1-2-3: Phils News in Brief

by dajafi on Feb 27, 2010 3:39 PM EST

Just a few things to know as we await the start of Grapefruit League ball:

Baseball America has released its top 100 prospects list, and only two Phillies pharmhands--Domonic Brown (#15) and Phillippe Aumont (#93)--are on the list. This isn't surprising, given the talent offloaded in the Cliff Lee and Roy Halladay trades, and it might be some consolation to note that four other former Phils prospects--Kyle Drabek (#25), Michael Taylor (#29), Jason Knapp (#64) and Travis d'Arnaud (#81)--are in the top hundred. Pending further trades, of course, I wouldn't be surprised to see four or five Phils entrants on next year's list.
Just when you thought Cole Hamels was going to focus on his curveball to the exclusion of other pitches beyond his well established fastball and changeup, reports from Florida are that he debuted a promising cutter in a mound session on Friday. He's been taking pointers on the pitch from a pretty good authority: ace Roy Halladay.
Boston's gain is our loss: Scott Lauber of the Wilmington, Delaware-based News Journal and the excellent Philled In blog is joining the staff of the Boston Herald in a few weeks' time. The Phillies' improved fortunes over the last few years has been mirrored by the emergence of a crop of thoughtful young writers in the major Philly-area outlets covering the club, and Scott has been in the forefront of that group. We wish him the very best of luck in his new gig.

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i would love to see a cliff-lee like cutter from hamels develop over the next two years. that would be great.

by packimop on Feb 27, 2010 5:05 PM EST reply actions

I’d rather Hamels work on his cutter more than his curveball…I was one who wanted to see him throw his curveball more last year but as spot pitch. I guess they are working with the curve more because it is further along. In the long run I think the cutter is the better pitch for him because 1] it gives him an inside pitch against right handed batters, and 2] it’s not known elbow tweaker. Or a two seam fastball would be cool but I don’t know of many lefties with a wicked two seamer.

by j reed on Feb 27, 2010 5:31 PM EST reply actions

ugh

I hate cutters.

Unless it’s Rivera or Halladay throwing it, all too often it has the worst qualities of a straight fastball and a hanging slider.

http://www.thegoodphight.com

by WholeCamels on Feb 28, 2010 1:03 PM EST reply actions

Lee has a nice one. It’s a good pitch for Lefties against right handed bats and it doesn’t come with the reputation of causing injury like the slider. I don’t think a 92 mph, straight arrow 4 seamer is the best pitch to bust a right handed hitter inside esp. since a lefty must throw it across their their body which is tougher for an over the top arm slot pitcher like Hamels. That is, they might have to alter their arm slot just enough that it could be a tell for the batter.

by j reed on Mar 1, 2010 4:29 PM EST up reply actions

I agree, it seems like an easy pitch to throw incorrectly; I still shudder over Myers’ experimentation with it.

What seems sort of odd is that Hamels doesn’t really need a weapon against righties — with his change up, he has virtually no platoon split. I’d rather he worked on the curve ball, because it would really help him to change hitters’ eye level every once in a while. (Incidentally, that’s what Lee does so well.)

by PhillyFriar on Mar 1, 2010 6:03 PM EST up reply actions

Exactly. An effective curve or slider would be better against lefties.

by FuquaManuel on Mar 3, 2010 6:54 PM EST up reply actions

Hamels arm slot and a slider make for a less happy marriage.

3/4 arm slots work best for the slider because the initial conditions will maximize the physics of the pitch . Not that an over the top guy like Hamels can’t do it’s just harder and i bet you’ll see more sluvres before seeing that hard biting Sanata slider of death. I suppose he could change is arm slot but that’s be a big tell for a lefty useless he maintains it for all his pitches which is what Zito did in 2009.

Zito made changes to his delivery, lowering his arm slot from an over the top angle to a three quarters delivery. This change helped his fastball velocity go back up to the 87-90 mph range as well as sharpening the break of his curveball

This is probably why Zito’s slider which he began using in 2005 never became a 3rd pitch until now.

Slider use per year from 2005-2009
’05 – 8.5 , ’06 – 7.2, ’07 – 4.3%, ’08 – 9.8%, ’09 – 18.6%

Hamels curveball will have little lateral movement because of his arm slot…so unless you have a 12-6 curve with a 3 to 4 foot Zito drop it’ll still be more of spot pitch. I think that’s why Lee throws a knuckle curve. Supposedly its grip produces some lateral movement which would be advantageous for the over the top slot lefty

by j reed on Mar 4, 2010 12:17 PM EST up reply actions

The cutter was what got olney all excited about a week ago

by jemagee on Feb 28, 2010 1:15 PM EST reply actions

Never put much weight into what makes someone named “Buster” excited.

http://www.thegoodphight.com

by WholeCamels on Feb 28, 2010 1:19 PM EST up reply actions

That's Robert Stansbury Olney to you

I put more weight into what he says than any of the other baseball writers on ESPN. He’s the best they have.

by wildcatlh on Mar 1, 2010 6:27 PM EST up reply actions

He’s a pretty good reporter. As an analyst, he isn’t so good.

by taco pal on Mar 1, 2010 7:05 PM EST up reply actions

Lauber

is the real deal. Somebody real smart at the Herald made a great call. Hey WC, you live in Jersey… the Courier Post could do a heck of a lot worse! Hell, the Daily News does so daily!

by Wet Luzinski on Feb 28, 2010 9:01 PM EST reply actions