After going over a couple games' worth of numbers, I'm starting to get a feel for how to identify Brandon Morrow's pitches by how they look in the PITCHf/x data. His fastball, changeup, curveball, and slider all have distinguishing characteristics that make them pretty easy to tell apart if you know what to look for.
This afternoon, Morrow threw a handful of pitches that were a little more tricky. Pitches that kind of split the middle between what I'd expect of his curveball and what I'd expect of his slider. Pitches that make me wonder if they were mistakes, accidents in grip or arm action due to underuse. After all, he's still getting accustomed to throwing a bunch of breaking balls, right? It would make sense if he's struggling to repeat the same arm action every time.
Here's what those mystery pitches looked like:
If that's a mistake, then God help the world if Brandon ever gets things right.
It looks to the eye like a curveball, but there are indications in the data that it may have been a slider, or at least had slidey characteristics, so I'm not sure. I'd even be tempted to call it a splitter if Morrow hadn't said a little while back that he hasn't thrown one all season.
Who knows? Maybe it was the curve. Maybe it was the slider. What's important is that, whatever its identity, it looked pretty sweet.
More of these bendy things, Brandon. They make me feel naughty inside.
0 recs | 67 comments
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Is that a gyro?
Graham MacAree - September 21, 2008
a pita?
a ben franklin?
mark sobba - September 21, 2008
Are you saying that because you don't know what a gyroball is?
Slurvey - September 21, 2008
I'm guessing no.
Brick - September 22, 2008
Possibly
I’m not saying it actually was a gyro, and highly doubt it was intentional if it was, but I think a slider is the pitch that could accidentally be thrown as a “gyroball”, if it’s thrown incorrectly.
chrisisasavage - September 22, 2008
Since
a gyro supposedly spins along the axis of the pitches trajectory, I think it’d be possible for a slider to accidentally have such a spin. If the pitcher pulls their fingers instead of letting the ball spin off of it, I could see how it could spin along such an axis.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, if you want to see a gyroball like pitch, use a wiffleball. I’m not sure it’d be that easy to throw one with a hardball, but with a wiffle, it’s not hard to get the gyroball spin.
chrisisasavage - September 22, 2008
Probably not.
Too much vertical break for a gyroball.
Kyle Boddy - September 22, 2008
I don't understand how that pitch has slider characteristics
From my untrained eye it looks like it breaks straight down
Dewey N - September 21, 2008
And 6 inches towards the RH batter's box
Graham MacAree - September 21, 2008
So how does that show slider?
Dewey N - September 21, 2008
Horizontal movement.
The camera angle might also be weird
Graham MacAree - September 21, 2008
I would say I miss dead center field cam
Except that hey have it in St. Louis and it is sweet.
JI - September 21, 2008
A little bit of horizontal movement in towards the hitter, if you can believe it
also it has certain acceleration and spin properties that aren’t worth getting into. But it’s quite literally right there in between.
Jeff Sullivan - September 21, 2008
Well I can't believe it and won't
Dewey N - September 21, 2008
I don't see how the hell that can be breaking towards the hitter unless that's a foul tip
Graham MacAree - September 21, 2008
I don't know what to tell you
Presumably the computers are smarter than I.
Jeff Sullivan - September 21, 2008
This is why instant replays are bad for baseball
Dewey N - September 21, 2008
You'd know this one better than I would:
How far into the strikezone does pitchF/X track?
Graham MacAree - September 21, 2008
The break is 10" and the Pf/x is 4" according to gameday.
But it notes it as a slider and I’m still fascinated by this pitch please be a secret pitch and not a fluke.
Slurvey - September 21, 2008
I believe it's at the front of the plate
Jeff Sullivan - September 21, 2008
So I guess there are the following explanations for me seeing movement to the right
1) Foul tip
2) Bad camera angle (aka I can’t see)
3) Morrow can throw a pitch that switches break direction while in the strike zone.
I like option 3 but I don’t think it’s right.
Graham MacAree - September 21, 2008
I hope it option 3 too.
It looked like a clean miss to me so maybe it’s 2 if not 3 and 1 or maybe it’s a combo of all 3. =o
Slurvey - September 21, 2008
Ah there goes my spelling sliding more than this pitch.
