Speaking of Disappearing Curveballs…
His first start back from the DL, I noted with some alarm that Marcum threw only 4 curveballs all night instead of his normal evenly-balanced repetoire. Well, he’s quelled any worries about his elbow with two sparkling starts in a row, but last night he backed off even further on throwing his Curve, tossing it only twice all game.
Now I’m inclined to think this is a move for the sake of his ERA, not a tender elbow. Marcum’s slider was calculated as the best in the majors by THT last year, and his changeup is equally amazing. However, opposing batters hit over .300 against his curveball. Still nice to have as a “show me” pitch, but probably a smart adjustment to keep it that way…
Which two were the home runs?
Torgen
August 12, 2008 at 5:17 pm
One of the sliders down and to the right of the main group, and a changeup. Both hung.
halejon
August 12, 2008 at 5:36 pm
His bad mechanics are the source of his elbow problems…
EB0
August 13, 2008 at 7:24 am
Marcum has bad mechanics? I’ve never heard that before- what’s wrong with them?
He said he thought is was a result of throwing his cutter more/too often. Yikes, I didn’t notice that either he’s throwing his slider with a lot less break or it’s gone, too. Or else he’s done the Litsch thing where he just throws one pitch that is a mix between a slider and a cutter. Yeah, yeah, Papelbon already’s named it the “Slutter”…
halejon
August 13, 2008 at 11:37 am
“Slutter”…i like that…but hate papelbon, that little bitch.
marcum’s been on point his last 2 starts…but he’s given up a lot of dingers since his return, and hopefully that will change
eyebleaf
August 13, 2008 at 11:44 am
Marcum’s always given up a lot of solo homers.
Torgen
August 13, 2008 at 2:14 pm
Sure enough….Hr’s by baserunner state:
— 36
1– 9
-2- 5
12- 5
123 2
-23 1
1-3 1
–3 1
halejon
August 13, 2008 at 3:01 pm
How does that compare to other pitchers, by the way?
Torgen
August 13, 2008 at 6:50 pm
Is Purcey getting squeezed on the outside corner or are they are all balls?
Ari
August 13, 2008 at 8:12 pm