Watching Bieber, its clear he won't be any more than a back-of-the-rotation starter unless he learns how to pitch to lefties. Unless or until he starts pitching inside to lefties, they are going to tattoo him. When his pitches to a lefty are middle of the plate to outside edge, he gets hit hard. When he gets in their kitchen, he has a chance. Check out his splits righty vs lefty hitters here:
Watching Bieber, its clear he won't be any more than a back-of-the-rotation starter unless he learns how to pitch to lefties. Unless or until he starts pitching inside to lefties, they are going to tattoo him. When his pitches to a lefty are middle of the plate to outside edge, he gets hit hard. When he gets in their kitchen, he has a chance. Check out his splits righty vs lefty hitters here:
LH hitters have a .950 OPS against Bieber. That's 200 pts over what is considered Major League normal (.750 OPS).
One of Bieber's issues is that he seems afraid to walk anybody. He has a very low walk total which should be good, but when he gets behind in the count he seems to be afraid to take a chance, to continue to pitch the edges, to try to get people to chase. It's like he's afraid to walk somebody so he just starts coming in over the plate and he gets hit hard. If I've noticed it, I'm damn certain other MLB teams who are scouting him have noticed it..
Watching Bieber, its clear he won't be any more than a back-of-the-rotation starter unless he learns how to pitch to lefties. Unless or until he starts pitching inside to lefties, they are going to tattoo him. When his pitches to a lefty are middle of the plate to outside edge, he gets hit hard. When he gets in their kitchen, he has a chance. Check out his splits righty vs lefty hitters here:
LH hitters have a .950 OPS against Bieber. That's 200 pts over what is considered Major League normal (.750 OPS).
One of Bieber's issues is that he seems afraid to walk anybody. He has a very low walk total which should be good, but when he gets behind in the count he seems to be afraid to take a chance, to continue to pitch the edges, to try to get people to chase. It's like he's afraid to walk somebody so he just starts coming in over the plate and he gets hit hard. If I've noticed it, I'm damn certain other MLB teams who are scouting him have noticed it..
I remember way back when Greg Swindell pitched for us, and was getting hit hard in a nationally televised game. Tim McCarver said he was "wild inside the strike zone", ie; too many of his pitches leaked back into the middle of the plate. Swindell had a great arm, but lacked the command to throw to spots, at least at that point in his career. I think Bieber has pretty good stuff - not electric, like Kluber, Bauer, or, at times, Carrasco, but good enough. He just has to work the edges, in and out, up and down, with all his pitches. IMO, his floor is Josh Tomlin (back of the rotation) and his ceiling is Mike Clevinger (middle of the rotation). He's also very young, so it might be dumb (on my part) to pigeon-hole him just yet. After all, he's 9-3 in his rookie season, but that ERA (4.63) and WHIP (1.36) is a worry, along with the good swings lefties are putting on his pitches, even when he has them in an 0-2 count.
He has progressed like lightning, and while he still has work to do, the team obviously feels that they can continue to develop him at the Major League level. I think he'll be fine.
Micah 6:8; He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
John 14:19 Jesus said: Because I live, you also will live.
Yeah, I know he'll be "fine". But if he finds himself on the mound in a leverage situation once the playoffs start this year, I would like him to be better than "fine". I would also like him not to be leaving room service fastballs in the middle of the plate for the likes of Aaron Judge, JD Martinez, etc, because they will launch that [stuff].
OK ... man ... I looked in on this game, and we were down 2-1, IIRC.
I just looked again ... and the Tribe jut hung 7 on the Blue Jays to go up 8-3 going to the bottom of the 5th.
Micah 6:8; He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
John 14:19 Jesus said: Because I live, you also will live.
Ugh. As soon as I say that .... the Jays go back to back jacks.
Micah 6:8; He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
John 14:19 Jesus said: Because I live, you also will live.
Good news from the Indians: Andrew Miller has been activated from the DL and is with the team. Josh Donaldson is coming off the DL tomorrow, and will start at 3B. Best of all, Trevor Bauer is throwing a bullpen session Wednesday, and if it goes well will throw another this weekend. He *could* return to the rotation sometime next week.
