OTC: Is The K’s Radar Gun A Real Meche As Well?
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Kyle Rohde
I’m getting so sick of all the pitch count hyperbole. It’s amazing to me that fifty years ago, a guy like Warren Spahn could pitch for 20+ years, be the winningest lefty of all time, regularly go deep into games and even throw 276 pitches in a 16 inning game once. Yet pitchers today are “abused” if they throw more than 100 pitches. What has changed so significantly about the game since the late 50’s that isn’t made up for by the better training, conditioning, diet, exercise, etc. that today’s players have.
barry
yesterday at the k meche’s fastball was in the 90-93 range. i think he may have hit 94 a few times. so either his arm is even deader than it was a couple of starts ago or the royals have adjusted the radar gun to more realistic readings.
on some of the extra innings games, the radar gun display on the broadcasts shows the speed of the pitch as it leaves the pitcher’s hand and as it passes the batter. the difference is about six miles per hour. so there can be major differences in gun readings in different ballparks, depending upon what point in the pitches’ journey towards home plate the reading is taken.
barry
kyle, i think you are remembering the exceptions and forgetting the inordinate number of pitchers from prior eras whose careers were cut short with arm problems. remember billy martin’s 1980 a’s team? sandy koufax had to quit at the age of 30 because of arm pain.
every generation has guys who throw 4,000 innings. and every generation has guys whose careers die much earlier than they should. i haven’t checked this out statistically, but my guess is that many more pitchers are lasting into their late 30’s than ever before. i think the real difference between now and 40 years ago is that the players have more clout and their agents look out for their health and longevity more than managers and owners would.
jojo
HALL READ THIS…
1. STOP TAKING MY STORIES: last year I made the
statement that maybe we are jinxed..that maybe
a bar didnt let a goat into the bar (well maybe
someone didn’t let bill grigsby in)…or some
hex thats been put on the teams. I came up with
that angle…give me some credit…or cash.
2. Don’t the royls use a different machine than
the juggs? They use another machine that i saw
them using in spring training. I think, they are
the only ones using this different pitch spped
machine…i may be wrong but i thinki I Noticed
it during spring training and talking with their
coaches.
3. Meche…just hs never jelled here in kc…
but i know this…his shoulder was hurting this
year when he was playing golf in dallas…ask
him about it….it was realy bad when he played
with some guys we know.
4. Age: i read where 40 is the new 30;…
50 is the new 40 so pitchers should vbe lasting
longer. aND WITH reduced pitch counts they
should be pitching longer.
5. WHY DO SOME OF THE ROYALS RELIEVERS WARM
UP IN BACK OF THE RUBBER…COULD THIS BE
AFFECTING THEIR PITCHES ON THE FIELD.
WE SIT IN 152 AND SEE THIS ALL THE TIME.
6. RELIEVERS: getoff your asses…stop sitting
eating sunflower seeds…limber up…move around
…why wait til its 2 minutes before you hit the
mopund that you’re moving. get off your butts
and maybe you’ll save some games for us.
7. If hillman can’t striaghten out this bullpen
get rid of him…this tem should be 13-8 and
at the top of the division if they had some
relieversx…..they’re hitting but these relievers
are horrible.
8. Unlike every other tem in baseball the
royals have players who can hit but can’t
play defense. Or players that cn play defense
but can’t hit. Why the hellis this the cse in
most vof the positions on this team.
hve faith…it should break for the royals soon..
something good has to happen…I hope.
Stevo
I remember when I played baseball and I always refused to wear my glasses. I would stand out in the outfield and go “please don’t hit it to me, please don’t hit it to me” the whole game. I couldn’t see the damn thing until it was about fifty feet away. haha sorry this article just reminded me of that. I’ve always thought playing outfield in the bigs would have to be a very anxious job.
kk
It’s april why r we talking about the Royals?
MoCrash
I don’t think pitch counts in individual games matter so much than the accumulated effect of high pitch counts over many innings. On some days, a guy has 120 or more good pitches in him without feeling tired. Other days, an arm is getting tender around 90.
High inning counts over the course of many seasons will take their toll. Spahn, as one poster cited, was a marvel — but he was an exception in that he put up 250-300 IPs per year over 20+ seasons. Other guys of his generation who did that only had about 8-10 seasons.
Although all of the off-the-field elements favor today’s pitchers, the fact is that most don’t throw that much when they are younger. Whereas in previous generations, players would play constantly — even away from official games and practices — today’s youth are involved only in more formal, structured settings. When they get to the Show and start logging 200 IP seasons for the first time, it takes its toll more quickly. Meche has been a high-IP, high-PC pitcher for many years; his arm could die at any moment from the accumulated wear and tear, and his recuperative powers for arm and other pains can be expective to slow after the age of 30.
IMHO they ought to do away with the radar gun; it is an overhyped, largely useless tool. If a pitcher is throwing hard enough to throw a ball past a hitter, irrespective of recorded velocity, that’s all that matters. Any decent catcher can tell when a pitcher’s fastball is losing speed. Movement, speed variation and location have much more to do with pitching than miles per hour. Radar guns are being used as a crutch by those who can’t evaluate pitching talent and as entertainment for the masses. I suspect that radar gun information hurts performance more than it helps.
Arte
Everybody always wants to use Sandy Koufax as an example of an overworked pitcher. Yes he had to retire at 30. In the meantime, in 11 seasons, he won 3 Cy Young Awards; an NL MVP; 2 World Series Championships; recorded 2,396 strikeouts (7th all-time) and is in the Hall of Fame. Boy I bet he wishes the Dodgers would have saved him for the future.
I know it’s not modern baseball thinking–and I am getting old–but it seems on Tuesday night, the Royals could have kept Greinke in a little lontern to minimize the bullpen usage. But no, they have to save him for that future championship run.
smartman
There is a curse on the Royals, DAVID GLASS! It’s not Hillman or the bullpen or the lack of any real player development. Look at all the seasoned experienced players we have. It’s a virtual think tank of the Boys of Summer. A Gashouse Gang running on E85 ethanol. It’s not having one of the lowest payrolls in baseball. Look at all the players that have left KC and excelled with other teams. It’s the curse on David Glass. The White Sox and the Cubs will each win a World Series before the Royals even sniff the ALCS. The only way to remove the curse is to remove the source. As long as David Glass or his family have anything to do with the Royals the curse shall remain. So it is written, so it is said. Hear me now or believe me later.
MoCrash
Amen, Smartman.