Posted: Wednesday, 12 March 2008 9:54AM
Eddie C. Blog: Pedro Prepares For Season
Ed Coleman
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Port St. Lucie, FL (WFAN) -- Pedro Martinez passed his latest test - a simulated game facing batters that included Carlos Beltran. He threw 59 pitches in all - 43 of them for strikes - and is now on schedule to face his first opposing team, the Detroit Tigers, this coming Sunday ( a game which can be heard on the FAN, by the way). Afterwards, Pedro winced at two questions he's been asked frequently this spring. One was about being the Opening Day starter and no, he isn't nor wasn't ever going to be. Johan Santana will open on March 31 in Florida followed by Pedro on April Fools Day - it's been set up that way for awhile and yes, Pedro is just fine with that setup. He just wants to be healthy, pitch and contribute. The other question dealt with his velocity, which topped out at about 87. That will get better, but not to vintage Pedro velocity. And that's the point - that Pedro is gone, replaced by a pitcher who has a more varied arsenal and more weapons to draw upon to attack hitters.
Pedro has always been a fastball-changeup guy with a good, on some days great, curve ball. He's now added a cutter to the mix, especially against lefties, and it's turning out to be a great pitch for him. Here's why. When you talk to hitters, the good ones always talk about pitch recognition. So it stands to reason that if you have pitches that are tough to recognize, they're going to be tougher to hit.
 Hitters recognize pitches by the spin of the ball coming out of the pitcher's hand. Breaking balls have a unique spin, different than a fastball or changeup. A cut fastball, or cutter, has fastball spin. Pedro has three pitches - fastball, changeup and cutter - that have fastball spin. With a cutter, a hitter will read fastball out of the pitcher's hand but not recognize what the movement will be. Then at the last instant, it's either backdoor or in on their hands when they're expecting a fastball out over the plate. The job of a pitcher is to disrupt the timing of the hitter or control the head of the bat so that the hitter makes contact at the end of the bat or the handle - not the middle. Pedro and pitching coach Rick Peterson both feel the cutter that Martinez has helps immensely in this regard.
The other advantage that Pedro has right now is his ability to dial his velocity up and down the scale with all his pitches. No pitch following another is ever at the same speed, so in addition to recognizing the type of pitch, the hitter also has to adjust to timing as well, and Pedro is a master at 88, 82, 87, 78, 86, etc. As Pedro says, "happy is healthy" - if he's healthy and feeling good, he'll figure it out - and hitters probably better watch out.
Angel in the outfield. It certainly looks like there will be one in the Mets outfield if Angel Pagan keeps this up, and he shows no signs of slowing down. Against the Red Sox in Fort Myers, Pagan knocked in two of the 3 Met runs on the day with a triple in the third inning and also chipped in with a tremendous catch in left field which kept Boston runs off the board. It's gotten to the point where Pagan's usual 1-3 day brings down his average (now at .415 on 3/12). You always like to see someone take advantage of an opportunity. Injuries provided a great one for Pagan and he hit the ground running and hasn't stopped. But for now, I will.
C U soon
Eddie C. |
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