Saw Homer last night

[Redsland]

Field dispatch from Norfolk follows/

Jolbert Cabrera, way to smack the first pitch you saw waaaay over the left-centerfield wall.

Andy Green and Luis Bolivar, nice glovework up the middle.

Jay Bruce, you've got The Good Face alright. I'm not sure about you as a centerfielder, though.

Gary Majewski (and Norfolk Tide Esteban Yan), why must you torment me?

Big shout-out to the seven (count 'em) scouts in attendance. I wonder who they were there to see.

Oh yeah, Homer Bailey pitched.

LOTS of fastballs, mostly at 94 on the gun. I saw a half-dozen changeups, mostly at 86 mph. I saw two curves in the game (and one in warmups). 75 on the gun, nice 12-6 wrinkle.

Homer seemed mostly in control of things, except during the fifth, when he let things get away from him. Lots of pitches (mostly low), a couple of balls stung into the outfield. A couple of runs allowed. It would have been worse if not for an over-aggressive move on the basepaths by the Tides. But that right there was the ballgame, and Homer seemed a little clueless as to how to stop the bleeding.

FYI, Homer still makes no attempt to hold runners (this was true of both starting pitchers, who combined to throw one pickoff the whole night).

During the first inning, Homer was doing a weird little headbob during his follow through. Fortunately it was gone by the second inning.

When Homer allowed his first hit of the night, he signaled to the catcher that the hit was his (Homer's) fault. I took that to mean that Homer was acknowledging that he either missed his spot or shook off Hanigan's first sign.

Field dispatch ends/

[Red_BlueDevil]

I was at the tides game last night as well and agree with everything Redsland said.

I'll add that I watched Homer's bullpen session before the game and overheard a little of his conversation with Ted Power. I was also able to stand above and directly behind Homer, allowing me to get a good luck at his grips.

From what I saw, the kid has a hell of a fastball and loves throwing it; and, as we all know, its also pretty straight. Sits at 92-93. Does anyone know if he throws a two-seemer in addition to the four-seemer? I noticed it looked like he threw a few of those during the session and they would dart in on a right hander. Looked like a strong pitch. My view during the game didn't give me the opportunity to see if he thew any of these in live action, but maybe Redsland can help out with that.

Homer spent a good bit of his session working on his change up. From my vantage point, he doesn't seem to get too much deception on it and struggles with its command. He was working hard on it, but could not at all pinpoint its location. When he misses, he tends to miss down though, so it could be worse.

Oh, and about Homer holding runners...when he worked out of the stretch during the session, he constantly asked Power and and Hanigan if each delivery was "quick enough." So, while he may not care about holding runners, he's at least working on keeping them from getting a huge jump. That's something...I guess.

[Team Clark]

I was at the tides game last night as well and agree with everything Redsland said.

I'll add that I watched Homer's bullpen session before the game and overheard a little of his conversation with Ted Power. I was also able to stand above and directly behind Homer, allowing me to get a good luck at his grips.

From what I saw, the kid has a hell of a fastball and loves throwing it; and, as we all know, its also pretty straight. Sits at 92-93. Does anyone know if he throws a two-seemer in addition to the four-seemer? I noticed it looked like he threw a few of those during the session and they would dart in on a right hander. Looked like a strong pitch. My view during the game didn't give me the opportunity to see if he thew any of these in live action, but maybe Redsland can help out with that.

Homer spent a good bit of his session working on his change up. From my vantage point, he doesn't seem to get too much deception on it and struggles with its command. He was working hard on it, but could not at all pinpoint its location. When he misses, he tends to miss down though, so it could be worse.

Oh, and about Homer holding runners...when he worked out of the stretch during the session, he constantly asked Power and and Hanigan if each delivery was "quick enough." So, while he may not care about holding runners, he's at least working on keeping them from getting a huge jump. That's something...I guess.

Sounds like a typical warm up session. Good to hear Homer asking questions about his delivery, grip, etc... Homer with a good cutter and/or 2 seamer could be really darn good.

[Sea Ray]

Field dispatch from Norfolk follows/

Oh yeah, Homer Bailey pitched.

LOTS of fastballs, mostly at 94 on the gun. I saw a half-dozen changeups, mostly at 86 mph. I saw two curves in the game (and one in warmups). 75 on the gun, nice 12-6 wrinkle.



Field dispatch ends/

Why only 2 curves? There's no excuse for that. He's not in AAA to learn to throw his FB. I'd like to see about 60% FBs in AAA and 20% curve and 20% change ups

[Redsland]

I noticed it looked like he threw a few of those during the session and they would dart in on a right hander. Looked like a strong pitch. My view during the game didn't give me the opportunity to see if he thew any of these in live action, but maybe Redsland can help out with that.

