GDT: Phillies @ Braves 18 Sept 22 1:35pm***Get out the brooms***

Also won’t be surprised if the last game or 2 becomes meaningless that Soroka gets a start. Feel good tip of the cap to him and he’s got that hurdle out of the way and can attack the offseason full bore.
 
NYCBrave said:
So Strider is having a historic season as a starter. This is not to call out anyone, but I know many believed his role would be the bullpen, and I don't think anyone could have predicted this.
Click to expand...

Don't think anyone is particularly worried about being "called out" - there's a legitimate chance he becomes more useful at the back end of games at some point if he doesn't develop a third pitch of some kind.

If - and actually more to the point when - he loses a couple ticks off his fastball, he suddenly becomes MUCH MORE normal and hittable. Anderson can get it up there in the mid-90s and has an elite change - how's he doing now that everyone has figured out those are the only pitches he has? If Strider has to take a little off that fastball to get into the 6th inning of games and is throwing 95-96 instead of 99-100 (in the hope he can reach for that extra gear to blow someone away in tight spots) he'll become human. He gets A LOT of takes on sliders in the middle of the zone right now because everyone has to gear up for 99 - that won't always be the case (unless he develops some kind of show-me third offering). That fastball isn't Rivera's cutter (or even Jansen's for that matter) that he can throw 18 times out of every 20 pitches - eventually hitters are going to be able to catch up to it. To survive with the two pitches he has, he needs to be deGrom - and I don't think it's unfair to be someone who takes a wait-and-see approach about that. deGrom's a unicorn when he's healthy, sure - is there a whole lot of reason not to expect Strider to have the same kind of trouble staying healthy since his shoulder wasn't designed to throw a ball that way anymore than Jacob's?

None of that takes anything away from what Strider's accomplished - he's likely going to be in the record books for quite some time and it's been absolutely fascinating to watch him. I don't miss a single pitch of any of his starts. That said, Gooden was at his peak when I was in high school and was being talked about in the same breath as all-time greats too. 3-4 years later he was a middle or back-end starter by the time he was 30.
 
From what I have seen of Strider, he is good not because of pure velocity, but location. He can place that 100 mph at the top of the zone and bury the slider low and inside. That essentially makes him unhittable.
 
clvclv said:
Don't think anyone is particularly worried about being "called out" - there's a legitimate chance he becomes more useful at the back end of games at some point if he doesn't develop a third pitch of some kind.

If - and actually more to the point when - he loses a couple ticks off his fastball, he suddenly becomes MUCH MORE normal and hittable. Anderson can get it up there in the mid-90s and has an elite change - how's he doing now that everyone has figured out those are the only pitches he has? If Strider has to take a little off that fastball to get into the 6th inning of games and is throwing 95-96 instead of 99-100 (in the hope he can reach for that extra gear to blow someone away in tight spots) he'll become human. He gets A LOT of takes on sliders in the middle of the zone right now because everyone has to gear up for 99 - that won't always be the case (unless he develops some kind of show-me third offering). That fastball isn't Rivera's cutter (or even Jansen's for that matter) that he can throw 18 times out of every 20 pitches - eventually hitters are going to be able to catch up to it. To survive with the two pitches he has, he needs to be deGrom - and I don't think it's unfair to be someone who takes a wait-and-see approach about that. deGrom's a unicorn when he's healthy, sure - is there a whole lot of reason not to expect Strider to have the same kind of trouble staying healthy since his shoulder wasn't designed to throw a ball that way anymore than Jacob's?

None of that takes anything away from what Strider's accomplished - he's likely going to be in the record books for quite some time and it's been absolutely fascinating to watch him. I don't miss a single pitch of any of his starts. That said, Gooden was at his peak when I was in high school and was being talked about in the same breath as all-time greats too. 3-4 years later he was a middle or back-end starter by the time he was 30.
Click to expand...

Strider's change is actually pretty good, in the samples we've seen, he just hasn't really had to use it much. His combination of skill/talent, discipline, and intelligence makes me optimistic we haven't seen the end-point of his development.
 
jpx7 said:
Strider's change is actually pretty good, in the samples we've seen, he just hasn't really had to use it much. His combination of skill/talent, discipline, and intelligence makes me optimistic we haven't seen the end-point of his development.
Click to expand...

His interviews are legit entertaining. He has even said he hasn’t needed his change much so why throw it
 
clvclv said:
Don't think anyone is particularly worried about being "called out" - there's a legitimate chance he becomes more useful at the back end of games at some point if he doesn't develop a third pitch of some kind.

If - and actually more to the point when - he loses a couple ticks off his fastball, he suddenly becomes MUCH MORE normal and hittable. Anderson can get it up there in the mid-90s and has an elite change - how's he doing now that everyone has figured out those are the only pitches he has? If Strider has to take a little off that fastball to get into the 6th inning of games and is throwing 95-96 instead of 99-100 (in the hope he can reach for that extra gear to blow someone away in tight spots) he'll become human. He gets A LOT of takes on sliders in the middle of the zone right now because everyone has to gear up for 99 - that won't always be the case (unless he develops some kind of show-me third offering). That fastball isn't Rivera's cutter (or even Jansen's for that matter) that he can throw 18 times out of every 20 pitches - eventually hitters are going to be able to catch up to it. To survive with the two pitches he has, he needs to be deGrom - and I don't think it's unfair to be someone who takes a wait-and-see approach about that. deGrom's a unicorn when he's healthy, sure - is there a whole lot of reason not to expect Strider to have the same kind of trouble staying healthy since his shoulder wasn't designed to throw a ball that way anymore than Jacob's?

None of that takes anything away from what Strider's accomplished - he's likely going to be in the record books for quite some time and it's been absolutely fascinating to watch him. I don't miss a single pitch of any of his starts. That said, Gooden was at his peak when I was in high school and was being talked about in the same breath as all-time greats too. 3-4 years later he was a middle or back-end starter by the time he was 30.
Click to expand...

He does have a third pitch. It’s a change up and it’s good. He just hasn’t needed to use it much. Strider in the pen is a joke
 
bravesfanMatt said:
His interviews are legit entertaining. He has even said he hasn’t needed his change much so why throw it
Click to expand...

You use it to get guys off balance. Not recommending he suddenly throws it as often as the slider, but often enough to have it in the back of hitters’ minds.

One of the problems he’s had getting deeper into starts is all the foul balls. One way to cut down on those is to throw that change a little more often. Doesn’t have to be once per AB or anything, just often enough that when he throws it with two strikes he gets to go sit down instead of throwing three more pitches. Perfect place for him to emulate deGrom - he only throws his a few times every start, but when he does it makes the highlight reel because it makes guys look so stupid. He doesn’t throw it because he HAS TO, he throws it to conserve pitches.
 
jpx7 said:
Strider's change is actually pretty good, in the samples we've seen, he just hasn't really had to use it much. His combination of skill/talent, discipline, and intelligence makes me optimistic we haven't seen the end-point of his development.
Click to expand...

That’s the hope - that he continues to evolve and develop.

The point is that the game’s history is littered with TONS of guys who had great stuff that couldn’t.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top