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On any given day, anything can happen(gosh that sounds down right mathematical, don't it?)
Which game does Guzman start in this series? Tomorrow or Thursday?
I would hope Thursday since Hanson is prone to throwing too many pitches and has only gone deep in one game which was against the Astros and he pitched 8 innings. So far he has pitched 29 innings in 5 starts are about 5.8 innings a start. If you discount the Astros game it comes down to 5.25 innings in the other 4 starts. Our players average about 4 pitches per plate appearance. Which means we would need 25 batters to get him out of the game if it goes by that average but I would say we should raise it to 4.5 since Hanson likes to miss bats so I think we should be able lower that number by two or three batters. If we can get a couple guys on and make him work for every out we should be able to get him out of the game using 15-18 outs to do it. Or 5-6 innings which would leave us a couple innings to go after the Braves bullpen. Guzman starting tomorrow ruins this plan as he is likely to not get deep into the count and help Hanson go deeper into the game giving us less time against the bullpen to make our comeback.
It may come to a surprise to some... but ever since Desmond said he admired Guzman's approach at the plate... I've been tracking their pitches per at-bat.Pudge is the worst only seeing 3.38 pitches per at-bat.Guzman is second worst at 3.61Desmond follows at 3.70I'd love if Desmond followed Nyjer's approach (4.00) compared to Guzman... but what are you going to do? It's not like we have any say over that.League average is 3.87 btw.
I am betting some radical coach is going to start coach his players to be more agressive at the plate. Not agressive in being stupid and swinging at junk but I think pitchers are becoming very pratictable and a good hitting coach can regonize trends. I have noticed some of our hitters watching a first or second pitch right down the pipe for no other reason than to take a pitch. If in theory a hitter does see one good pitch per at bat then when they see a good pitch to hit they should hit it no matter if it is the first pitch or the seventh pitch.
Things in sports often move in cycles. Right now patients and walks and OBP are so highly valued. I have watched a bunch of games this season and not just the Nationals game and I have noticed that pitchers have become robotic in some counts. They get to 0-2 and then throw 2 to 3 pitches out fo the strike zone and the batter stands there with no intention to swing because they know it is coming. It is ingrained in everyones head that the most valuable pitch is strike one. Getting ahead in the count is very important but knowing that a strike is coming on the first pitch I am betting some radical coach is going to start coach his players to be more agressive at the plate. Not agressive in being stupid and swinging at junk but I think pitchers are becoming very pratictable and a good hitting coach can regonize trends. I have noticed some of our hitters watching a first or second pitch right down the pipe for no other reason than to take a pitch. If in theory a hitter does see one good pitch per at bat then when they see a good pitch to hit they should hit it no matter if it is the first pitch or the seventh pitch.
Interesting theory!I just ran some numbers on your theory and maybe you're on to something!Top 3 teams in terms of swinging at the first pitchALTorontoTampa BayTexasRuns per game scored in the AL1. Tampa Bay6. Toronto7. TexasIt doesn't hold water in the NL... but maybe you're on to something if you can refine the theory a bit!
I heard a theory one time and I don't know if it is really true or not that teams in the AL are quicker to change due to having to find interesting ways to keep up with the Yankees and Red Sox. So AL hitting coaches might have adapted to the fact that pitchers are now basically robots throwing certain pitches in certian counts for strikes or balls the coaches in the NL might not have caught on since there is more competitive balance.
8 out of the top 10 teams in terms of fastball % thrown a game are AL teams... including the Top 4.
I thought Kawakami guaranteed that he'd win 30 games or something insane like that?
Wasn't it Kenshin Kawakami last year who "guaranteed" he'd go like 15-0 on the season and guaranteed one game to beat the Nats (which, if this is the guy I remember, he didn't)?If so, light his dumb ass up!
In his career?
He said he would go 22-1 and I was in Atlanta for that game and I think he beat us. I know Atlanta did as we got swept in that series which was part of our 7 game losing streak to begin the season.
It may also have to do with what pitch is being thrown first. In the AL they may be throwing get ahead fastballs... while in the NL they might try to work in an offspeed pitch.8 out of the top 10 teams in terms of fastball % thrown a game are AL teams... including the Top 4.The top 11 teams in terms of slider % thrown a game are all NL teams.
I can't find anything on Google about such promises, but I only tried a handful of queries.
I thought the NL was supposed to be a fastball league while the AL was a breaking ball league.