"No matter how good you are, you're going to lose one-third of your games. No matter how bad you are you're going to win one-third of your games. It's the other third that makes the difference." ~Tommy Lasorda
Are you trying to be obtuse?
C'mon, man. He has the velocity in his hip pocket-- he's just chosen not to use it in past years in order to give more movement to his pitches. (There are reports of this pretty much wherever you want to look in the net.) It's more than possible that, as he ages, he will learn how to throw with more movement AND more velocity.
Last edited by Scrap Irony; 03-29-2013 at 07:20 AM.
How often in the history of pitching has a pitcher gained command and movement by throwing harder? It's counterintuitive to argue that a major league starting pitcher is likely to undergo that transformation successfully. That was the point. No one is arguing that they don't want it to happen. It's just that wanting it to happen doesn't make it likely to....this is a belly that one should need to poke twice before accepting as reality.
Last edited by jojo; 03-29-2013 at 07:43 AM.
"This isn’t stats vs scouts - this is stats and scouts working together, building an organization that blends the best of both worlds. This is the blueprint for how a baseball organization should be run. And, whether the baseball men of the 20th century like it or not, this is where baseball is going."---Dave Cameron, U.S.S. Mariner
"This isn’t stats vs scouts - this is stats and scouts working together, building an organization that blends the best of both worlds. This is the blueprint for how a baseball organization should be run. And, whether the baseball men of the 20th century like it or not, this is where baseball is going."---Dave Cameron, U.S.S. Mariner
REDREAD (03-29-2013)
I'm not sure why it has to be Chapman > Leake. I guess people are going to take out their miffed frustration on Mike Leake all season. I hope Mike Leake has a great year for the Reds. If Chapman was starting, I would wish the same for him. I guess if Leake fails, the soap box will be a proud place to crow for his detractors.
jimbo (03-29-2013),marcshoe (03-29-2013),REDREAD (03-29-2013),thatcoolguy_22 (03-30-2013)
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I can't imagine why anyone would have wanted to dump Leake prior to last season. His rookie year in 2010 was a great success and in 2011 he was the second best pitcher on the Reds behind Johnny Cueto. On top of all that, he was being paid peanuts, freeing the Reds up to spend money elsewhere.
Unless 'a long time' is measured in months, I don't see how anyone could have wanted to get rid of Leake for 'a long time'.
Last edited by jojo; 03-29-2013 at 11:09 AM.
"This isn’t stats vs scouts - this is stats and scouts working together, building an organization that blends the best of both worlds. This is the blueprint for how a baseball organization should be run. And, whether the baseball men of the 20th century like it or not, this is where baseball is going."---Dave Cameron, U.S.S. Mariner
"This isn’t stats vs scouts - this is stats and scouts working together, building an organization that blends the best of both worlds. This is the blueprint for how a baseball organization should be run. And, whether the baseball men of the 20th century like it or not, this is where baseball is going."---Dave Cameron, U.S.S. Mariner
thatcoolguy_22 (03-30-2013)
I agree.
I think it is highly unlikely that he becomes a TOR arm (though anything is possible I suppose), but I think there is a good chance he develops into a quality MOR arm. Regardless, he is certainly not a guy who should be discarded nor does he deserve all the scorn that heaped upon him.
Would it?
I'd argue that a whole host of pitchers continually add and subtract mph from their fastballs (and other offerings) and are in constant tinker mode, searching for the right mix of mph and movement.
Leake has, by almost all accounts, an extra tick of speed he hasn't used yet in the majors. So far, he's gotten by with the same old, same old-- lots of movement, less speed. A control pitcher's arsenal without great control.
It's not rare at all to think he could add some of those mph back into his fastball to both straighten out his wayward command and to miss more bats.
jimbo (03-29-2013)
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