Author Archive: David Laurila

Nick Johnson needs a typical Nick Johnson season to secure his legacy. Not as an injury-prone first baseman — that’s his other legacy — but as an on-base machine. The 33-year-old left-handed hitter came into the year as one of fewer than 60 players in history [minimum 3,000 plate appearances] with a career OBP of .400 or better. Now with the Baltimore Orioles, Johnson was right at that mark when he talked about his disciplined approach prior to Saturday’s game.

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Johnson on his career .400 OBP: “[Having a high OBP] means that I’m helping the team out. That’s how you score runs. You get on base and the next thing you know someone pops one, or hits one in the gap, and you put a couple of runs on the board. You have to be on base in order to score runs. I think [OBP] is big.”

On his patient approach: “Ever since I started playing the game, I‘ve had that approach. Even in Little League and high school. I’ve had people tell me to swing the bat more, and this, that and the other, but it’s just something I’ve always had. I don’t know where it came from.

“Sometimes, when you’re seeing a lot of pitches, you can get too passive. Read the rest of this entry »

Clayton Mortensen seems intent on showing that the Red Sox gained more than $5 million in payroll flexibility when they traded Marco Scutaro to Colorado in January. The 27-year-old right-hander has been outstanding in a pair of long-relief appearances since being called up from Triple-A. Were it not for Mark Reynolds, he would be almost perfect. The Orioles third baseman has homered and doubled against Mortensen — while hitters not named Mark Reynolds are a combined 1 for 20 with 11 strikeouts. Eight outs have come via ground balls.

Mortensen credits an ability to mix and match within the zone for his success. Of his 104 pitches during the two games, 44 have been either a two- or four-seamer, 32 have been changeups and 28 have been sliders. He has thrown strikes with 66% of his deliveries. Nearly 70% of his changeups have been strikes.

Mortensen talked about his repertoire over the weekend at Fenway Park.

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Mortensen on his slider: “My slider isn’t a typical slider. It doesn’t necessarily break right-to-left. It has more depth to it, so it’s more of a down-ball. It also has three different movements, depending on where my release point is. When I really accentuate staying on top of it — away to a righty — it will have a little depth and a little right-to-left movement. If I try to throw it down the middle, it’s more straight down. Sometimes it kind of screws. It’s basically because of the way I grip it. I kind of cock my wrist a little bit. To be honest, I try to throw it as hard as I can and it just kind of does what it wants to do.

“I threw one to Brandon Inge that he took for a strike, and then I threw another one that had a little more sideways action. I could see that he was kind of like, ‘What was that?’” Read the rest of this entry »

As FanGraphs readers know, Brandon McCarthy made some notable changes prior to the 2011 season. As Ryan Campbell wrote last October, the A’s right-hander fined-tuned his mechanics and traded in his four-seamer for a two-seamer and a cutter. The results of his data-driven adjustments were striking. Armed with a new repertoire and approach, McCarthy emerged as a frontline starter. He wasn’t satisfied. McCarthy is in the process of perfecting a new pitch, which he talked about prior to last night’s game at Fenway Park.

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Brandon McCarthy on his new changeup: “When I started this process, I knew that I needed a changeup and that I wasn’t going to go back to my old one. Finding a grip that will work has kind of been a slow process. I need something that I can throw for strikes, where I want it, and with enough action. It also needs to be slow enough.

“My old changeup was something nobody else throws. Read the rest of this entry »

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 »