Rotation skips a beat

by Johnny Safron on Aug 8, 2008 1:38 AM EDT Comment 13 comments

The probable starters for the KC series omit Perkins, whose turn should be Sunday.

He was awful in Seattle, but they aren't skipping him, just pushing him back a day. He's been beaten twice this year by the Yankees, so I'd like to hear the logic there.

It's almost as if they figure they really need to beat KC and view the Yankees as a tough-go, so they want to send Baker against KC Sunday and hope it's a mismatch and then sacrifice Perkins and his deceptive 8-3 won-loss record against the favored Yankees.

A win against New York would go a long ways toward proving Perkins isn't able to handle the pressure of a pennant race.

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They want to split up the lefties in the rotation

I don’t think it’s really a big deal, but I can see why they think it makes a difference.

by ubelmann on Aug 8, 2008 2:10 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Exactly

They just want to mix it up. Splitting Liriano and Perkins guarantees a lefty always starts in a series of 3 or 4 games.

by thurm031 on Aug 8, 2008 5:11 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Does anyone know

why he moved from the 3rd base side of the rubber to the middle, closer to 1st base? He was so dominant against right handed hitters pounding the inside corner like he was earlier in the year. Now, he’s become more timid pitching inside. Was it because he was kind of dependent on umpires giving him the calls?

by TMW on Aug 8, 2008 11:28 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Tigers and Sox

I think he just did that for the Tigers and White Sox, who have the same hitting philosophy: dive and drive. So he pitched them in with the fastball and it worked. He struggles against guys like Jeter, who can cover both sides of the plate. He just doesn’t have the secondary pitches or the sink on his fastball to stay consistent against the whole league.

That said, he could improve his change-up and return to form no matter where he pitches from on the rubber.

Did anybody notice that Ibanez is the hottest hitter in the league right now? That had a lot to do with this team’s problems in Seattle, and, of course, one at bat in particular for Perkins.

"You're thinking too much. Just have fun." -- Bennie "The Jet" Rodriguez in Sandlot

by cmathewson on Aug 8, 2008 12:27 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

When did he do that?

Last Sunday, he was the third base side the first few innings, at least, and he kept throwing balls low and in to righties. If you read any how-to baseball books when you’re about 8, you learn if you constantly are throwing to one side of the plate, just keep throwing the same but move a few inches in the other direction on the rubber. Liriano was not doing this during the innings I saw, he was on the third-base side and missing to the third base side. It was maddening.

by Johnny Safron on Aug 8, 2008 7:11 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

It was well documented

DickNBert had a lang discussion about it in his start after the one in Chicago, when he stop the hemorrhaging on a long four-game series with a solid start pitching on the third-base side. And I noticed it as well against the Tigers. But in his last two starts, he’s used the middle of the rubber.

Santana always pitched on the third-base side to get in on right handers. He barely had his left pinky toe in contact with the rubber and the rest his foot was off the rubber on the third base side. Perhaps Liriano is just trying to emulate him.

"You're thinking too much. Just have fun." -- Bennie "The Jet" Rodriguez in Sandlot

by cmathewson on Aug 9, 2008 9:43 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Oh

I see now the original discussion was about Perkins’ position on the rubber. I was speaking of Liriano’s position in his start Sunday.

If you’re a big-league pitcher and selecting your position on the rubber to emulate someone, you need a talking to.

by Johnny Safron on Aug 9, 2008 10:16 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I don't blame him

Santana was the ace of the staff who took him under his wing in 2006. I wouldn’t be surprised if they still talk on the phone some. It’s not like he’s emulating a guy he doesn’t know.

"You're thinking too much. Just have fun." -- Bennie "The Jet" Rodriguez in Sandlot

by cmathewson on Aug 9, 2008 5:11 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I would blame him

I doubt he is copying Santana, but I also don’t see why, if he is, it’s better to emulate someone you know than you don’t know. The ultimate goal is results, and if emulating Skippy Pazdernik – whom you saw playing for Topeka in the Little League World Series one afternoon – works better for you than emulating Santana, I’d say go with Skippy. Pitchers at this level do what works for them. Someone might show you a grip, and you might try it, and if it works naturally you use it. This is just theoretical, because I doubt he’s copying his pal, but if you’re a lefty missing inside and you’re on the third-base side of the rubber, continuing to pitch from there because Johan does is stupid.

by Johnny Safron on Aug 9, 2008 5:52 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

FWIW

He was in the middle of the rubber last night. Still doesn’t have control of the change, but otherwise looked pretty good.

"You're thinking too much. Just have fun." -- Bennie "The Jet" Rodriguez in Sandlot

by cmathewson on Aug 10, 2008 12:49 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

maybe playing the Yankees at the Dome had something to do with it as well?

by caluofmn on Aug 8, 2008 11:49 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Baker/Perkins

While it isn’t a huge deal, Baker is a much better pitcher than Perkins, so it might make sense to move him up in the hopes of getting more overall starts.

by Diggity Dino on Aug 8, 2008 3:56 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Records, presumably

My presumption is big-league teams have someone around smart enough to look at things such as the fact if KC’s record against lefties were all that counted, they’d be leading the division comfortably.

KC is 22-15 vs. lefties. For some odd reason - given the best talent in the lineup is left-handed and that each of those sticks hits right-handers better - they can’t beat the righties very often. That record vs. lefties makes a good case for Guillen and Olivo in the lineup, disgruntled and overpaid as Guillen might be.

Yankees are 17-17 vs. lefties, so the Twins are probably hoping to fall into something, being they’re at home and not playing with their hands around their throats.

Anything to delay a Perkins start is fine, however.

by Johnny Safron on Aug 8, 2008 7:02 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs