Baseball Musings
Baseball Musings
May 30, 2006
A New Unit?

Randy Johnson took a different approach yesterday as he threw six shutout innings:

Though Johnson himself insisted his fastball was his most important pitch yesterday, there was no doubt that he was using an off-speed splitter and even a straight change on the outside part of the plate more than in the past, which kept hitters from sitting on either his fastball or his down-and-in slider.

"He's not just trying to throw the ball by you now," Tigers third baseman Brandon Inge said after going 0-for-2. "That's the first time I've seen him use a changeup. It's always been fastball-slider. It looks like he's got a different mind-set and it makes him more effective."

There's a good discussion in the article about which pitches made the others more effective. Posada says getting the fastball in on righties made the splitter more effective. John Haper notes that the off-speed pitches made hitters vulnerable to the fastball, as evidenced by the series of pitches that struck out I-Rod.

What's clear is that Randy Johnson made an adjustment. That adjustment put the hitters off stride, and that resulted in an extremely effective outing.


Posted by David Pinto at 09:06 AM | Pitchers | TrackBack (0)
Comments

Good! I'm glad Randy is taking the adjustment approach instead of the blaze of glory approach. Hopefully this will continue for the rest of the season and he'll get 20 or so wins.

Posted by: Vic at May 30, 2006 02:06 PM

20 or so wins? Hope for 15 and keep your fingers crossed

Posted by: Kyle at May 30, 2006 03:03 PM

hitters adjust too you know...

Posted by: CR at May 30, 2006 03:45 PM

As bad as he's been, he's on pace for 23 wins right now - assuming he doesn't get hurt. A bad Randy Johnson equals a mediocre pitcher, not a bad pitcher. Plus, with that offense behind him, he doen't have to be a contender for the Cy Young to win 20 games. The only reason he didn't win 20 games last year is because the Yankees stunk for the first two months of the season. If Randy comes back at all like he did in last year's second half, he's a lock for 20.

Posted by: Vic at May 30, 2006 04:46 PM

Here's my pressing question about Randy's "comeback" start: why did he only last 86 pitches?

I think yesterday was a step in the right direction for him but he still has a ways to go to be truly "back," something I don't expect to ever happen because the thing that usually causes 42-year-old pitchers to struggle is something irreversible called age.

Posted by: CD at May 30, 2006 07:38 PM
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