I was in the third row above the home plate side of the first base dugout. Great seats and very, very close to the action, but a bad vantage point from which to see whether there was any cut or run on the pitches.

Oh, and about Homer holding runners...when he worked out of the stretch during the session, he constantly asked Power and and Hanigan if each delivery was "quick enough."

That's very good to hear, because he was, in fact, quite slow to the plate from the stretch, IMHO. I'm glad he's working on it. (Also, for the record, Hanigan did manage to cut down a would-be basestealer, thanks in part to a very high fastball.)

Why only 2 curves? There's no excuse for that. He's not in AAA to learn to throw his FB.

Presumably he's working on locating. With the exception of being consistently below the strike zone, he seems to have improved his command substantially.

Both of the curves were belt-high, BTW. So he's not throwing them for balls or in the dirt, which was a problem last year. Hitters could lay off the yacker and wait for the heat. I'm not sure that dropping uncle charlie across the belt is an improvement, however.

Finally, the curve seems to have less break in it this year. Above I described its motion as a wrinkle. It didn't look like the off-the-table pitch we saw last year.

[Red_BlueDevil]

Finally, the curve seems to have less break in it this year. Above I described its motion as a wrinkle. It didn't look like the off-the-table pitch we saw last year.

This was the first time I'd seen Homer pitch in person. He threw maybe a half dozen curves during his bullpen session and I was SHOCKED at how little movement there was in the pitch. I'd always heard that Homer had a plus curve with wicked off the table break, but that's not what I saw last night. The curves he threw almost looked more like sinkers or sliders than curves.

[dougdirt]

Bailey is throwing a slider now.... so maybe thats actually what you guys were seeing rather than his curve?

[Redsland]

From what I've read, Homer was told to keep his "slider" on the shelf. It wasn't impressing anyone in spring training. Plus, the slow speed of the pitches I saw (75 mph) argues against it being a slider. (The amount of break was about right, though.)

[dougdirt]

From what I've read, Homer was told to keep his "slider" on the shelf. It wasn't impressing anyone in spring training. Plus, the slow speed of the pitches I saw (75 mph) argues against it being a slider. (The amount of break was about right, though.)

Well, I have heard from several different people that he is still throwing a few sliders each game and I saw a few earlier in the year while watching the games. Whether it has since been shelved is a question I would like an answer to.

[Red_BlueDevil]

Well, I have heard from several different people that he is still throwing a few sliders each game and I saw a few earlier in the year while watching the games. Whether it has since been shelved is a question I would like an answer to.

That makes a lot of sense. What I saw during the bullpen session looked much more like a slider than a curve (and also looked much faster than 75mph). Assuming Doug's right, though, why isn't Bailey throwing the curve, either in the bullpen or during the game?

Also, Doug, have you heard anything about Homer throwing a two-seamer? I could have sworn he threw about a half dozen of those during his bullpen session and the grip in the glove looked like a two-seam grip. Also, it had two-seam action, breaking in to a right handed batter, opposed to the curve/slider/whatever that broke away from right handers.

[dougdirt]

That makes a lot of sense. What I saw during the bullpen session looked much more like a slider than a curve (and also looked much faster than 75mph). Assuming Doug's right, though, why isn't Bailey throwing the curve, either in the bullpen or during the game?

Also, Doug, have you heard anything about Homer throwing a two-seamer? I could have sworn he threw about a half dozen of those during his bullpen session and the grip in the glove looked like a two-seam grip. Also, it had two-seam action, breaking in to a right handed batter, opposed to the curve/slider/whatever that broke away from right handers.

He does throw a 2 seamer. Homer also is throwing his curveball at times this year, but from the 4 games I have watched of him, he was only throwing 4-6 a game. Someone said that the Reds told him to cut back on throwing it earlier in the year. Not sure if thats a valid statement or not, but he is throwing it less than he did last year by a significant margin thats for sure.

[DTCromer]

Jay Bruce, you've got The Good Face alright. I'm not sure about you as a centerfielder, though.

I agree. After finally seeing him in person, he'll be playing RF next year (and possibly very soon). His range isn't the greatest. . . and he doesn't seem to see the ball that well off the bat. . . or something. He just seems slow getting to the balls to him.

He does have a cannon of an arm though.

[redsmetz]

Andy Green and Luis Bolivar, nice glovework up the middle.

Okay, I hope I don't get banned, but was I the only one who thought of the movie Bull Durham?