I hope it’s option 3 is what I meant to say.
Slurvey - September 21, 2008
They would've noted it as a foul tip instead of a swinging strike if it were #1
I think it’s just hard for us to see. It’s kind of moving pretty quick.
Jeff Sullivan - September 21, 2008
Wow look at us we're all admiring a pitch that we don't know what it is.
This is awesome.
Slurvey - September 21, 2008
Or maybe the computer is wrong
Dewey N - September 21, 2008
It might be
what really matters is that this pitch is awesome.
Jeff Sullivan - September 21, 2008
I wish I could pick this apart frame my frame and show you what I mean
Because to me the ball’s entering the zone on the inside corner and being caught right against the dirt in the middle of the plate.
Not being able to see what’s going on is a pretty reasonable explanation though
Graham MacAree - September 21, 2008
The ball entered the zone almost exactly in the middle of the plate
and if you look at where Kenji catches it and take into consideration the camera angle, I think the inside break is legitimate.
Jeff Sullivan - September 21, 2008
I'll accept that
That angle sure is screwing with my head though
Graham MacAree - September 21, 2008
From what I can see.
The ball seems to slide toward the right than break down as the hitter swings.
Slurvey - September 21, 2008
he didn't release with his
pointer and middle finger on top, they were off to the top right. that’s how the slider gets its cutting movement.
Brick - September 22, 2008
Even Brandon Morrow's mystery pitch is better than Felix's
Matthew - September 21, 2008
Uh.
That’s some pretty, pretty break.
BrianL - September 21, 2008
Pretty.
Very Pretty.
Mariner Melee - September 21, 2008
Holy shit.
Starting from right in front of the knees, it takes a nasty bite and drops down about a foot. Never thought I’d see a ball start out a curve and end up a slider.
tyreni51 - September 21, 2008
Maybe it's a Slurve!
I does have very erratic movement on it and I think it could be a gyro like Graham says. Whatever it is I like it if it’ll keep doing that.
Slurvey - September 21, 2008
I like this mystery awesome pitch.
Furthermore, I hope Felix takes notes.
BrianL - September 21, 2008
Someone else says throw more bendy things.
ThundaPC - September 21, 2008
TELL THAT TO FELIX YOU GODDAMN RETARD
BrianL - September 21, 2008
Then why he did start the game off with so many FB?
And yeah tell it the Felix too.
Slurvey - September 21, 2008
If Riggleman managed according to the thoughts he had during press conferences, I would wholeheartedly endorse him.
Teej - September 22, 2008
Except he pulled a Dusty Baker in this game.
Wilder. - September 22, 2008
Derek Jeter's speech in the last game at Yankee stadium was kinda cool.
Good on you Captain Intangibles.
Goose - September 21, 2008
It's nice that he said something to the fans there.
Slurvey - September 21, 2008
I know the stadium was torn down in the 70s, and I know Yankees fans are generally assholes, but watching the final inning and the following celebration was very cool.
As easy as it is to hate on the Yankees and their fans, I would kill to live in an environment where the local baseball team was that important and that legendary. It’s hard not to be jealous while watching that stuff. I don’t necessarily want Mariner fans to turn into angry, drunken douchebags, but I could put up with that if they came attached to a perennial contender.
And yeah, Jeter’s speech seemed quite genuine.
Teej - September 22, 2008
The annoying thing about the Yankees
is that they manage to do everything right. Strip away all the press coverage and casual-bandwagoner fawning, and that organization knows how to do stuff like this well.
pdb - September 22, 2008
Hello M's fans
Got my tickets for tomorrows game. Going to be in Seattle for a couple of days. As a Angels fan visiting the Northwest, what should I see and do as a tourist? Going to the Space Needle, and the fish market to see the fish tossing, gonna get some garlic fries at the park, gonna go to Kurt Cobain’s former home. Any other hints? Is it cold up there? Bear in mind i’m from SoCal, what is warm to you, might be cold to me.
halofolife - September 22, 2008
Prior discussions
http://www.lookoutlanding.com/story/2006/7/14/133655/227
http://www.lookoutlanding.com/2006/8/1/164929/7267
http://www.lookoutlanding.com/2008/7/18/574200/visiting-safeco
The weather: http://www.weather.com/weather/tenday/98101?from=hrly_topnav_undeclared
Matthew - September 22, 2008
Thank you Matthew
Me and my kids should be able to stay busy during our visit, lets hope its a good game(Angels win LOL), should you ever come down here, feel free to hit me up for visitors advice!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
halofolife - September 22, 2008
Most of us are rooting for an Angels win.
