The game took place while I was at work, so I didn't really get to watch much of anything, but from what I can tell, this was far from being one of his better starts. The numbers:
75 fastballs (69%)
17 changeups (16%)
10 curveballs (9%)
6 sliders (6%)
13 swinging strikes (12%)
23 foul (3 foul tips) (21%)
17 called strikes (16%)
17 in play (16%)
38 balls (35%)
6 grounders (35%)
4 outfield fly balls (24%)
2 pop ups (12%)
5 line drives (29%)
The pitch pattern's about what I'd expect against a lineup that was 6/9ths left-handed, and his changeup was fairly effective, going for a strike 11 times and generating three groundballs against one base hit. The problem, as I see it, is that he had only spotty command of his fastball, which you might recognize as being the same problem he has in all of his mediocre starts. And being a guy who works primarily off of his fastball, Felix isn't going to be that comfortable throwing offspeed stuff in hitter's counts, which means on days like this he actually winds up throwing more fastballs than usual, turning his trouble with the strike zone into a sort of self-perpetuating snowball. The sort of snowball that leads to him walking five guys in six innings against a lineup missing both Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz.
Not a great game. Not bad, mind you, but not real good either, and a definite step back from his recent string of extraordinary success. And with Texas up next, it's not about to get any easier.
My kingdom for a guy with Felix's stuff and Silva's command.
0 recs | 15 comments
After he went from 0-2 to walking Pedroia I knew this was not going to be a good Felix Day.
r0ry - July 24, 2008
Felix ruined my day yesterday :(
Last Fan Of Jose Lopez - July 24, 2008
Are you sure it wasn't your debilitating addiction to Cialis?
kevin_ess - July 24, 2008
I don't understand this
Last Fan Of Jose Lopez - July 24, 2008
As a rule you shouldn't have to explain the punchline
Unless the punch line is throughly disgusting and everyone got the joke the first time.
JI - July 24, 2008
Still probably does not need explaining here.
Kirsten Schlewitz - July 24, 2008
6/9ths is 2/3rds
Reduce to the lowest possible denominator!
JI - July 24, 2008
The 6 makes it seem like there were more lefties
Jeff Sullivan - July 24, 2008
The 3 makes it seem like there were less righties
Last Fan Of Jose Lopez - July 24, 2008
To those who can't handle simple fractions.
JI - July 24, 2008
*ahem*
Souther - July 24, 2008
Don't feel too bad about it...
OlSalty - July 24, 2008
Yeah, that's me.
I thought Sabermetrics was a new European measuring scale.
Come to find out it’s actually a workout video. Bill James looks great!
kevin_ess - July 24, 2008
And Tits's (Titses? Titss'?) songwriting ability.
waldo rojas - July 24, 2008
He's a poet.
Souther - July 25, 2008
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