Comments on: Big Z’s Big Day

By: Gene McCauley

Gene McCauley — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 16:02:28 +0000

Speaking of Bourn, I wonder what impact the decision to give him almost 500 PAs has had on the Astros playoff hopes.

By: Joe Anderson

Joe Anderson — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 16:18:56 +0000

Right? That’s why I wonder if there hasn’t been or should be a little study in comparing F/X readings/data from park to park, day-to-day, etc. I was a bit skeptical of Morrow’s first start speeds and this Zambrano data seems weird (seeing eye, all of these statements, obviously– that’s why I’m wondering about an inquiry).

By: Isaac

Isaac — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 16:09:48 +0000

Listening to len and Bob talk about his velocity in the late innings, it seems as if they were a bit skeptical of the radar gun readings in Milwaukee. Zambrano hasn’t thrown in the upper nineties in three or four years. Let that sink in. His fastball didn’t look all that much stronger than usual. Are these FX speed numbers based off of the gun numbers in Milwaukee? If they are, they might be a bit off. What made him so tough was the movement. Look no further than the final pitch of the game. That pitch to Erstad was as nasty as it gets for Z. I’m happy for the Z. He’s a real nice guy and a funnyman.

By: Joe Anderson

Joe Anderson — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 16:05:34 +0000

It sure looks like he was firing yesterday. Throwing more fastballs than usual (already he’s a pretty fastball-heavy guy) and throwing them harder than usual. With his recently reportedly sore shoulder, this seems strange (and strained). Recently Brandon Morrow made his MLB debut and seemed to really be amped, throwing nearly harder than he had averaged as a reliever. He came back, predictably, in his second start and brought it down a couple notches. Has anyone looked at velocity spikes (statistically significant ones, that is) from start to start and if they have any predictive value relating to velocity in the following start/starts? I wonder if Big Z will be back down to 90/91 in his next start.

By: china brown

china brown — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 04:30:48 +0000

The walk to Bourn – Zambrano was openly doubting the umpiring. There were some close pitches in that AB that didn’t go Zambrano’s way, so it’s not like his command was really ‘lapsing.’ However, other than that AB, he had a number of full counts in the game and all but Bourn’s ended up in his favor. On Gameday his PFX numbers shows some pretty amazing movement on his fastball today. I guess that kind of movement is what helps him outperform his FIP so often.