AFL Gameday

Mejia and Moviel both pitched horribly, but Ike and Tejada keep hitting.

5 months ago Sam Page 43 comments 0 recs |

Comments

silly

to say mejia pitched “horribly”

he was wild, and had control problems. which after a month lay-off isn’t the most surprising thing in the world, though is still troublesome.

but for a performance when he’s hitting 98 mph several times and averaging 95 on his fastball, and demonstrating + movement on his change-up and sharp break on his curveball, it’s encouraging.

we got verifiable, documented proof that he has a ton of fucking stuff. that’s a lot more heartening than seeing him throwing 89-92 with mediocre off-speed and going 9 up 9 down.

we know that mejia has absolutely filthy stuff, and that if he commands it, he’ll be a freakshow

by firejerrymanuel on Oct 14, 2009 6:48 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

every pitcher with great stuff has bad innings

why is that silly?

by Sam Page on Oct 14, 2009 7:16 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Exactly ... Mejia still pitched pretty horribly

It was nice to see he had filthy stuff, but that doesn’t change the actuality of him pitching badly.

by Balagast on Oct 14, 2009 7:18 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

it's silly to lead with it

if somebody were to ask, “so tell me about mejia”

would you say, “he was horrible”

or would you say, “he had control problems but his stuff was absolutely ridiculous”

by firejerrymanuel on Oct 14, 2009 7:37 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I'd probably say

He couldn’t throw almost anything for a strike, wouldn’t pitch inside to LHB’s and wasn’t getting swing and misses either. Overall he pitched badly.

I would then follow that up with saying he is young, it was his first time pitching in awhile and his stuff was filthy so its not like its very worrisome.

by Balagast on Oct 14, 2009 7:41 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

my point is

such an in-depth evaluation is largely superfluous at this point of the AFL.

by firejerrymanuel on Oct 14, 2009 10:06 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I wouldn't consider

not throwing strikes and giving up 3 runs “in depth”.

Look I’m not trying to rip Mejia, but we know he has great stuff and he wasn’t able to harness it today and the result was he didn’t pitch well at all.

It doesn’t matter how good you stuff is, its a really bad pitching performance to give up that many walks and runs in less than 2 IP while throwing almost as many balls as strikes.

by Balagast on Oct 14, 2009 10:27 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

"not throwing inside"

i’m not accusing people of ripping mejia.

i’m saying that labeling his performance is meaningless at this juncture.

by firejerrymanuel on Oct 15, 2009 12:27 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

It was bad

But like you said its not something I’m going to use to base his future on.

Similarly if he had K’d 5 in 4 innings and gave up 0 runs I would say he pitched well and still say I can’t draw any real conclusions from it.

by Balagast on Oct 15, 2009 11:28 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I would say he was horrible

If you know about Mejia, you know his stuff. If Johan gives up 7 runs one day, should I say: “He didn’t pitch his best, but his changeup is still a good pitch!”

by Sam Page on Oct 14, 2009 10:25 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I think it would probably warrant a mention whether he got ripped for 7 runs b/c his fastball was barely hitting 90 and his changeup was in the mid 80’s, as opposed to “he couldn’t locate the changeup, so the hitters were teeing off on his 93 MPH fastball”

One means we’re completely f-ed, the other means Johan just had a bad day but there’s nothing to worry about until it becomes a trend

"[The Giants] beat us down. We were beat by a grown-man team, a team we want to be like one day. They came in here and took it to us. Out-manned us, out-gunned us. ... It wasn't even close." - Raheem Morris, 9/27/09

by cjmulrain on Oct 14, 2009 11:24 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

ok...

and that wasn’t my hypothetical because Mejia did have his velocity today…

by Sam Page on Oct 15, 2009 12:25 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

fair enough

and I’m not arguing that Mejia pitched well. I just don’t get to watch our prospects, so pretty much all the info I get from them comes from this blog. It’s good to know that he’s still throwing hard and that he just had a bad day.

by cjmulrain on Oct 15, 2009 12:31 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

except

there have been inconsistent descriptions of his stuff, such as from BA who just recently said his curveball is clearly his 2nd best pitch and that his change-up needs work.

this was really the first time we got actual, verified proof of his stuff.

if somebody has a rough inning in his first outing in ST, but is flashing nasty stuff, who cares about the results?

clearly we’re not truly arguing, i just don’t think it’s worth mentioning that he was horrible; today’s outing was completely meaningless.

by firejerrymanuel on Oct 15, 2009 12:26 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Calm down Big Baby

No one is trying to say he’s not a good prospect. One measly inning isn’t enough to pass judgment on anyone. You’re not wrong to be encouraged by the stuff, but you just can’t ignore today’s walk total and the 18/21 ball-to-strike ratio.

www.twitter.com/willDavidian

by All Shook Down on Oct 14, 2009 7:26 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

i can ignore it

easily.

if i were leading on mejia i would say,

“mejia is awesome and everyone who says otherwise is a dumb butt”

savvy?

by firejerrymanuel on Oct 14, 2009 7:36 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

having filthy stuff and being able to command it are two very different things.

just ask Ollie Perez.

by fxcarden on Oct 14, 2009 7:34 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

except in general, Mejia's had a great K/BB rate.

"I dunno. I never smoked any Astroturf"
-Tug McGraw

by squid92 on Oct 14, 2009 9:45 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

And,

Ollie does not throw 98.

by supermets on Oct 14, 2009 10:00 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

hey, remember when Ollie threw hard?

it seems like a long time ago, but I’m pretty sure it really happened.

by JoshNY on Oct 14, 2009 11:57 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

not 98, though.

