Games » Los Angeles Angels
May30Why pitching the ninth is different
Lee Judge
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Here’s what’s wrong with Joakim Soria: He throws his off-speed pitches too much. He doesn’t throw his off-speed pitches enough. It’s pitch selection. It’s pitch location. He’s pitching behind in the count. He’s hurt. He’s fine. His fastball has lost its hop or he’s pitching poorly on purpose because he wants to get traded.
(That last theory was thrown out by some sports-talk-radio fans. I’m not sure how pitching poorly makes another team want you, but maybe the fans can explain that in their next postgame phone call … if they’re not too busy denying that man ever landed on the moon.)
Joakim says he doesn’t know why he’s pitching poorly, but he plans to figure it out in some other role.
As of Sunday, Aaron Crow was going to get the first shot at closing. When Crow was asked about it, he admitted that pitching the ninth would be a challenge, and then in the same breath said the ninth was like any other inning. So maybe he hasn’t decided how he feels about it. I sure hope he can pitch the ninth as if it were any other inning, but a lot of people (me included) think it’s not.
Luke Hochevar hit the first batter of the game (and that batter scored). Then after being handed a 3-1 lead, Luke walked the first batter of the second inning. Then after being handed a 6-1 lead, Luke walked the first two batters of the third inning (and they both scored). Everett Teaford gave up a seventh-inning home run, and Louis Coleman gave up two home runs in the eigth. But who got booed off the field?
Joakim Soria.
Joakim wasn’t the only pitcher to have a bad day on the mound, but because he pitched last, everyone remembers what he did. There’s a reason closers get big bucks, and it’s not because the ninth is like any other inning.
Superstition
The fact that Joakim has no idea why things have gone bad explains baseball superstition. Adding a pitch can hurt the other ones, and attempting to improve your swing can put you in slump. When players are going good, they’re never 100 percent sure why they’re going good.
So the logical course of action is to change absolutely nothing. Leave your house at the same time every day. Drive the same route to the ballpark. Eat the same food. Put your uniform on in the same way. And if you’re dating someone, for God’s sake, don’t break up with her.
If you’re scuffling, the opposite is true. Change anything and everything … and I’ve known relationships to break over an 0-20.
A sense of perspective
Joakim was asked one of those “Is this the end of the world as we know it?” questions and responded by saying, “I’m not dying.” Soria said his wife was healthy, his kids were healthy and he just has a situation at work to deal with. It doesn’t mean he doesn’t care. Listen to him talk, and it’s clear he cares a lot, but on a day when we’re thinking about fallen servicemen and women and saying goodbye to Paul Splittorff, it’s good to remember we’re talking about baseball.
A couple of good moments
Watch Eric Hosmer on defense when a single sends a runner to the plate. He gets in the cutoff position, and if he doesn’t actually cut off the ball, he fakes a cut. This decoy freezes the runner at first base. It kept Bobby Abreu from advancing after his RBI single in Sunday’s first inning. The next play was a 1-4-3 double play that would not have been possible if Eric hadn’t deked the runner.
Eric also struggled with a pop fly in the sun, but he made the catch after avoiding the first-base coach and the railing. Eric said that when a game starts at 3:10 p.m., the sun is in unusual places compared with games that start at midday or at night.
And Chris Getz had an 11-pitch at-bat in the fifth inning that probably got Angels starter Ervin Santana out of the game an inning earlier. Even though the at-bat ended with a 4-3 put-out, that plate appearance helped the Royals score two runs against middle relief in the seventh.
Pena’s play at the plate
Before the game, I walked up to catcher Brayan Pena, and he said, “I’ve been expecting you. Pull up a chair and sit down.” (Being asked to sit down in the clubhouse is a big deal. It means you have something important to talk about, otherwise reporters are expected to stand. It’s this way in every clubhouse I’ve ever been in.)
Anyway, my showing up made Brayan again go through the play at the plate that ended Sunday afternoon’s game against the Rangers. It’s not much fun to explain how you screwed up, and it’s a lot less fun to explain it over and over. The short version is Brayan lost track of where his feet were.
Brayan was receiving the ball from right field, which meant the runner, Mike Napoli, was coming at his blind side. Brayan thought he was out in front of the plate, but when his feet shifted after receiving the throw, he ended up behind the plate.
