Stopped reading at:

 

“The cost of pitching this offseason, it’s skyrocketed as far as the guys that have the high K percentages,”

Not something you’d be reading on Dodgers blogs. Thanks, about what I’d expect.

17 minutes ago, Chick Mercedes said:

Stopped reading at:

 

“The cost of pitching this offseason, it’s skyrocketed as far as the guys that have the high K percentages,”

Not something you’d be reading on Dodgers blogs. Thanks, about what I’d expect.

well i agree but even a broken clock is right twice a day. the sox should be looking to find an untapped market of value in pitching.

11 minutes ago, chitownsportsfan said:

well i agree but even a broken clock is right twice a day. the sox should be looking to find an untapped market of value in pitching.

Well, it's pretty obvious they have an "oversupply/abundance" of pitching and catching, at least for the time being.

The question is what are Lee, Thaiss and Narvaez actually worth to a team like the Mets?

And the same thing with the likes of D.Martin, Perez and Bryse Wilson...although they might decide to eventually hold onto Martin.

1 hour ago, chitownsportsfan said:

well i agree but even a broken clock is right twice a day. the sox should be looking to find an untapped market of value in pitching.

Yeah, the Sox, even if they're flush on payroll, should always be looking at market inefficiencies. Hitting HRs and throwing Ks cost money. Figure it out. 

I think we can all agree that Chicago is not the place if one of the big questions marks about a player is their avoiding injuries. The only question becomes how freakish will the injury be? 

On 2/24/2025 at 2:33 PM, Harry Chappas said:

Sounds like where Crochet was a year ago.  I still don't think Crochet hits 100 innings in  a season again.

I would take that bet.

6 minutes ago, oldsox said:

I would take that bet.

Same

saw this on reddit. seems like a bad, dumb, insignificant trend line, yet it also checks out. throw the ball very fast, it tends to work. Dominican teenagers are destroying their bodies in an attempt to throw the ball very fast, I think they're onto something.

9 minutes ago, nrockway said:

saw this on reddit. seems like a bad, dumb, insignificant trend line, yet it also checks out. throw the ball very fast, it tends to work. Dominican teenagers are destroying their bodies in an attempt to throw the ball very fast, I think they're onto something.

You are correct. This is why teams now expect UCL reconstruction for pitchers. Velocity and max effort is also tied to UCL injuries.

If a pitcher hasn't had a UCL reconstruction odds are they will so build that into their development.

13 minutes ago, ptatc said:

You are correct. This is why teams now expect UCL reconstruction for pitchers. Velocity and max effort is also tied to UCL injuries.

If a pitcher hasn't had a UCL reconstruction odds are they will so build that into their development.

It strikes me as tragic. I prefer to watch soft tossers, I prefer it when guys don't destroy their bodies to entertain me, yet it seems like a dumbass organizational philosophy. I also don't believe it. The line about "they're too expensive to sign" should never have been said out loud. Especially because we don't need to, there are several flamethrowers in the system. This article really annoyed me. Well-written and it struck a nerve, so kudos to Fegan as always, keep up the good work. 

30 minutes ago, nrockway said:

It strikes me as tragic. I prefer to watch soft tossers, I prefer it when guys don't destroy their bodies to entertain me, yet it seems like a dumbass organizational philosophy. I also don't believe it. The line about "they're too expensive to sign" should never have been said out loud. Especially because we don't need to, there are several flamethrowers in the system. This article really annoyed me. Well-written and it struck a nerve, so kudos to Fegan as always, keep up the good work. 

Watch the flame throwers in the system and expect most to go down the a UCL injury. We've seen a few already. I know Taylor had his in college but Smith had his in high school so he had it but it was a while ago.

1 hour ago, nrockway said:

saw this on reddit. seems like a bad, dumb, insignificant trend line, yet it also checks out. throw the ball very fast, it tends to work. Dominican teenagers are destroying their bodies in an attempt to throw the ball very fast, I think they're onto something.

And this chart is why everyone goes max effort.  That little bit extra makes a big difference.  There is no way to legislate this out of the game either.

51 minutes ago, nrockway said:

It strikes me as tragic. I prefer to watch soft tossers, I prefer it when guys don't destroy their bodies to entertain me, yet it seems like a dumbass organizational philosophy. I also don't believe it. The line about "they're too expensive to sign" should never have been said out loud. Especially because we don't need to, there are several flamethrowers in the system. This article really annoyed me. Well-written and it struck a nerve, so kudos to Fegan as always, keep up the good work. 

It's not an organizational philosophy, it's a sport philosophy. And one organization can't really change it, when the development process across the sport is being impacted the way it has. This "process" of max velocity is starting with 12-13 year olds. You can only draft and develop the players available to draft, and there isn't a generation of soft tossing lefties shooting up draft boards. 

10 minutes ago, Tony said:

It's not an organizational philosophy, it's a sport philosophy. And one organization can't really change it, when the development process across the sport is being impacted the way it has. This "process" of max velocity is starting with 12-13 year olds. You can only draft and develop the players available to draft, and there isn't a generation of soft tossing lefties shooting up draft boards. 

The Sox were seemingly one of the last teams who emphasized slightly under max and health vs max velocity when Don Cooper was here, but that doesn't seem to be the case here now.

31 minutes ago, Tony said:

It's not an organizational philosophy, it's a sport philosophy. And one organization can't really change it, when the development process across the sport is being impacted the way it has. This "process" of max velocity is starting with 12-13 year olds. You can only draft and develop the players available to draft, and there isn't a generation of soft tossing lefties shooting up draft boards. 

If you’re not throwing max velocity already by 12-13, you’re not making “elite” teams.  Not only that, I find it truly hysterical how every single dad exaggerates how hard their kid throws.  I always subtract about 4 mph from what they say.

9 minutes ago, fathom said:

If you’re not throwing max velocity already by 12-13, you’re not making “elite” teams.  Not only that, I find it truly hysterical how every single dad exaggerates how hard their kid throws.  I always subtract about 4 mph from what they say.

I have a 13 year old on my little league team this season that's throwing 71-73. I believe our field is 50-70 so its tough on a lot of these kids to even have a chance if he's throwing around the plate.

Sadly, my skeleton-esque bodied 13 year old is only throwing like 55.

1 hour ago, southsider2k5 said:

And this chart is why everyone goes max effort.  That little bit extra makes a big difference.  There is no way to legislate this out of the game either.

Exactly. That's why everyone needs to accept that the pitchers are going to need a year off somewhere for surgery.

Along with this comes shorter starting pitcher outings and increase importance of bullpen pitchers. Bullpen pitchers are no longer just failed starters. Just starters who can't hold their velocity for more than 2-3 innings. Pallette as a sox example.

Pitching depth is more important than ever.

1 hour ago, southsider2k5 said:

The Sox were seemingly one of the last teams who emphasized slightly under max and health vs max velocity when Don Cooper was here, but that doesn't seem to be the case here now.

They are trying to find the inefficiency with the weird arm angle guys. If everyone else gets strikeouts with straight fastball maybe others can get strikeouts with weird arm angles.

Interesting snippet - AJ talking to Davis Martin about his kick change

 

For the pitching nerds out there: Davis Martin explains the new pitch making waves around MLB - the "Kick Change" pic.twitter.com/TRhK2fOp0f

— Foul Territory (@FoulTerritoryTV) March 13, 2025