The strength of the A’s is their pitching staff. And the strength of the A’s pitching staff — at least as far as the future is concerned — is Jarrod Parker. The 23-year-old right-hander is considered an ace-in-the-making, which is why Oakland was willing to trade Trevor Cahill and Craig Breslow to acquire him from Arizona this past December. Now 30 months removed from Tommy John surgery, Parker began this season in Triple-A before making his first Oakland start last Wednesday. If all goes as planned, he’ll be making plenty more in years to come.

Parker talked about his enhanced repertoire — which includes a two-seamer and a pair of changeups — prior to last night’s game at Fenway Park.

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Parker on his repertoire and approach: “I throw four- and two-seamers, a changeup, a slider and a curveball. I’m aggressive. I like to attack the zone, down. I started throwing a two-seamer last year and it has helped me to use fewer pitches and go deeper into games. After surgery, I also really focused on learning a good changeup. I’m trying to not throw as many breaking balls, just use them when I need to.

“I work down more than I did [before the surgery]. The two seamer really helps me get down in front, because when it’s up, it’s not doing anything. It helps remind me to get down through it and finish out in front. I think that takes a lot of stress off of my elbow.”

On changing eye levels: Read the rest of this entry »

Andy Hawkins is the only pitcher in San Diego Padres history to earn a World Series win. It came in 1984 when the then-24-year-old right-hander threw five-and-one-third scoreless innings in Game 2, in relief of Ed Whitson. Dominating a powerhouse Detroit Tigers lineup, Hawkins allowed only one base runner as the Padres rallied for a 5-3 win at Jack Murphy Stadium.

Hawkins finished his career with a record of 84-91, his best season coming in 1985 when he went 18-8 with a 3.15 ERA. Currently the bullpen coach for the Texas Rangers, he reminisced about his World Series win during a visit to Fenway Park earlier this month.

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Andy Hawkins on October 10, 1984: “It was Game 2. I came in with two out in the first inning and we were in a tough situation. We were down [3-0] and they had runners on. My approach was to throw strikes, get somebody out immediately, and try to pick up the pieces from there. Fortunately, that happened. From there, I got a little stronger as the game progressed.

“It was mainly about controlling my emotions. This was the World Series and I was very uptight and very nervous. It was a battle of keeping myself under control, because I was pitching with an immense amount of adrenaline. Read the rest of this entry »

Ralph Branca’s career deserves to be defined beyond just one pitch. The star-crossed Brooklyn Dodger played 11 big-league season, was a 20-game winner and was a three-time all-star. Sixty-one years after throwing one of the most infamous pitches in baseball history, the 86-year-old reminisced about his career during a visit to Fenway Park.

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David Laurila: Most people know you for the home run you gave up to Bobby Thomson, but they may not be aware that you pitched in two World Series.

Ralph Branca: I pitched in the 1947 World Series. I was the starting pitcher in the opening game. Then, in 1949, I pitched the third game. I also started the All-Star Game in 1948.

DL: I believe you got a win in your 1949 appearance.

RB: No, that was in 1947. I got a win in relief, in Game 6.

DL: Sorry for my mistake. That was before my time.

RB: Really? That was before everybody’s time. There are only three people in this ballpark who are that old. Actually, I don‘t think [Johnny] Pesky is here today, so maybe it’s only two.

DL: Were the World Series you played in just as important as the 1951 playoff game? Read the rest of this entry »

A number of big-league position players were once pitchers. Blessed with strong arms, they excelled on the mound, as well as at the plate, against amateur competition. Only a few would be able to return to the hill with any chance of success against professional hitters. Rangers first baseman Mitch Moreland is among them.

In high school, Moreland logged a record of 25-2 and in his senior year he had a 0.53 ERA with 112 strikeouts in 55 innings. Continuing as a two-way player at Mississippi State, he made 25 appearances out of the bullpen, logging a pair of saves and going 5-0, 3.31 with 45 strikeouts in 33 innings. One year after being taken in the 17th round of the 2007 draft, he had a brief flirtation with returning to the mound.

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David Laurila: What is your background as a pitcher?

Mitch Moreland: Pitching is kind of how I got my recognition as a player. It seems like everybody recruited me as a pitcher. I only had about three schools that wanted me to hit.

I didn’t have a whole lot of professional scouts looking at me coming out of high school. I went to college as a two-way guy, at Mississippi State, and I did pitch a little there. I ended up throwing about 40 innings. When draft time came, I thought I was going to get drafted as a pitcher, but I ended up getting drafted as a hitter, by Texas.

Texas actually brought me into instrux, in 2008, to pitch. Read the rest of this entry »

Burke Badenhop and the Tampa Bay infield are a marriage made in ground-ball heaven. MLB’s league-average GB rate fluctuates around 44 percent, and the sinkerballing right-hander boasts a career mark of 55.8 in 254 big-league relief innings. As Mike Axisa wrote when the Rays acquired him from the Marlins last December: “Tampa’s pitchers have enjoyed a .228 BABIP on ground balls over the last four seasons (.224 over the last three seasons), which plays right into Badenhop’s ground ball happy ways.”

Badenhop, who has an economics degree from Bowling Green, talked about his signature sinker and his utilization of PitchFX data when the Rays visited Fenway Park over the weekend.

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Badenhop on being an undervalued asset: “Thinking at the margin and responding to incentives are economic theories, and that‘s kind of how I got here. The Rays are more efficient with the way they utilize their resources and my innate ground-ball ability is where I derive my value. Last year, with the Marlins, I was throwing innings that usually weren’t the most important. Now, I’m with a playoff team that has a different way of looking at things. We’re more analytical here.

