Cleveland Sports Forum

Darvish strikes out nine to improve to 4-0

TORONTO --

Ron Washington says watching Yu Darvish pitch has been a learning experience for him.

"I don't know him," the Rangers manager said before Monday's 4-1 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays. "I had only seen him pitch twice on video."

Washington has obviously been impressed with what he has seen from the right-hander, who was signed from Japan during the offseason.

And Monday was no exception as Darvish won for the fourth time in five starts, although he did give up his first Major League home run to hot-hitting Edwin Encarnacion in the fourth inning.

"I'm certainly impressed with his work ethic," Washington said. "I'm impressed with the way he fits in my clubhouse. I'm impressed with the way he interacts with his teammates. I'm impressed by how quick he makes adjustments on the fly."

"I've been impressed with his stuff," Washington said. "He can sink it, he can run it, he can hop it, he can slow it down, he can make it quick, he can cut it, split it. He can do everything with the baseball, it's just a matter of using that stuff at the proper time."

Darvish left Monday's game with a 2.18 ERA.

Darvish first caught my eye during the Beijing Olympics in 2008 and I've been a huge fan ever since.

During spring training, Mike Napoli caught him and later remarked that Darvish threw all seven pitches which were in his arsenal. Those pitches included a four-seam fastball, two-seam fastball, 12-6 curveball, splitter, cutter, slider and a change-up. He later remarked that It was amazing to think of someone who has that many pitch types at his disposal, let alone being able to throw each one effectively.

James Holland of Yahoo sports explains just what each pitch does.

Isn't a fastball just a fastball regardless of what you call it? In my continuing effort to educate the baseball masses I thought I would explain in depth just what each pitch is.


Four-seam fastball

This is the traditional fastball. It is thrown with the fingers placed across the seams. It does have a tendency to rise which results in more home runs so you need to have great command of it.

Two-seam fastball

This pitch is thrown in similar fashion to the four-seam fastball with the exception that the fingers are placed along the seams. It has more movement than the four-seamer with slower velocity and a tendency to drop more.

12-6 curveball

It's called a 12-6 pitch due to the fact that the throwing motion is straight up and down like the numbers on a clock. Due to the throwing motion it is very deceptive to hitters who expect to see a fastball. Most pitchers can throw a standard curve ball but not all can master the 12-6.

Split finger (splitter)

It's almost similar to a sinker yet it has a sharper downward break and looks more like a fastball when it's initially thrown.

Cut fastball (cutter)

This is a fastball pitch that is almost always thrown inside to a batter in an attempt to jam them. The sign of a good cutter is a broken bat. If a hitter makes contact it will more than likely end with a grounder or the occasional bloop hit.

Slider

The slider is essentially a faster curveball type pitch that has a different break. Whereas most curveballs break in a 12-6 type motion, a slider will either break 10-4 or 9-3.

Change-up

A change-up is just a slow pitch that is thrown with the same motion as a standard fastball. It's main purpose is to disrupt the hitter's timing.


Whether or not Darvish throws all seven pitches in the regular season remains to be seen but any Texas Rangers fan can't help but like the fact that he has that many options available. To be a starting pitcher you have to have at least three to four different kinds of pitches in order to succeed the second time through a lineup so having seven definitely gives him the upper hand.

And now "Yu" know the rest of the story.

Until next time, I'll see you in the cheap seats!

James Holland is a lifelong fan of baseball

Bryce Harper with a huge night. His second double of the night set the table for Ian Desmond's ninth-inning homer heroics as the Nationals ended their losing skid with a come-from-behind walk-off victory over the D-backs. Harper had three hits, drove in a run and scored twice.

Haven't really paid much attention, but what the heck happened to Detroit? Is someone hurt for them or something? Or were we just lucky to have played KC when they were slumping? They were supposed to be all that.

gaylord perry wrote:Haven't really paid much attention, but what the heck happened to Detroit? Is someone hurt for them or something? Or were we just lucky to have played KC when they were slumping? They were supposed to be all that.

http://www.freep.com/article/20120503/S ... postseason

Baseball: Darvish voted AL Rookie of Month

NEW YORK -

Texas Rangers right-hander Yu Darvish was named the
American League Rookie of the Month for April, Major League Baseball
announced Wednesday.

With five starts under his belt, Darvish has a 4-0 record with
33 strikeouts and 17 walks over 33 innings. The 25-year-old's ERA of
2.18 placed fifth in the American League.

WoW! Washington closer Henry Rodriguez is throwing 91 mph changeups, topping out at 104 mph, and mixing in 84 mph sliders. Bryce Harper drives home the game winner with another double. Harper can fly. I like that Washington team. A lot.