Brayan said that wasn’t an excuse. It’s his responsibility to have his feet in the right position. Brayan has been asked whether he was avoiding contact, but Brayan’s blocked the plate many times before, and it’s unlikely that anyone who can’t stand contact would become a catcher.
After the play, Brayan initially thought Napoli was out, and Brayan spiked the ball when the umpire’s call went the other way. After seeing the replay, Brayan found the umpire, Mike Estabrook, and apologized. He also apologized to Joakim Soria and the rest of his teammates.
Brayan said he was so upset about the play that he didn’t sleep Sunday night. It was clear Brayan wasn’t enjoying talking about the play again, but he thought it was his duty to talk to me.
Brayan made a mistake in Sunday’s game, but since then he’s done everything right.
(By the way: I heard a sports-talk-radio guy describe this play with disgust, saying a slow guy scored from first base on a single, and he couldn’t believe no error was given to the Royals. This is putting the worst possible interpretation on the play. The ball was hit into the right-field corner and was scored a single only because the batter failed to run the play out after the Napoli crossed the plate.
The slow guy, Napoli, was in motion and almost to second base when the ball was put in play, so scoring from almost-second on a double isn’t exactly mind-boggling. Even so, Napoli should have been out, but there was no error on the play. Nobody dropped the ball or threw wildly. It was a tag play, and the tag was late. Making it sound worse than it was does a disservice to the players and the listeners. There’s enough things going wrong with the Royals right now without inventing new ones.)
Accountability
After Sunday’s game, a reader asked me about accountability. I should expand on the answer I gave him because it can help fans understand what they see and hear.
Managers, coaches and teammates will rarely criticize a player publicly. It happens, but’s is considered “throwing a player under the bus” and frowned on. So a player can throw to the wrong base, get picked off twice and wear his pants backward, and most of the time the manager will defend him … publicly. In private, it’s a different story. The manager will air a player out, but he will do it behind closed doors.
The same goes for teammates. Criticism is supposed to remain private.
So if you see a player do something dumb, don’t assume that nothing happened to him because the manager didn’t get up at the postgame news conference and talk about just how dumb the player was. Eventually all these guys are held accountable.
There’s a line of players and coaches who are trying to take these big-league jobs away, and most of the people here don’t forget that. And if someone does forget that, a teammate or coach will remind them.
In private.
Hosmer
Gordon
Getz
I'm sure some people have or plan to look if Soria is tipping his pitches... but based on what Tori Hunter said (who hit a smash of a homer run off of Soria) the league may have picked up on something to tell what pitch is coming. Yes some of it is just bad location but what Hunter said just seems a little odd. He could have just said "Soria is struggling and I don't notice anything" but instead said...
“I would never tell you that because I’m the enemy,” Hunter said. “Why would I tell you that? He’d read that and go, ‘Oh, that’s what I’m doing.’ I’d never tell you that. Sorry, he’s still the best to me.”
Just seems odd... anyone else think so?
Good managers, in any business, praise in public and criticize in private.
Patrick: I had somewhat the same reaction to Hunter's remarks. On the other hand, if Soria is NOT tipping pitches, Torii's not going to say that either. Say nothing that could help an opponent.
Soria's also been around a while now and maybe teams have spotted some pattern. To me (and like Earl Weaver all I know about good pitching is I can't hit it), he's behind in the count more than he used to be and is getting hurt with location, but I could be way off.
Sean: You're right, that's good management in any field. professional sports is a little different because frustrated fans want to KNOW people are being held accountable and may not see evidence of that.
Patrick, I thought something similar when I saw what Hunter said. I'm sure Soria and the coaches are comparing video from this year with prior years and it will be interesting to see if they find something along those lines.
Could all of Soria's troubles be traced to him trying to add a new pitch? Why mess with success?
That's been one of many theories I've heard. It's always hard to know when you're good enough, but trying to get better can screw up what you have.
"Perfect is the enemy of good" is one of my favorite baseball sayings.
I think all pitchers try to add a new pitch to what they already have. You play long enough, guys are going to "expect" to see what they have seen. But then, if his cutter is on, why go away from it ? I also wonder if not having Kendall behind the plate is hurting him too
Ok, so everyone wants to talk about Soria and his “demotion” from the closer role, which I think is a huge mistake. But let’s look at a few tell-tale stat’s….
He’s allowed 4 more runs this year than he did all of last year.
