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Wouldn’t be surprised to see McKenzie shut down at this point. These numbers are staggering.

It really makes you wonder if he's viable as a starter over a 162-game season. He looks like he needs to put on 30 pounds of solid muscle. His future may be in the bullpen.
 
It really makes you wonder if he's viable as a starter over a 162-game season. He looks like he needs to put on 30 pounds of solid muscle. His future may be in the bullpen.

Stuff was never a question mark, it was his durability. He hasnt pitched much the last few seasons so we have to give him some benefit of the doubt, but honestly its not looking good
 
Actually, the very thought that McKenzie could fit in and be a starter for this club after the Clevenger trade was ludicrous.
perhaps in a couple of years but certainly not now.
 
On the telecast today they showed that Carrasco has moved into 4th place in franchise history in games with 10+ strikeouts with 26. Bob Feller is in second place with 51, but he had 484 starts compared to 193 for Cookie. I've always heard what a great strikeout pitcher Feller was and how hard he threw but he only averaged 6.1 K's per nine innings for his career. Cookie's average is 9.4 - over 50% higher.

Of course times are different in that batters are much more willing to strike out now than they were in the 30's, 40's, and 50's. But Feller got to face an opposing pitcher every three innings whereas Cookie has pitched 98% of his innings against a DH. I wonder how many of Feller's strikeouts came against the opposing pitcher.

OTOH, Cookie has relief pitchers so he does not have to pace himself for nine innings. The year Feller had 348 K's he started 42 games with 36 complete games; Cookie has 11 complete games for his entire career. Feller also relieved in six more games that year. Unbelievable. He went 26-15 with 10 shutouts throwing 371 innings.
 
On the telecast today they showed that Carrasco has moved into 4th place in franchise history in games with 10+ strikeouts with 26. Bob Feller is in second place with 51, but he had 484 starts compared to 193 for Cookie. I've always heard what a great strikeout pitcher Feller was and how hard he threw but he only averaged 6.1 K's per nine innings for his career. Cookie's average is 9.4 - over 50% higher.

Of course times are different in that batters are much more willing to strike out now than they were in the 30's, 40's, and 50's. But Feller got to face an opposing pitcher every three innings whereas Cookie has pitched 98% of his innings against a DH. I wonder how many of Feller's strikeouts came against the opposing pitcher.

OTOH, Cookie has relief pitchers so he does not have to pace himself for nine innings. The year Feller had 348 K's he started 42 games with 36 complete games; Cookie has 11 complete games for his entire career. Feller also relieved in six more games that year. Unbelievable. He went 26-15 with 10 shutouts throwing 371 innings.
Perhaps Bob would've had better stats if he didn't enlist in the Navy on the day after the attack on Pearl Harbor. But, kuddos to Cookie who has had his own battles to fight.
 
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On the telecast today they showed that Carrasco has moved into 4th place in franchise history in games with 10+ strikeouts with 26. Bob Feller is in second place with 51, but he had 484 starts compared to 193 for Cookie. I've always heard what a great strikeout pitcher Feller was and how hard he threw but he only averaged 6.1 K's per nine innings for his career. Cookie's average is 9.4 - over 50% higher.

Of course times are different in that batters are much more willing to strike out now than they were in the 30's, 40's, and 50's. But Feller got to face an opposing pitcher every three innings whereas Cookie has pitched 98% of his innings against a DH. I wonder how many of Feller's strikeouts came against the opposing pitcher.

OTOH, Cookie has relief pitchers so he does not have to pace himself for nine innings. The year Feller had 348 K's he started 42 games with 36 complete games; Cookie has 11 complete games for his entire career. Feller also relieved in six more games that year. Unbelievable. He went 26-15 with 10 shutouts throwing 371 innings.
Very different type of baseball in his time, Feller led the league in K/9 5 times; 7.8, 7.5, 7.3, 6.8 and 5.9. The first three he lead the entire majors.

The total K's come from the number of games they started back then, and number of innings they racked up.

Back then they wanted outs, and they wanted outs as fast as possible. K's are not the way to do that.
 
Very different type of baseball in his time, Feller led the league in K/9 5 times; 7.8, 7.5, 7.3, 6.8 and 5.9. The first three he lead the entire majors.

The total K's come from the number of games they started back then, and number of innings they racked up.

Back then they wanted outs, and they wanted outs as fast as possible. K's are not the way to do that.
Yeah, when you expect to pitch nine innings every game you're not going for strikeouts. Also, I think it was harder to strike out hitters in those days because a lot of them were not as large as today's players and didn't have home run power so they tried to make contact and find holes.
 