Harper already has 4 doubles. The two last night just missed being homers by inches. Tonight's game winning double was rifled down the left field line. This guy is good! I just hope he stays healthy. He's good for baseball. Let's also hope he leads a straight and narrow baseball life. Harper reminds me a lot of Josh Hamilton but with more speed and a stronger outfield arm.

Just in case you missed it:
Mariano Rivera tears ACL before Royals beat Yankees
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Friday, May 4, 2012

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Mariano Rivera's career may have ended Thursday night, not while basking in the glow of adoring fans at Yankee Stadium, but in agonizing pain on the outfield grass before a few thousand fans in Kansas City.

Baseball's greatest closer tore a ligament in his right knee while shagging balls during batting practice before a game against the Royals, a devastating injury that will likely sideline the Yankees' 12-time All-Star for the remainder of the season.

"This is bad," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "There's no question about it."

The 42-year-old right-hander's leg caught on the field where the grass meets dirt, causing his knee to buckle. He fell into the outfield wall and down to the ground, where Rivera grimaced in pain as teammates and training staff ran out to see him.

Rivera was carted from the field and taken for an MRI exam. Royals physician Dr. Vincent Key diagnosed a torn ACL after examining the scans of the knee.

"I thought it wasn't that bad, but it's torn," Rivera said after the Yankees lost 4-3, pausing several times in the Yankees clubhouse to compose himself. "Have to fix it."

Rivera has said that he will decide after the season whether to retire, and while Girardi said he hoped that baseball's career saves leader with 608 would make a comeback, Rivera was noncommittal.

"At this point, I don't know," he said. "At this point, I don't know. Going to have to face this first. It all depends on how the rehab is going to happen, and from there, we'll see."

The injury cast a pall over the Yankees, who put the tying run on third base in the ninth before Mike Moustakas made a stellar play on a chopper by Alex Rodriguez, throwing him out at first to preserve the Royals' victory.

Afterward, the only thing on A-Rod's mind was Rivera.

"I saw it all go down," said Rodriguez, who uttered "Oh, my God," from behind the batting cage when Rivera went down. "Obviously it's a huge blow. Mo means so much to this team.

"It's hard to even talk about it tonight," Rodriguez said. "Mo means so much to us on a personal level, and on the field."

Bullpen coach Mike Harkey was near Rivera when he went down, and was the first to whistle for help. Girardi was watching batting practice near Rodriguez behind home plate and ran down the third base line before cutting across the outfield to get to his closer.

Harkey and Girardi helped carry Rivera to the cart, gently setting him into the back with his knee propped up. The cart rounded the warning track before disappearing up a tunnel.

The initial diagnosis was a twisted knee, but Girardi had a feeling the injury was much worse when he didn't receive word as the game pressed on.

"My thought was he must have torn the ligament, the way he went down," Girardi said.

Girardi was quick to defend Rivera's decision to shag balls in the outfield, pointing out that he may never have become a five-time World Series champion without putting in such work. He called it a fluke injury, not unlike somebody falling off the curb or down the stairs.

"You've all seen Mo run around here for what, 40 years?" Girardi said.

Derek Jeter said that Rivera has shagged balls for the "20-something" years that he's known him, and never once did the notion that he could be hurt cross his mind.

"It's bad. There's no other way to put it," Jeter said. "It's just a freak thing."

Rookie starter David Phelps (0-1) said he thought for a moment that Rivera was just joking, but once training staff gathered around the closer, he knew something bad had happened.

"There's nothing I can do but stand there and watch. It's a miserable feeling to see it," Phelps said. "I didn't think it was that bad. I was just hoping he caught it funny or sprained it or something, and then we came in here after the game and found out the news."

The outcome of the game was almost secondary for the Yankees, though that was hardly the case for Kansas City, which snapped a 10-game home losing streak.

Danny Duffy (2-2) went six strong innings before turning it over to the bullpen, and three relievers maintained a one-run lead until Jonathan Broxton came on to close the ninth.

He allowed a leadoff single to Jeter, his fourth hit of the night, and then walked Curtis Granderson. Mark Teixeira followed with a liner to second base, but Chris Getz snagged it in the dirt and fired to Alcides Escobar covering second to start a double play. Jeter advanced to third for Rodriguez, who hit a chopper to Moustakas at third base. He made a barehanded grab and threw out A-Rod by a step to preserve the victory.

"It's a load off," Royals manager Ned Yost said. "We don't have to talk about not winning games at home anymore. That's a good thing. Hearing the fans in the ninth inning was like music to my ears because, I haven't heard that all year long and this was the 11th game."

