May 6, 200520 yr http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/recap;_ylc=X3o...0505104&prov=ap Contreras retired 17 of his first 19 hitters. He struck out six and walked one in his longest outing of the season. Shingo Takatsu walked two in the ninth but earned his eighth save in nine opportunities. Normally a slow worker, Contreras pitched at a brisk pace -- the game lasted just 2 hours, 10 minutes. White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen was impressed with the way Contreras attacked the strike zone. ``Contreras threw the ball really well, the best I've ever seen him throwing the ball, and he deserved to win,'' Guillen said. ``He threw more strikes. Usually he throws behind the count or 3-2. Today he came out, challenged hitters, threw balls over the plate and made guys hit the ball.'' Keys to Contreras' success: 1.) Work quicker a la Buehrle. 2.) Challenge hitters by throwing strikes. Your stuff is good so trust it. 3.) Don't get flustered with men on base.
May 6, 200520 yr QUOTE(Jabroni @ May 5, 2005 -> 09:39 PM) http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/recap;_ylc=X3o...0505104&prov=ap Keys to Contreras' success: 1.) Work quicker a la Buehrle. 2.) Challenge hitters by throwing strikes. Your stuff is good so trust it. 3.) Don't get flustered with men on base. He was certainly on his game. I know I was worried about him when he was walking 5-6 men a game but now it seems he's tidyed up his game quite a bit. It's really nice to have 5 starters hitting on all cylinders.
May 6, 200520 yr sometimes i think he should just get rid of the stretch...forget about the men on base ala maddux...i think hes got good enough stuff to know he can get out of any jam
May 6, 200520 yr Author AJ is the man... "Contreras quickens his pace in victory Early strikes help right-hander limit pitch count" "That's the best I've seen him pitch, by far," said White Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski. "If he does that every time, he will win a ton of games. "After his last start, we talked about picking up the pace and throwing strikes early in the count. When he does that, he can be as good as anyone." But even Contreras seemed impressed by his quick-working approach, not to mention throwing 69 of his pitches for strikes. It's a philosophy Contreras plans to follow in the future. "When I pitch faster, I think less," said Contreras through translator Oney Guillen. "I only take my time when everything isn't clicking, and I had everything working today." "I looked at his ERA this morning and it was amazing," Guillen said. "It feels like he has a 20.00 ERA and he has a two-something (2.60), I don't remember. But that's because every time he pitches, he's behind in the count, with long innings. "He usually has a real bad pitch count. Today, he just went out and challenged people, threw the ball over the plate and made them hit the ball. He threw strikes and had confidence in himself." 69 of Contreras' 102 pitches were for strikes. That's pretty damn impressive from Jose. Edited May 6, 200520 yr by Jabroni
May 6, 200520 yr QUOTE(Jabroni @ May 5, 2005 -> 09:48 PM) AJ is the man... "Contreras quickens his pace in victory Early strikes help right-hander limit pitch count" 69 of Contreras' 102 pitches were for strikes. That's pretty damn impressive from Jose. I'm just impressed he made it into the 8th inning. Normally he barely makes it to the 6th.
May 6, 200520 yr "Jabroni: the poster who copy and pastes info from chisox.com what else does he do? oh... thats right, nothing...."
May 6, 200520 yr Author "Jabroni: the poster who copy and pastes info from chisox.com what else does he do? oh... thats right, nothing...." <{POST_SNAPBACK}> My first post was from Yahoo! Sports. :finger
May 6, 200520 yr Honestly I think that we all know the talent is there. His problem has always been upstairs. He ends up over relying on that splitter of his. When on his game he's as good as any pitcher in baseball. When off his game he's among the worst. If he gives us an ERA in the low 4's i'll be estatic.
May 6, 200520 yr QUOTE(hi8is @ May 6, 2005 -> 12:07 AM) "Jabroni: the poster who copy and pastes info from chisox.com what else does he do? oh... thats right, nothing...." I was going to say that I got a chuckle out of his avatar, but he changed it. What happened to Torri Hunter?
May 6, 200520 yr Not to be a dick (I am one of the bigger Jose backers) but I don't get really excited about today because he faced KC who he owns
May 6, 200520 yr Well Contreras always does well against the royals so lets see how he does against a major league team his next start, Not that he wasnt bad before but if he can go 7 innings that would be amazing because bullpen would be rested for El Duque who i dont want to see get high pitch counts so prob will have a lot of 5-6 inning games.
May 6, 200520 yr Aside from the Royals, Jose has racked up 3 other quality starts so far. So he's been getting the job done against everybody for the most part.
