March 02, 2006
A New Petit
He has fewer tees than Andy, but possibly more pitches. Yusmeiro Petit is showing deception can be as valuable as power when it comes to striking out batters:
The Mets later recorded Petit's motion on a super-slow-motion camera and broke it down into 35 segments -- and even then they couldn't believe how well he kept the ball hidden.
''Deception is huge in this game,'' Kranitz said. ``As a hitter, the first thing you want to do is pick up the ball. If you can't pick up the ball, that means the ball is getting on you quicker. It doesn't matter about velocity at that point.''
What does matter is command, and Petit clearly has that, having walked just 91 hitters -- striking out 491 -- in 401 2/3 minor-league innings.
The youngster also possesses four good pitches. That's something Mike Mussina and Pedro Martinez carry. It's pitchers like Petit that make me believe the Marlins fire sale is going to pay big dividends down the road.
Baseball Musings is conducting a pledge drive in March. Click here for details.
Posted by David Pinto at
09:07 AM
|
Pitchers
|
TrackBack (0)
K/BB of 5, and a K/9 of about 11ish... pretty impressive. Especially at age 21.
I don't understand people who criticize Florida management. They win the World Series with an enviable regularity, and then deal their overpriced (or soon-to-be-overpriced) stars for prospects with a ton of upside. That'd be way better than KC, who's saddled with a terrible GM and ownership.
TSN had an article two weeks ago on the EX-Marlins. As I read the article and saw who was leaving and who was taking over each position I came to the conclusion that they are already a better team than last year. They may get off to a rough start but I fully expect then to be very competitive in the second half.
I don't know if the Marlins can avoid last place in 2006, but I do know that the 2006 post-fire sale Marlins are better than the 1998 post-fire sale Marlins.