But we root against the use of “lol.”
Teej - September 22, 2008
I guess if you have never done the Space Needle, you must go.
But let me warn you, it’s pricey and very underwhelming, especially if there is an overcast. I suggest having lunch at the restaurant because then the money you pay for the view go towards some food.
Wilder. - September 22, 2008
As do I
Normally I never use terms such as LOL, OMG, IMO, however me and my oldest kid were talking, and I got caught up in the euphemisms and terminology of a 16 year old. Please forgive me. No sarcasm intended, I hate when I speak and talk like that. Just glad alot of you are pulling for an Angels win, been to Oakland and L.A., when the Halos play, L.A. is pretty hostile, Oakland is, well, Oakland is Oakland.
halofolife - September 22, 2008
We're quite hostile, too, though. (Well, at least at this blog. Safeco is pretty tame.)
We’re only pulling for an Angels win out of our own self-interest (No. 1 pick). No offense to you, sir, but I think 99% of us pray at night for a spectacular, miserable failure by the Angels in the playoffs.
And as for the "lol"s and other such Internet shorthand, we’re not complete Nazis. We just pride ourselves on a higher standard. I think I speak on behalf of most LLers when I say that that OMG, LOL and other such nonsense is more than just an annoyance. It’s a green light for people to ignore the language and the common customs for gentlemanly discussion. If this were all taking place on a cell phone, there might be more sympathy, but we all have keyboards in front of us. Let us use them.
Finally, instead of posting a new comment every time, check out the “reply” button beneath comments, and use it when you want to respond to a certain comment. (See how this comment is indented beneath yours?) It’s quite an awesome to keep all the conversations threaded.
Teej - September 22, 2008
Also,
no offense to your son at all, but now is the time to step in! Teach him the beauty of a comma, of a semicolon, of a quotation mark! Show him the way of the complete sentence, and expose him to all the evil things the comma splice has done to our society!
/editor up way too late
Teej - September 22, 2008
Psst, Teej.
One of the resident women up too early would like to let you know that halo up there never assigned a gender to the kid (or, actually, to his or her self).
Feminist lecture over. Return to your gentlemenly discussion.
Kirsten Schlewitz - September 22, 2008
Only men like baseball.
Duh.
brayden04 - September 22, 2008
I realized this after writing the comment,
but figured I had already gone off on enough of a tangent.
Teej - September 22, 2008
Just making sure all lessons were taught.
Kirsten Schlewitz - September 22, 2008
Are you refering to my inability of puncutation usage?
We need an edit button.
Slurvey - September 22, 2008
Hey look, the screwball.
EnglishMariner - September 22, 2008
That looks a lot like Carlos Marmol...
who throws a slider very similar to that Senor Ding-Dong’s Doorbell Fiesta mystery pitch Morrow threw there.
UribeAuction - September 22, 2008
The more I look at the data
the more I think this was meant to be a slider.
Jeff Sullivan - September 22, 2008
I've always wondered if this sort of pitch was possible.
Breaking pitches spin, and they spin around an axis. But why can’t that axis precess as the ball approaches the plate, thus changes the direction of break as it flies.
Llewdor - September 22, 2008
Clement would never have caught that pitch
Johjima’s bat has been terrible this year (actually has hit only a litle better, which is sad though) but what with nailing guys trying to steal and his game calling/catching he may be the best opion we have at catcher next season.
That is, if the M’s really want Morrow (and Felix) to reach their full potential.
I wouldn’t be against them bringing in a veteran FA catcher if he was any good though.
Sam Regens - September 22, 2008
sorry, should be
(actually Clement has hit only a litle better, which is sad though)
Sam Regens - September 22, 2008
With a bum knee.
Man what is with all these injuries…
Slurvey - September 22, 2008
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