Kazmir Nuggets

by rghan on Sep 8, 2009 8:47 AM PDT

Some observations from Scott Kazmir's debut:

His heater averaged a kickass 92.5 mph on the night, up from a 90.7 mph on the season with Tampa. That bodes very well for the near-term future.
Did anyone else notice that Kazmir was able to harness a little extra juice to get himself out of the first inning jam? After loading the bases on fastballs averaging 92.2 mph, he threw a sequence of 12 bullets averaging 94.3 mph to fan Mike Sweeney, Adrian Beltre, and Bill Hall.
Kaz' average fastball velocity dipped all the way to 90.3 mph in the sixth, hinting that he was running out of gas. It picked up a tick in the 7th- the pitch that Bill Hall whacked off the wall registered 92.9 on the gun - but did fatigue play a role in pitch location despite the fact that Kaz could still put a little extra on it? Look for any drops in velocity beginning in the fifth inning.
Not one offspeed pitch resulted in a hit. According to fangraphs, Kazmir threw 20% sliders and 11% changeups on the night. According to mlb pitch f/x, the mix was 19%/19% respectively. The confusion, at least as far as sliders/change-ups were concerned, was backed visually: I could not for the life of me distinguish which was which, no matter how many times I watched the same pitch. It could also just be the camera angle, because I've had trouble identifying a lefty's pitch type before on television. Regardless, you can't argue with the results.

0 recs | 10 comments

Comments

I believe in Butcher

And I believe he is the right man to diagnose and repair Kazmir.

Any of the players given up by the Angels may turn out to be good, maybe even excellent players. But this deal also has the opportunity to be the Angels’ version of Pappas for Robinson, with the Angels coming way out on top.

George Kaplan - September 8, 2009 reply

+ 1

I believe in Butch too…I just feel like he and the rest of the coaching staff has the ability to take a pitcher and make him better. I bet Kaz improves dramatically as a Halo…

BryanHarvey'sMoustache - September 8, 2009 reply

That's what I said when Kaz to Angels was just a maybe

Butcher is the goods. I think any young pitcher that comes here will be better under his wing.

Monkeyspanked - September 8, 2009 reply

Gameday calls some of his changeups

2 seam fastballs

Quinlan's Goofy Swing - September 8, 2009 reply

OK

that’s just incorrect.

good eye, and I’d probably discount those entirely. how “fast” were they, anyway?

Brian S (brianguy) - September 8, 2009 reply

Well Butcher was Kaz's pitching coach in Tampa

when he was at his best. I LOVED Kaz I think he is an awesome pitcher with a Nick Adenhart John LAckey mentality. He just goes out there and says %#$@ you here it is try and hit it. I love it.

angelskid2210 - September 8, 2009 reply

I'm no qualified expert...

but it seems to me the difference between most pitchers’ slider and changeup is 1) the amount of movement, you’ll see a couple extra inches on the slider usually and 2) the speed, it depends a lot on the pitcher but when I am watching a game, whether it be in person or on TV, I have come to expect to see anywhere from 3-7 mph difference between a slider and change typically. so many pitchers these days don’t even really throw a change-up that sometimes it’s not even worth watching for. some throw it so rarely you might see it 5 times a game, in a quality start.

that said, I’m sure the fact they look nearly identical from Kazmir, especially on TV, is no accident.

Brian S (brianguy) - September 8, 2009 reply

For instance Weaver is a guy you can differentiate between.

HE throws a straight change at about 77-80. His curve has a lot of break to it at about the same speed. Kazmir’s slider has a lot of break to it also. On a righty you will see him throw mainly at their back foot. His change up most likely has downward movement but to where the batter and catcher can see not us watching on TV. All in all nasty stuff.

angelskid2210 - September 8, 2009 reply