Comments on: Breaking Down Burnett

By: Jon

Jon — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 13:18:32 +0000

too bad we cant edit posts

By: Sal Paradise

Sal Paradise — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 03:38:06 +0000

And of course fangraphs doesn’t accept Japanese characters. And wingdings doesn’t seem like it will work either. Ugh.

By: Sal Paradise

Sal Paradise — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 03:35:40 +0000

Marc, you could make your data a LOT more visible with a handy chart-esque type thing.

Open Circle = Ball
Closed Circle = Strike
Color = Pitch Type
Open Triangle = In Play
Closed Triangle = In Play Out

If you show it that way, you can see patters at a glance, without having to process the data.

You know, something like this:
1: ??? (fly out)
2: ?? (ground out)
3: ????? (walk)
4: ???? (K)

I can’t color (I don’t think), but you can! And then you have a wonderful visual grouping that lets you see pitch sequencing without having to process it through your brain.

By: Choo

Choo — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 23:08:18 +0000

Even if the good Burnett shows up, I like Werth tonight. I don’t know if he has a history against Burnett, but one of Werth’s favorite hobbies is mauling fastball/curveball specialists.

By: greenmachine

greenmachine — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 19:26:07 +0000

“Delmon Young on three straight curves. Burnett’s nearly unhittable when he’s commanding that curveball.”

Uhh, I’m pretty sure you mean:

“Delmon Young on three straight curves. Young is nearly unable to hit against a pitcher with command.”

There, fixed that for you.

By: phanatic

phanatic — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 19:17:57 +0000

ditto. thanks for the primer.

By: Logan

Logan — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 19:14:27 +0000

Great analysis, as per usual. I have to admit though I skipped to the summary part, rather than actually reading each inning. Still though. Prettay, Prettay, Prettay…

By: Dan

Dan — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 19:05:05 +0000

I do not think that the Phils will bail him out with a lot of 1st pitch swings. If he cannot get ahead with his FB tonight, he is doomed. On the other hand, if he can throw a lot of 1st pitch strikes, he should be able to limit the Phils a bit.

I don’t know, though. So many Phils seem to be locked in right now. Frankly, CC was a little lucky to escape with as little damage as he did. The Phils left a few on the bases last night (i.e. 1st inning).

By: Marc Hulet

Marc Hulet — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 18:59:56 +0000

It may be fairly obvious to those who watch Burnett on a regular basis, but not for everyone tuning in to the World Series… Not to mention that some hitters (and I am sure there were some on your team) like to make things a lot more complicated that they really are…

By: Richie Abernathy

Richie Abernathy — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 18:51:38 +0000

The wrap-up at the end of the article reminds me of my college hitting coach. Before a series, he’d go over the scouting report, saying, “He is going to try to get ahead… with the fastball. When he’s ahead in the count, he’ll throw… a curveball. Except to some of our better hitters, he may start with… a curveball.” The emphasis–as if he had stumbled upon some great discovery–on the pitch was his, not mine. We mocked him excessively behind his back for his fairly obviously observations. That and his stutter.