I’m pretty sure the highest I’ve ever seen him throw is like 96, like 3 years ago. And Mejia’s 19.

"I dunno. I never smoked any Astroturf"
-Tug McGraw

by squid92 on Oct 15, 2009 12:07 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yea he's hit 98

by Sam Page on Oct 15, 2009 12:25 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Sure? Here's his PItchFX chart for his fastball velocity for the past 3 years.

There’s no data pre-07, so I guess he might have hit 98 prior to this. But his absolute highest velocity in these past 3 years was 96 mph, and he hasn’t hit anything above 93 since 08. So again, a comparison of Ollie to Mejia could be somewhat disingenuous.

"I dunno. I never smoked any Astroturf"
-Tug McGraw

by squid92 on Oct 15, 2009 10:08 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

0:3

we’re talking about this game

by Sam Page on Oct 14, 2009 10:25 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

No, I know.

He was bad today; i never argued differently.
I’m just saying that an Oliver Perez comp is harsh. A little too harsh.

"I dunno. I never smoked any Astroturf"
-Tug McGraw

by squid92 on Oct 14, 2009 11:15 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

comparing Charles Manson to Ollie is harsh

by cjmulrain on Oct 14, 2009 11:26 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

It may not be particularly relevant to over-arching analysis

But the claim that Mejia pitched poorly in today’s game is not untrue. He did pitch poorly. Its just as silly to gush about his 98mph heat as if it was something we didn’t already know about. Its not like that’s any more relevant to the discussion, at least in terms of learning anything new about him goes.

And was his curve that good? I don’t mean that in facetious way, I legitimately want to know if that’s true and what your source is, because judging by the strike to ball ratio, it seems like he was all over the place. He threw four curves according to gameday. Three missed up in the zone (if you believe the pitch location on gameday), and the fourth was a called strike. He threw a lot of changeups, and it seems like they were effective against lefties, but he got burned throwing a first pitch changeup to the second batter of the second inning (righty batter), who took it to left for a triple. By my count, he threw 12 changeups in total, and generally used the pitch effectively, though 5 went for balls, only two went for swinging strikes, and while one led to a groundout, another led to a triple, so its hardly like he used the pitch as a dominant weapon.

"All energy flows according to the whims of the great magnet

What a fool I was to defy him"

-HST

by Mark Himmelstein on Oct 14, 2009 10:45 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

It took me longer to read your analysis

than for Mejia to actually throw his one inning today. Good to have you back from that Sept. hiatus Mark..

by Sokojoe on Oct 15, 2009 12:16 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Seriously

I miss my Meddler analyses.

"He's definitely mixing it into his repertoire. That's French for 'repertoire' " - Keith Hernandez

by Catsmeat Potter-Pirbright on Oct 15, 2009 12:34 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

+1

by cjmulrain on Oct 15, 2009 11:01 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Minor League Prospect lists?

"I dunno. I never smoked any Astroturf"
-Tug McGraw

by squid92 on Oct 15, 2009 11:55 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I suppose its a good time for it, huh?

"All energy flows according to the whims of the great magnet

What a fool I was to defy him"

-HST

by Mark Himmelstein on Oct 15, 2009 4:55 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

haha, i hope so

"I dunno. I never smoked any Astroturf"
-Tug McGraw

by squid92 on Oct 15, 2009 8:27 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yeah, I needed a break from baseball

Between the pitiful state of the team and classes starting up again and not yet giving me reason to distract myself from them, it had to happen. Can’t stay away for too long though!

"All energy flows according to the whims of the great magnet

What a fool I was to defy him"

-HST

by Mark Himmelstein on Oct 15, 2009 4:55 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Also, clean inning of Niesen

8 strikes, 3 balls – a soft liner and two flyouts. Nothing special, but nice to see zero walks from him.

www.twitter.com/willDavidian

by All Shook Down on Oct 14, 2009 7:30 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Er, *for Niesen

www.twitter.com/willDavidian

by All Shook Down on Oct 14, 2009 7:31 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

There's a Niese and Niesen? That's gonna confuse me.

by Jsz on Oct 14, 2009 7:50 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Both lefties too

"All energy flows according to the whims of the great magnet

What a fool I was to defy him"

-HST

by Mark Himmelstein on Oct 14, 2009 9:19 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Besides being left handed, they're completely dissimilar otherwise.

You won’t be confused for too long.

www.twitter.com/willDavidian

by All Shook Down on Oct 14, 2009 11:18 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Any word on why Duda was lifted for a PH in the second inning?

Pretty strange.

"All energy flows according to the whims of the great magnet

What a fool I was to defy him"

-HST

by Mark Himmelstein on Oct 14, 2009 9:20 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

man

as a big cyclones guy it just tickles me silly to hear about my boys making good. why i remember chanting “We… like… Ike!” and hollering “Zippety Dudaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!” like it’s yesterday.

by letsgocyclones on Oct 14, 2009 10:05 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

HA!

I have a soft spot for Duda too. Every time I think of him I just hope he figures out how to translate his patience into more power. He’d be a legit late bloomer if he could pull it off, and there were some encouraging signs in the second half of last season.

"All energy flows according to the whims of the great magnet

What a fool I was to defy him"

-HST

by Mark Himmelstein on Oct 14, 2009 10:19 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs