Twins Were Good", it's really hard to take your posts as remotely objective. - FWIW I agree w/ Dan Hayes entirely. Pitchers work on specific pitches in spring training, he could have thrown the same exact pitch 20 times in a row.

[stringer bell]

It looks like Mahle was in the low 90s with the fastball. Topped out in the 4th at 93. His shoulder is a concern until he shows it isn't, I guess. That he allowed three straight HRs is less concerning to me than the lower velocity.

[chpettit19]

Tyler Mahle throws his fastball 92-94 MPH. He topped out with multiple 93 MPH fastballs today. I don't see any concern.

[Brock Beauchamp]

It's better to see a guy throwing hard than seeing a guy not throwing hard but I'm not going to get too worked up over a single start. If it continues, then it's a potential problem.

[cheeseheadgophfan]

17 minutes ago, chpettit19 said:

Tyler Mahle throws his fastball 92-94 MPH. He topped out with multiple 93 MPH fastballs today. I don't see any concern.

I swear I heard he throwing 95 in his last start.....harder than any time last year.  I'm trying not to panic.....

[tony&rodney]

No worries, Ober is ready.

[chpettit19]

1 minute ago, cheeseheadgophfan said:

I swear I heard he throwing 95 in his last start.....harder than any time last year.  I'm trying not to panic.....

He can get up to 95-96, but that's not where he sits. His average fastball velocity per season since 2017 has gone 93, 92, 93, 94, 94, 93. I can understand the nerves with him due to his shoulder situation last year, but he hit 93 multiple times today so I don't see any reason to panic.

[stringer bell]

31 minutes ago, chpettit19 said:

He can get up to 95-96, but that's not where he sits. His average fastball velocity per season since 2017 has gone 93, 92, 93, 94, 94, 93. I can understand the nerves with him due to his shoulder situation last year, but he hit 93 multiple times today so I don't see any reason to panic.

I checked ESPN Gameday and they recorded one fastball at 93 and an average of 91.

[chpettit19]

10 minutes ago, stringer bell said:

I checked ESPN Gameday and they recorded one fastball at 93 and an average of 91.

In the 4th inning Baseball Savant had him with 6 splitters between 82.3 and 85.6. 4 sliders between 82 and 83.8. 1 cutter at 86.7. And 16 4-seamers between 89.7 and 93.1. Had another 4 seamer at 93.0 in the 4th. 4 others above 92. I'd certainly like him to be throwing 95, but his 66th pitch of the day was 93.0. 67th was 93.1. And his 69th pitch was 92.6. 

Last year his 4-seamer averaged 93.2, splitter was 85.6, cutter was 85.5, and slider was 83.9. He was definitely on the low end of his velo range today, but it doesn't look to be anything crazy to me.

[stringer bell]

2 minutes ago, chpettit19 said:

In the 4th inning Baseball Savant had him with 6 splitters between 82.3 and 85.6. 4 sliders between 82 and 83.8. 1 cutter at 86.7. And 16 4-seamers between 89.7 and 93.1. Had another 4 seamer at 93.0 in the 4th. 4 others above 92. I'd certainly like him to be throwing 95, but his 66th pitch of the day was 93.0. 67th was 93.1. And his 69th pitch was 92.6. 

Last year his 4-seamer averaged 93.2, splitter was 85.6, cutter was 85.5, and slider was 83.9. He was definitely on the low end of his velo range today, but it doesn't look to be anything crazy to me.

I think it's something to be aware of, but not to panic. A lot of pitchers go through a "dead arm" period later in spring training with zero long term effect. It's been unusual with so many throwing so hard so early.

[Parfigliano]

Im not going to panic over a Mahle spring training start that was objectively bad at best.  Im also not going to say Julien belongs on the 26 man because he killed it in the WBC.  Both are what they are.  Snapshots.

[chpettit19]

Just now, stringer bell said:

I think it's something to be aware of, but not to panic. A lot of pitchers go through a "dead arm" period later in spring training with zero long term effect. It's been unusual with so many throwing so hard so early.

Yeah, I think if it were a different pitcher it's probably not even noticed by many people. But all eyes are on him coming off the end of last year and he's being hyper analyzed. If they push back his next start or he comes out not being able to hit 90 next time I'll jump on the panic train, but right now it doesn't look like anything to worry about to me.

I'm just ready for the regular season to start so we can just get the answer to everyone's health questions and get this show on the road!

[Doctor Gast]

3 hours ago, stringer bell said:

It looks like Mahle was in the low 90s with the fastball. Topped out in the 4th at 93. His shoulder is a concern until he shows it isn't, I guess. That he allowed three straight HRs is less concerning to me than the lower velocity.

I was noticing the same thing, that made me concerned.

[I wish the twins were good]

4 hours ago, Richie the Rally Goat said:

when your username is "I wish the Twins Were Good", it's really hard to take your posts as remotely objective. - FWIW I agree w/ Dan Hayes entirely. Pitchers work on specific pitches in spring training, he could have thrown the same exact pitch 20 times in a row.

Have they been any good, of late? Not really! Do I have hopes that changes soon? Yes, I do! Not really sure what the problem is here!

[Doctor Gast]

Twins are very careful with their position players. IMO they should take Mahle slower to make sure he's 100% healthy through out the season & post season.

[Hawkeye Bean Counter]

The next question,  would those homers been outs in target field?   The big thing with Mahle has always been he is a flyball pitcher that gives a lot of warning track outs in bigger parks,  but home runs in smaller parks.  

[NotAboutWinning]

3 hours ago, IA Bean Counter said:

The next question,  would those homers been outs in target field?   The big thing with Mahle has always been he is a flyball pitcher that gives a lot of warning track outs in bigger parks,  but home runs in smaller parks.  

The wind was blowing out that day. The first 5 hits were homers.

[RickOShea]

On 3/17/2023 at 1:45 PM, Brock Beauchamp said:

It's better to see a guy throwing hard than seeing a guy not throwing hard but I'm not going to get too worked up over a single start. If it continues, then it's a potential problem.

I agree.  These guys are preparing for the upcoming season on their own schedule, not the fans.  Why panic, until is warranted.  The WBC  really puts a crimp n a teams spring training, than I think a lot of people realize.

[h2oface]

On 3/17/2023 at 1:58 PM, cheeseheadgophfan said:

I swear I heard he throwing 95 in his last start.....harder than any time last year.  I'm trying not to panic.....

That us correct. I read the report, too. Mahle has to be better.... he did nothing but rest for treatment.

[JD-TWINS]

On 3/17/2023 at 5:45 PM, chpettit19 said:

In the 4th inning Baseball Savant had him with 6 splitters between 82.3 and 85.6. 4 sliders between 82 and 83.8. 1 cutter at 86.7. And 16 4-seamers between 89.7 and 93.1. Had another 4 seamer at 93.0 in the 4th. 4 others above 92. I'd certainly like him to be throwing 95, but his 66th pitch of the day was 93.0. 67th was 93.1. And his 69th pitch was 92.6. 

Last year his 4-seamer averaged 93.2, splitter was 85.6, cutter was 85.5, and slider was 83.9. He was definitely on the low end of his velo range today, but it doesn't look to be anything crazy to me.

March 17th - nothing to push for at this point.

[jimbo92107]

If Mahle's shoulder was biting him, he'd lose control and walk people, not just drop off in velocity. I'll go with the theory that Mahle is gradually working his way up to full speed. He doesn't want to waste his bullets on preseason hitters. He clearly knows how to pitch. Now we find out if he knows how to use spring training.