Rays Pen Throws Feathers
When you think of relief pitchers, pretty much everyone thinks of hard throwers who come in and fire 95 MPH fastballs for 20 pitches or so. Mariano Rivera, Jonathan Papelbon, Joe Nathan, Brad Lidge – they all bring big fastballs to the table. This is the prototype for a reliever.
The Tampa Bay Rays don’t care about prototypes. Their bullpen has an average fastball velocity of 87.7 MPH so far this year. It’s Grant Balfour (93.7 MPH) and a bunch of soft-tossing ninnies. Troy Percival‘s the only other reliever who averages above 90 MPH, and several of them are way under that line.
Brian Shouse throws an 81 MPH fastball, and he’s thrown 83% of the time. J.P. Howell checks in with his 85 MPH heater, but he’s just as likely to throw a curve or a change. Joe Nelson and Dan Wheeler sit at 87-ish. Lance Cormier is averaging 88.7 MPH on his fastball.
The Rays have the token hard throwing/bad command guy, and then a bullpen full of pitchers who survive on control, movement, and deception. This is a conscious choice, too – the market for hard throwing relievers tumbled this winter, and any team who wanted to add a few for nothing had the chance.
Tampa decided they’d rather go with the softies. So far, it hasn’t exactly worked out – Percival continues to look like his career should be over and Wheeler may or may not be hurt, so the team could be shopping for a couple new bullpen arms pretty soon.
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The Royals would fall off their chairs if Joakim Soria came in and threw 95 mph fastballs. Control is the name of his game, not power. He’s never above 92, tops. If you want to call it a “good” fastball (and it is), it’s because of how he throws it and where he throws it, not because he’s blowing guys away with gas.
So basically it’s the exact opposite to the Mariners pen. Curious as to two smart front offices came up with two completely different processes.
They will add a hard-thrower to the pen. His name is Wade Davis.
That would be an excellent waste of talent.
So, is that talent better used in AAA??
I’m confused with your logic…
You are probably right for this year. I can see him being used like Price was last year. But he will be in the rotation soon, probably next year.
His left handed twin McGee might be the Devil Rays’ hard throwing closer if he can come back from tommy john surgery.
To piggy back on ecpglp’s comments:
Location is crucial, but so is deception. How the ball looks coming out of a pitcher’s hand, and arm angles can have a hitter guessing wrong. In some cases, it can even add life and depth and perceived speed on to a pitcher’s fastball.
I know this is probably no new information, but it really does “blow me away” (pun fully intended, sorry!) how often people cling to velocity as the measure for pitchers – particularly relievers.
-Brent
Except, of course, that you have the opposite as well. The Padres and A’s have focused so much on “pitchability” that they have a bunch of soft tossers who aren’t particularly good (Jake Peavy, a hard thrower, excepted).
Oh, and lets not forget that Percival built his reputation and fueled most of his career by being one of the hardest throwers in baseball.
The Rays have the best defense in the game, so they are the best location for a soft tosser to pitch. Plus, soft tossers are generally lower paid than hard throwers even in off salary years. That has to matter for a small market like Tampa. This is how a $50 million dollar team can beat a $200 million dollar team. Thinking outside the box!
Note: it is very early, so it is to early to decide if this strategy has worked. But, if they field like they did last seaon, I believe it will work and the Rays will win 90+ games again.
The Mets probably have one of the hardest throwing bullpens no? K-Rod and Putz are at 93-94 as is Stokes. Green is at 88-90. Parnell is at 94-95 and has gotten up at 98 mph a couple of times. Felicano is more like 86-87. O’Day ‘s fastball is at 83-84 mph.