“If I’m with any other team, are they going to have someone who is essentially their ground-ball guy? I can’t imagine that I’d fit into every major-league bullpen in terms of what I do. Other teams might use me differently. Joe Maddon, Andrew Friedman, and those guys know what they’re doing. They’re very cutting-edge and are very — as Joe puts it — old school in their approach, but new school in the way they go about doing things.

“When I got traded over here, I kind of knew how they run things. I played with Randy Choate last year and he had played here. Joe Maddon obviously has a reputation throughout the game as being a forward-thinking guy.”

On defensive positioning and shifts: “Last year, going into September, I went through my numbers and found that my third baseman had made five plays for me. Read the rest of this entry »

Michael Schwimer wasn’t happy with his performance last Friday. The 26-year-old right-hander threw a scoreless ninth inning when Triple-A Lehigh Valley beat Scranton Wilkes-Barre. He also earned a save. But the Phillies’ stat-geek pitching prospect looks beyond the numbers that can be found in a box score. After each game, Schwimer charts his pitches and grades them with a plus-minus system.

Schwimer broke down his April 5 outing, pitch-by-pitch, when Philadelphia’s Triple-A club visited Pawtucket a few days later.

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Schwimer, on charting his outings: “After the game, I look at the film and chart every pitch that I threw. The first thing I chart is my intent. For instance, the intent could be a fastball away. I give it either a plus or a minus depending on whether I was able to physically do what my mind intended it to. That’s a piece of data that FanGraphs or Pitch-FX can’t be helpful with, because they don’t know my intent on the pitch.

“I also read the hitter’s movements and reactions. I chart every pitch and every reaction I get on that pitch. From that information, I formulate a game plan as to how to approach that same hitter in the future.

“When I do the charting, I try to take out baseball’s traditional-result goals. Read the rest of this entry »

Matt Harvey doesn’t shy away from the “power pitcher” label. And he doesn’t avoid talking about how he’s close to joining the Mets’ starting rotation. The 23-year-old right-hander only has one year of professional baseball under his belt, but his confidence and power arsenal don’t portend a long stay in Triple-A. That’s where the 2010 first-round pick is beginning the season, and he talked about his repertoire — which includes a pair of new-and-improved pitches — following his first start, a 4-2 loss to Pawtucket on April 5.

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David Laurila: How would you describe yourself as a pitcher?

Matt Harvey: I like to think of myself as a power pitcher. I throw my fastball a lot — whether it’s my sinker or my four-seamer. I try to get ahead with that, get weak contact and move it in and out. It’s what I’ve always done. I’ve always thrown pretty hard. My curveball is pretty hard. My slider is pretty hard. My fastball is pretty hard.

DL: How important is velocity to your game? Read the rest of this entry »

San Francisco’s front office may have a spotty record when it comes to trades and the free-agent market, but the same can’t be said of their efforts in amateur scouting and player development. The Giants have a solid core of homegrown talent — with reinforcements on the way — and in recent years much of the credit goes to John Barr. A member of the Professional Baseball Scouts Hall of Fame, Barr has been in charge of the Giants’ drafts since 2008.

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Barr on draft philosophy and trends: “This is what I’ve focused on for 28 years of my life. I’ve been in involved in the draft — and have been in the draft room — every year since 1985.

“From a standpoint of changes over that time… let me first say that you still have to draft good players and they have to be mentally and physically ready to go out. You’re still trying to draft the best players, because you’re trying to add value to your organization. That allows your general manager to have the flexibility to either decide to continue the development of that player — and then have him go to the big leagues for you — or put him in a trade to bring back talent. You can’t draft solely on what the major-league team may need, because that need will change over time as players go through the system.

“That said, there are trends [in the industry]. Read the rest of this entry »

Henry Owens might be the most intriguing pitching prospect in the Red Sox organization. He may also be the most unique. Drafted 36th-overall last year out of a Huntington Beach, California high school, the 6-foot-7 southpaw wears size-17 shoes, surfs, plays both the piano and the guitar, and can throw a football 80 yards. His powerful left arm can also propel a baseball, as he’s been clocked as high as 94 mph. No less notable is the fact that Owens has an advanced feel for pitching that belies his 19 years.

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David Laurila: How would you define yourself as a pitcher?

Henry Owens: I’m probably more of a power pitcher. I’m looking to pitch to contact, but in more of an overpowering way. I’m trying to get strikeouts as well as ground balls. My fastball sits 90-92 and tops out at 94, and hopefully I’ll be able to raise my velocity a little bit as the year goes on.

I was taught to not just throw, but to pitch. There’s obviously a difference. Rather than just rearing back every time, you have to pitch with a purpose. I throw a lot of off-speed pitches.

DL: In your mind, pitchability and being a power pitcher aren’t mutually exclusive? Read the rest of this entry »

MLB’s new Collective Bargaining Agreement seemingly portends an international draft — Bud Selig has called it inevitable — but questions remain. Among them are: “Is it a good idea?” and “Is it even practical?” In the opinion of two people with extensive knowledge of baseball in Latin America, the answers are “No.”

Dan Rosenheck is the sports editor and deputy Americas editor for The Economist and writes about baseball statistics and economics for The New York Times. He worked for five years as a foreign correspondent in Latin America and is currently writing a book on baseball in the region.

Adam Jonas runs MLDraft.com, an online advisory service for amateur players. He formerly worked in player development for the Twins and Brewers — extensively in the Dominican Republic — and served as the Director of the International Academy of Professional Baseball.

Rosenheck and Jonas discussed the hurdles of implementing an amateur draft during separate conversations at the recent MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference.

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Read the rest of this entry »