Moustakas homered in the second and added a two-run single in the fifth.

"Moose is just on fire with the bat right now, three RBIs, the home run to give us the first lead and the big two-run single there was a big boost for us," Yost said.

The Royals were the third team in major league history to lose their first 10 home games when they dropped every one during their first homestand. They started to turn things around on a rain-shortened 4-3 road trip, and kept the momentum going against the struggling Yankees.

Even in the Royals' clubhouse, though, Rivera was on everyone's mind.

"That's horrible news," Broxton said. "As many saves as he's been out there and as good an athlete as he is, I just hate for bad news. All I can do is wish him the best."

Notes: Jeter is batting .404 this season. ... The Royals placed Yuniesky Betancourt (right ankle sprain) on the DL purchased the contract of INF Irving Falu from Triple-A Omaha. ... Yankees 3B Eric Chavez was released from the hospital after having concussion-like symptoms Wednesday night. He was put on the seven-day concussion DL and Jayson Nix signed to a major league contract. ... LHP CC Sabathia will pitch Friday night for New York. LHP Bruce Chen goes for Kansas City.

Geez....Shagging balls in the outfield has turned into a dangerous activity.

seagull wrote:Geez....Shagging balls in the outfield has turned into a dangerous activity.

I've never had a problem with pitchers shagging BP balls. That was an extremely fluke accident for Rivera.

I do remember a few years back when The Atlanta Braves had a deep staff, the pitchers were forbidden from playing BP outfield. The management theory was that the throw back in took a toll on the arm and counted towards allotted season pitch count.

Harper's swipe of home a measure of payback

By Bill Ladson / MLB.com | 05/07/12 2:45 AM ET

WASHINGTON --

Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper showed how to get revenge in a 9-3 loss to the Phillies on Sunday night.

With two outs in the first inning, Cole Hamels hit Harper with his first pitch to the 19-year-old rookie, then acknowledged that was his intention.

"I was trying to hit him," Hamels said. "I'm not going to deny it. That's just ... something that I grew up watching, that's what happened, so I'm just trying to continue the old baseball. I think some people kind of get away from it. I remember when I was a rookie, the strike zone was really, really small and you didn't say anything just because that's the way baseball is. Sometimes the league is protecting certain players and making it not that old-school, prestigious way of baseball."

Harper was politically correct when told that Hamels hit him on purpose.

"[I'm not mad] at all," Harper said. "He is a great guy, great pitcher, he knows how to pitch, he is an All-Star. It's all good. ... Hamels threw a good game tonight. You have to give all the props to him. He came out there, he threw the ball well. There is nothing we can do about it."

After getting drilled, Harper advanced to third on a single by Jayson Werth. Harper was then able to pay Hamels back by stealing home while the pitcher tried to pick off Werth at first base. Harper is the second player in Nationals history to steal home, and the first to do so on a straight steal. Ian Desmond stole home as part of a double steal on April 20, 2011, against the Cardinals.

Before Sunday, the last swipe of home by a teenager occurred 48 years ago this past Saturday, when Angels catcher Ed Kirkpatrick stole home against the Kansas City Athletics.

Before the game, Harper said he had a talk with Werth about Hamels' pickoff moves.

"We were just looking at his pickoff move before the game," Harper said. "I was trying to read some things. We saw something, took advantage of that, got a run early. He threw a good game tonight. I can't take anything away from him. He threw very, very well. He's an All-Star. He threw eight innings. He really threw the ball well."

Nationals right-hander Jordan Zimmermann was able to pay Hamels back in the third inning, when, with one out and a runner on first, he hit Hamels on the left knee with a pitch. Zimmermann denied that he hit Hamels on purpose.

"He was bunting," Zimmermann said. "I'm going to take an out when I can get an out. I was trying to go away, and I just cut a fastball really bad. Unfortunately, it hit him in the knee."

Hamels understood why Zimmermann paid him back. Home-plate umpire Andy Fletcher then issued a warning to both clubs.

"Oh, yeah. That's baseball," Hamels said. "I'm kind of happy that's the way it works, because that's the way it should. I don't think the umpires should interfere with it. Let baseball be baseball. I grew up playing the game hard and watching it. That's the way it was. I'd hate for them to change it, which has kind of happened in recent years. Just let it play out and then we get back to playing. That's just the way it is, and I'm not going to argue with it."

Harper can fly! The infield best not fall asleep when Harper hits anything on the infield because they will pay if they do.

How come this pitcher doesnt get punished for throwing intenionally? Gomez and Ubaldo did.

Actually, I expect him to get suspended.

Jason Werth has a broken wrist.