Friday, May 11, 2007 |
Pickoff Moves
UCLA Photos Of Olden Times
Thanks to Jon (via LA Observed) for pointing out the UCLA Photo collection, a buncha old-timey photos of Los Angeles; use your favorite keywords to find what they've got. Like, "Angels".Joe Sheehan Goes To Angels Stadium
To preview the postseason?Related to that was Weaver’s inability to miss bats. The Indians swung and missed at just seven of Weaver’s 114 offerings, out of 50 swings total. (I found the latter figure fascinating; the Indians are a ridiculously patient team, and put together good ABs all night long.) I spent a lot of time watching Weaver to try and figure out why this was the case. Remember: I Am Not a Scout, and this may have just been one odd outing. Nevertheless, what I concluded from watching him was that he allows a very good look at the baseball early in his delivery. He breaks his hands at the top of his windup, then pulls his right hand far behind his back before coming forward. As a hitter, I always liked to find the baseball as early as possible. Weaver lets hitters find the baseball very early, which should help them track it more easily and make contact more readily.It's odd that he would say that because Weaver is famous for not allowing the batters a good look at the ball. Also, Weaver's velocity drop is pretty well-known at this point; it seems to come and go, and he's a lot less consistent than he used to be, generally in the low 90's. Plus, Cleveland can rake.What’s certain is that Weaver has to miss more bats to have continued success. He had to throw a lot more pitches than he should have had to last night, because he struggled to put guys away in two-strike counts—14 two-strike foul balls in six innings.
He's none-too-pleased with the kids to date: "Casey Kotchman and Erick Aybar are picking up a scent of 'disappointment'". Well, jeez, can we give Aybar at least 250 AB in the Show before we declare someone a "disappointment"? And as for Kotchman, as the Chronicler mentioned recently, what ails him appears to be curable. Sheehan thus takes the same stand, more or less, on making a trade for a bat that persistently annoying Times hack Bill Plaschke did in today's paper; the question is, who, and for what?
Sheehan's criticism of the Angels' younguns doesn't extend to Dustin Moseley, of whom he says "I might take Moseley’s next three years over Shields’ next three years." There's a pattern developing here, and it's that Angels pitching is coming out of the farm better than their offense. Time to rethink that Salt Lake affiliation a bit?
OT: Sweet Potato
Forwarded by Helen, if you own a dog, you have been here.
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