His WHIP is up by .6 an inning over last year (not good at all).
Of course, his SO/BB ratio has gone from 4.44 to 1.9 this year…also sucks. Just as his hits-per-9 innings has tripled over last year.
So what’s the difference ? Here’s an idea or two….last year he threw his slider 5% of the time (all year long) and this year he’s throwing it 12% of the time. So, someone is falling “in love” with that pitch and it’s the opposing hitters. I’m sure his slider is flattening out a bit, not breaking down the way it should be.
How about a change at catcher ? Last year, Kendall was the primary catcher. This year, we’re not sure who that is. Does a lack in confidence affect the way a pitcher throws ? Absolutely. Does the change in catcher also alter the sequence of pitches from a pitcher ? I’d bet it does
There is a whole lot more going on with the Soria deal than we well know, but I’m not certain that putting a rookie (Crow) out there is the smartest move, unless we’re grooming Crow for that role and will put Soria in as a starter (remember, Soria threw a perfect game in the Mexican League after we drafted him from the Padres).
Anyway, Lee, I’m sure you’ll take all comments into consideration. I’m curious, however, in reading your piece daily, I usually don’t see a lot of conversations between you and the pitchers, or the pitching coach (McClure) but I see Seitzer and Sisson mentioned quite a bit. And I have to wonder what is going thru McClure’s mind right now regarding Soria
McClure isn't as available as the other coaches. He's out in the bullpen during BP and that's when a lot of the conversations take place.
Same with the pitchers: they go out and shag during BP so you don't get to talk with them as much.
But I could make more of an effort to catch them when they are available and will.
Thanks, I think it would be interesting to gather the pitcher view-point as to all this. I realize all the attention is on Soria right now and maybe it should be. I don't think you would come across as a parachute guy when asking them questions though
I'm in agreement with Scott regarding Jack's situation. Primarily in regards to the catcher notion. I've wondered this myself the past couple weeks. Nothing against Treanor or Pena, but there are many instances where a pitcher is only comfortable throwing to a certain catcher. In the case of a closer, not sure how much that holds water but it has crossed my mind. Your thoughts?
Couple things: I saw Sam mellinger having a long talk with Bob McClure so I'm sure Bob's thoughts will be available shortly in one of Sam's columns.
And, yes, I do think the catcher matters. I have no reason to think Treanor or Pena have done anything wrong in their handling of Soria, but looking at the catcher is worth considering if the pitcher does well or poorly.
Great job again on the recap Lee. I like how you pointed out the three walks that ended up scoring, the seventh inning homer and the two homers in the eighth and who gets the blame? Soria. Well put! That's not to say there aren't any issues with Soria but your point should be noted. Back to Soria in a moment.
Nice job pointing out the intricacies of the game with Hosmer. Little things like that can be HUGE in a one run game and most of the time go unnoticed. Great job pointing that out.
The comment that Hunter made.......how was the question posed? I didn't hear it. As a hitter, of course your not going to tip what you know...duh. Was he talking hypothetical?
Back to Soria. Scott, you make a great point when talking about confidence. This could be the biggest problem and notice I said "could". Confidence is everything in sports. Your pitching well, your striking out guys, your building save after save, you have the fans behind you and it seems like you cant do anything wrong. You throw your pitches with conviction and certainty. Your confidence goes.....so does that. Same goes with hitters and fielders. When hitters are going good their going good, when their going bad, their going bad. What's the difference? Probably a confidence thing when it comes down to it. Sometimes it's over correcting a mechanic but that's far and few between. Your mind is the most powerful tool you have for better and for worst. Knoblock comes to mind right away. Couldn't throw the ball to second.....the shortest throw in baseball, but he started "thinking" about it. A better comparison for Soria is Lidge. Look what happened to him from one year to the next. 2008, Lidge had a 1.98 era vs over 7 the following year...0 blown saves vs 8....gave up 2 hr vs 11.....and gave up 34 more runs. Hmmmmm. Maybe we should get some advice from Lidge. And by the way, I heard that Soria stepped out of his role. Is that true?
I didn't even mention the pressure from the media and fans.......wow!
Rob: First of all, thanks, I'm glad you're enjoying the site. Secondly, yeah, I heard Soria asked out.
He knows he's got something to work on and doesn't want to hurt the team any more than he has while he figures things out.