|
Aces in the Hole
You
might not have noticed, but 2000 was a big year for the league in
terms of its pitching. The year before, Scott Carmichael led an
offensive assault, frightening pitchers and causing hitting to be
the most popular part of our game. Scott made homeruns fashionable
that season and ever since then, homeruns and hitting have become
the benchmark for success in this league. Strong-hitting/weak-throwing
players are regarded as more talented than strong-throwing/weak-hitting,
and a combination of Scott's 1999 season and the current style of
the MLB is the reason.
In
2000 though, the league saw two players join who were much better
pitchers than they were hitters. That season, the league was introduced
to Seth Yoder and Darnell Uhland. And just as is the case with most
rookies or second year players, these two have had to get acclimated
with the league. They've had to learn the strike zone and how to
utilize it. They've had to learn where not to throw guys, and conversely
where TO throw them. They've had to learn how to throw pitches other
than a fastball with a ball they've never used before. It isn't
an easy process, although it comes easier to some than others. One
can argue that it did come easier to Darnell and Seth.
As
of today (4-16-02), Darnell and Seth have both pitched 66.7 innings
in their wiffleball career, and comparing them is an interesting
study. Seth is molded more in the "power pitcher" mode
than Darnell. Both throw pretty hard, but Seth's style is more for
strikeouts with his high and tight fastballs as opposed to Darnell's
"stay low in the zone and get the groundballs" metality.
To date, Seth has 91 Ks to Darnell's 69. Both have exceptional accuracy,
Darnell sporting only 16 career walks to Seth's 18. Despite giving
up ten less runs than Seth, Darnell has surrendured 16 more base
hits. Again, this is due to Darnell's tendency to keep the ball
down. Seth strikes out more, but he's more prone to homeruns (43
non-homerun hits) while Darnell tends to give up singles and doubles
(67 non-homerun hits). Darnell has the better ERA of the two with
a 2.28 mark next to Seth's 2.88 mark. Many would be surprised to
know that Darnell's career ERA is the fourth-best of all time, behind
only Scott Carmichael (1.19), James Vassar (2.23), and Joey Creighton
(2.26). It's not difficult to say that these two have done real
well so far in their career. After each had completed two seasons
(2000 and 2001), their combined ERA was only 2.78 and they had respect
and recognition as talented pitchers. But here's the kicker folks:
You
haven't seen anything yet.
This
season will see these two establish themselves as not only talented,
but dominant. To defend my comment that some of you might find to
be absolutely preposterous, I will go through and get detailed.
I have five (5) points to explain to you why I say what I say when
I say that Seth Yoder and Darnell Uhland are on their way to making
"the leap" and becoming Cy Young nominations.
#1:
Darnell and Seth are the smartest pitchers in the league
Now don't get me wrong, natural ability plays a huge role in success.
Some guys in this league have huge natural ability and they do very
well. However, Darnell and Seth have smarts as well as natural ability.
They are pitchers before they are hitters, and in this league that
is a huge specialty. If you're batting against them, and you have
a weakness, believe me when I say these two will find it out. Maybe
not right away, maybe not even that game, but eventually. And when
they do find it out, they will exploit it like crazy, forcing YOU
to scramble in an attempt to either hide it or disguise it. Either
way, you're busy working harder than you really want to work. Let
me put it this way: when Darnell or Seth provide insight or some
sort of scouting on hitters, players (especially teammates) listen.
Do people listen to James? Does James scout guys? Has James' ERA
improved at all since he debuted in 1999?
#2:
Darnell and Seth are the hardest working pitchers in the league
When one has an ERA of 2.28 in his career (or even 2.88), it can
be easy to coast, or figure that what you're doing is good enough.
This isn't happening here, as it appears both Darnell and Seth are
determined to grow. Call it competitive fire, call it a selfish
desire to be the best, either way what you have are two guys who
are looking for ways to improve. What has Darnell done? He's upped
his strength bigtime and were you there Sunday? Did you see his
slider? Ask John Deatrick if he saw it. I don't think he did. I
mean, he couldn't have...his bat never touched the damn thing. I
pity the hitters when Darnell perfects his beautiful new gift to
the league. As for Seth, you can say it with me: split-fingered
fastball. The first in the league, and it's working like a charm.
And he's not even close to honing it. If Seth can add this groundball
inducing pitch to his arsenal of "high heat" and add it
well, you can stick a fork into the rest of the league. Which leads
us to...
#3:
Darnell and Seth acknowledge the need to change
Most league's change. With new players coming and old players going,
the whole dynamic of a league can change overnight. You don't see
Darnell or Seth relying on the same method that worked maybe during
their rookie year. You could say "well, they're only changing
because they're finding out what's not working." True, but
you have to realize that it's very rare for anyone in this league
to change, even when it's plain as day that what they're doing is
stupid and sucks. Both of these pitchers are constantly fiddling.
Work with this, test out that. Low and behold, about 60 innings
into their career, they have an idea of what's going to work. If
one thing ends up not working so well, they CHANGE. It's evolution,
in a nutshell.
#4:
Darnell and Seth are fundamentally sound
This is thanks mainly to their deep pitching experience on the baseball
diamonds. Darnell still pitches in college, and Seth threw his last
baseball pitch only two years ago. They have the mechanics and the
fundamentals to eliminate mistakes that might plague other pitchers.
It's called a base that they can fall back on. If some pitch isn't
working on a given day, they have the ability to either a) figure
out the problem quickly by studying their mechanics or b) have a
sort of "plan b" where they can fall back on something
else. Auxillary power, if you will. Other pitchers in this league,
if they're not doing well, call it a day, cause they have no idea
what they're doing wrong, and even if they did know, they wouldn't
have a damn clue on how to fix it.
#5:
Darnell and Seth throw strikes
Surprised that my last point is so simple and straight-forward?
Don't be. Throwing strikes is an underrated ability, and an ability
that Darnell and Seth have in spades. In their 133+ innings pitched,
Darnell and Seth have combined for only 34 walks. If you don't count
their rookie seasons, it works out to be only 20 walks in their
combined 107+ innings. In other words, one walk every 5.37 innings
pitched, only slightly lower than "Most Accurate Pitcher Ever"
Joey Creighton, who's got a career 5.51 IP/BB ratio. And they're
only getting more accurate. Also, keep in mind these two didn't
get to pitch back in 1998 or 1999, when rejected walks were more
common than Carmichael homeruns.
I realize
this might not be accepted by the masses who have been force-fed
stories about how great James' curve is, or how hard Scott throws,
or how many pitches Casey has. Granted, they're all great throwers,
but Darnell and Seth are great pitchers. There is a difference,
and in a league with quality hitters, which this league is building
towards, great pitchers are going to be the ones who stand out.
The hitters in this league are still great, but as Joey Creighton
dutifully noted in a column written in mid-2001:
"When
pitchers have their backs against the wall...they always seem to
come up with SOMETHING to even out the card. Develop a new pitch,
master the art of playing the field, scout the hitters like never
before...whatever...the truly talented ones are going to find out
how to be able to hold their own, or maybe even dominate."
Pitching's
about to become fashionable again. We didn't have to wait long now,
did we?
This
is the Doctor, signing off.
|