May 6, 200520 yr He has the best raw stuff on the starting staff (JG giving him a run for his money though now). There's no reason he can't have a ERA under 4 this season. Let's hope he doesn't out-think himself.
May 6, 200520 yr Actually JG's stuff is probably not that close, that's how good Jose's is. His stuff is in that class of guys like AJ Burnett in my opinion. His fastball isn't quite as good as guys liek him and Beckett but his forkball is of course one of the game's better pitches. I didn't mena to imply that Jose hasn't been good, it's just that his mroe dominant performances of the past two years usually involve the Royals. In my opinion, you will see a huge trend in the next few years towards quick work based on the success of Buehrle and Mulder and a few others
May 6, 200520 yr Author Actually JG's stuff is probably not that close, that's how good Jose's is. His stuff is in that class of guys like AJ Burnett in my opinion. His fastball isn't quite as good as guys liek him and Beckett but his forkball is of course one of the game's better pitches. I didn't mena to imply that Jose hasn't been good, it's just that his mroe dominant performances of the past two years usually involve the Royals. In my opinion, you will see a huge trend in the next few years towards quick work based on the success of Buehrle and Mulder and a few others <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Contreras' best starts for the Sox were arguably the two games he pitched against the Indians last season when they had the #1 ranked offense in the MLB.
May 6, 200520 yr QUOTE(Jabroni @ May 5, 2005 -> 11:02 PM) Contreras' best starts for the Sox were arguably the two games he pitched against the Indians last season when they had the #1 ranked offense in the MLB. He's also pitched well against them twice this season.
May 6, 200520 yr That's true. I was thinking of his last start of the year as his best but you are right about Cleveland. But let's be honest, we need to see him show that kind of brilliance on occasion against the Red Sox and Twins of the world. Still, his year has been more consistent than most would have hoped for so no real complaints here
May 6, 200520 yr QUOTE(Jordan4life_2004 @ May 6, 2005 -> 05:07 AM) He's also pitched well against them twice this season. Yeah but this year the Cleveland offense has been pretty crappy....... I guess thats what happens when you lose your leadoff men in Lawton and Vizquel.
May 6, 200520 yr QUOTE(SoxFan101 @ May 5, 2005 -> 11:39 PM) Yeah but this year the Cleveland offense has been pretty crappy....... I guess thats what happens when you lose your leadoff men in Lawton and Vizquel. Their offense is still pretty potent.
May 6, 200520 yr Author Their offense is still pretty potent. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Not according to this year's stats... MLB Team Stats: 2005 http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/stats/aggreg...t=0&season=2005 The Indians are ranked last (30th) in team AVG (.227) and 29th in team OBP (.293). This is why I said that Contreras' two starts against the Indians last season were more impressive. The Indians had the top ranked offense in the MLB at the time. Edited May 6, 200520 yr by Jabroni
May 6, 200520 yr QUOTE(Jabroni @ May 5, 2005 -> 11:45 PM) Not according to this year's stats... MLB Team Stats: 2005 http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/stats/aggreg...t=0&season=2005 The Indians are ranked last (30th) in team AVG (.227) and 29th in team OBP (.293). Good god! What's going on over there? Their offense was killing people last year. It can't just be not having Omar and Lawton.
May 6, 200520 yr QUOTE(Jordan4life_2004 @ May 6, 2005 -> 05:47 AM) Good god! What's going on over there? Their offense was killing people last year. It can't just be not having Omar and Lawton. Well that is a big part of it.... Those guys next to Pierre/Castillo were probably the best duo leading off for any team....
May 6, 200520 yr Author Good god! What's going on over there? Their offense was killing people last year. It can't just be not having Omar and Lawton. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> They don't have Vizquel and Lawton to get on base at the top of the order. Jody Gerut and Juan-Gone are on the DL. Also, Coco Crisp isn't hitting like he did last season. This season, he has only killed us. Oh yeah, and Aaron Boone SUCKS.
May 6, 200520 yr QUOTE(SoxFan101 @ May 5, 2005 -> 11:43 PM) Well Contreras always does well against the royals so lets see how he does against a major league team his next start, Not that he wasnt bad before but if he can go 7 innings that would be amazing because bullpen would be rested for El Duque who i dont want to see get high pitch counts so prob will have a lot of 5-6 inning games. His next start should be against Tampa Bay. Does that qualify as a major league team?
May 6, 200520 yr QUOTE(YASNY @ May 5, 2005 -> 11:54 PM) His next start should be against Tampa Bay. Does that qualify as a major league team? Kinda sorta. LOL
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