Jose Ramirez hit by pitch. Jose Ramirez steals second, loses helmet. Jose Ramirez steals third, loses helmet. Jose Ramires scores on a Yonder Alonso grounder to the second baseman, slides in head-first ahead of throw, loses helmet, claps emphatically.
If we can get Bauer and Miller back, healthy, along with a healthy Donaldson ..... I love our chances in the postseason.
Micah 6:8; He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
John 14:19 Jesus said: Because I live, you also will live.
Micah 6:8; He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
John 14:19 Jesus said: Because I live, you also will live.
we need to get lindor and jram some rest...they look tired, esp jram. whole team looks to have lost some fire. Hopefully Donaldson brings it back tonight
Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. Comes into us at midnight very clean. It's perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands. It hopes we've learned something from yesterday. -John Wayne
we need to get lindor and jram some rest...they look tired, esp jram. whole team looks to have lost some fire. Hopefully Donaldson brings it back tonight
I thought so too.
Though keep in mind a year ago the Tribe was on fire right now (in that 22-game winning streak) and then petered-out in the play-offs.
It could be part of Francona's master plan. (which is to maximize the Indians' chances to advance in the post-season)
Not sure is anyone subscribes to The Athletic here or not, but Ken Rosenthal did an outstanding piece about the back story on the Indians and the circumstances behind acquiring Donaldson. Several teams were miffed and complained to Commissioner's office. Most notably, HOU, NYY and BOS.
Lol they should. We got an mvp for a ham sandwich and sugar dale dog
Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. Comes into us at midnight very clean. It's perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands. It hopes we've learned something from yesterday. -John Wayne
Not sure is anyone subscribes to The Athletic here or not, but Ken Rosenthal did an outstanding piece about the back story on the Indians and the circumstances behind acquiring Donaldson. Several teams were miffed and complained to Commissioner's office. Most notably, HOU, NYY and BOS.
Indians definitely worked some loopholes.
Hope he can stay healthy.
Go Tribe!
I saw this, hilarious that these big market teams 1 of whom got Stanton for a case of big league chew and a spit cup, are complaining about a mid market team getting a guy.
I'm tempted to say Mariano Rivera's cutter, but I'm old enough to have seen Sandy Koufax, Bob Gibson, Sam McDowell, and Nolan Ryan bring the heat. There's simply nothing like a big-time fastball.
I will not answer the first question yet, but in my opinion the best inning a pitcher can have is throw three pitches and record 3 outs.
Strike outs are great, but they are overrated. There are times when you need a strike out, but throwing a slider to the low outside corner to a power hitter and having him ground out weakly to the SS is a great pitch.
Minimizing the number of pitches you throw is a good thing. The K stats are cool, but pitching smart is more effective.
I don't post often on baseball threads, but I played the game and coached a little bit. I loved the game.
I have a couple of questions for you baseball guys.
What is the best pitch in baseball?
What is the best inning a pitcher can have?
Wow, the 1st one is really tough.I would say that anything that doesn't do what the hitter expects, but that is too wide ranging an answer. lol A case can be made for any number of different pitches, but anything that change speeds, and/or changes levels in and out, are always effective.
The best inning a pitcher can have? I am always a fan of a 3 pitch, 1-2-3 inning, with 3 easy ground ball outs.
Micah 6:8; He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
John 14:19 Jesus said: Because I live, you also will live.
I see the question from two points of view. As a hitter at the level of my abilities, a great fastball was devastating - but I wasn't a good enough hitter to catch up to it. The curve could be devastating, but at the level I played, a lot of them were "cement-mixers", spinners that hung there like a matzoh ball, if you could spot it and put a swing on it. I never faced a true 12-to-6 hammer like Bert Blyleven used to throw, but it had to be an SOB to hit.
As a fan, when I see a great fastball like Koufax or McDowell, I just don't know how a hitter catches up to it. Pitchers like Feller and Koufax not only could throw 100 MPH, they also had the Hammer in their toolkit, a biting 12-to-6 curve that was unhittable when you're looking for the cheese.
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