Shane Bieber’s rise from soft-tossing strike-thrower to Indians playoff ace
Zack Meisel Sep 28, 2020 9
CLEVELAND — Long before he blossomed into the AL’s top Cy Young Award candidate, before he developed into the Indians’ ace and an All-Star Game MVP and before he walked on at UC Santa Barbara, Shane Bieber was a 10-year-old pitcher for Ben Siff’s ASD Bulldogs. He was an unassuming kid with a gap-toothed smile and chestnut bangs that stuck out beneath the bill of his baseball cap.
And even then, Bieber consistently threw strikes.
Siff, a longtime pitching coach in San Clemente, Calif., maintains a spreadsheet containing all of his players’ statistics over the years. Bieber, who credits Siff with helping to launch his career, logged 212 2/3 innings, a 2.04 ERA and a pedestrian strikeout rate of 7.8 per nine innings during his eight years with the program.
“He was always our best pitcher,” Siff said, “but he was never our hardest thrower.”
That has been a common refrain throughout Bieber’s ascent. He was never the most gifted or most imposing, lacking the sort of velocity that lured droves of scouts to his games. But he was always solid, reliable and bound to toss strikes.
So, no, Siff never foresaw Bieber evolving into the hurler who just completed one of the most proficient 60-game stretches in the sport’s history. Bieber will soon claim his first Cy Young Award. He’ll receive consideration on some MVP ballots. And on Tuesday, he’ll take the hill for Game 1 of the Indians’ opening-round postseason series against the Yankees.
“It’s like a dream, honestly,” Siff said. “It happened so fast.”
Matt Blake first watched Bieber pitch in the Cape Cod League in 2015. Months before he joined the Indians’ player-development team, Blake was the pitching coach for the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox. Bieber was a college sophomore who possessed a fastball that chugged along at 88-91 mph, a “loose” slider that “wasn’t super sharp” and a change-up that hardly resembles the one he throws now, which tails away from left-handed hitters.
“He didn’t have anything that was a true put-away pitch,” said Blake, now the Yankees’ pitching coach.
That was the scouting report on Bieber before he arrived in Santa Barbara, too. He racked up strikeouts because teenage hitters wouldn’t offer at his precisely located two-strike fastball on the outside corner. He outwitted, not overpowered, his opposition. And that paved his way to the big leagues, but it also prevented anyone from tagging him with Cy Young-type expectations.
The Indians are careful never to place a ceiling on any of their prospects. They have data-based projections on every player, but they understand that those simply provide a framework, not a guarantee. Bieber’s rise to prominence proves why.
“He’s the perfect example,” Blake said. “You never know what a guy is going to be.”
As Bieber began his climb through the Indians’ farm system, the organization identified a series of tweaks that would aid his cause: tightening his delivery, adding some strength, boosting the spin on his pitches, sharpening his breaking balls. In his first full professional season, Bieber posted a 2.86 ERA at three different levels. He surrendered more than a hit per inning, but he issued only 10 walks in 173 frames.
Even as Bieber breezed through Double A, Blake offered suggestions, such as refining his change-up to better equip him against lefties. It’s one thing to conquer a hitter at Canal Park; it’s another to strike out a major-league All-Star at Progressive Field.
Bieber always welcomed the advice, whether from one of his rotation mates, a coach or a front office operative. That’s a trait the Indians seek when scouting amateur players. As Blake defined it: “Do they have a willingness to grow and learn and adapt?”
“If they have attributed what you can build on and they have the mindset to do it, the sky is the limit,” Blake said. “He was always really good about filtering the information and not throwing the baby out with the bathwater.”
When members of the Cleveland rotation unveiled the “King of the Hill” crown last year — bestowed upon the starter with the best performance in each series — Bieber was typically tasked with crowning the winner and awkwardly posing alongside them for a photo. He opened last season as Cleveland’s No. 5 starter and played the role of little brother to Trevor Bauer and Mike Clevinger, who lightheartedly teased Bieber about throwing in the 80s upon his arrival in the big leagues. They also guided him through his rookie campaign.
And now, the 25-year-old Bieber is the ace. Clevinger and Bauer are gone. Bieber is now the guy the other starters try to mimic. Not long after Bieber debuted his new cutter this summer, Clevinger unleashed one of his own.
Bieber now throws in the mid-90s. He wields perhaps the league’s most lethal curveball, which induces frequent fruitless swings even when it plunges into the dirt a few feet in front of home plate. He mixes in that tailing change-up, a slider or the cutter when he determines a hitter is too comfortable.

“He’s a case study in a strike-thrower who adds some power and has a knack for the game and understanding hitters,” Blake said. “It’s put all together, and it’s hard to believe this is what you’re getting, but at the same time, it’s like, ‘It kind of makes sense.’ It’s like the 99th-percentile outcome that you’re normally not going to get.”
Even though he’s three time zones away, Siff doesn’t miss a Bieber start. He texts him before each outing about a topic specific to that game. When Bieber faced Pittsburgh earlier this season, Siff researched the world’s most feared pirates, and the two toasted to the fact that Blackbeard wouldn’t be stepping into the batter’s box that evening. Other times, Siff sends a poem. The style and tone of the message depend on Bieber’s recent results.
They’re superstitious; if a poem preceded an eight-inning masterpiece, Siff will send another poem five days later. This year, there hasn’t been much deviating because Bieber hasn’t encountered a single speed bump.
In fact, Siff can’t recall a time Bieber has ever struggled. Blake can’t, either. A couple starts here and there, sure. Maybe his mechanics get out of whack, or he loses the feel for a certain pitch. But a prolonged stretch?
“Nope,” Siff said. “I’ve never seen it.”
Blake commended Bieber’s adaptability, how he can make adjustments during a start and hang around long enough to rectify whatever was ailing him. That explains how, even when Bieber has lacked ideal command or labored through certain innings this season, he has still churned out one gem after another.
He became the ninth different pitcher to capture MLB’s pitching triple crown (wins, strikeouts, ERA) and was the first to do so in 14 years. The first six to accomplish the feat — Grover Alexander, Walter Johnson, Dazzy Vance, Lefty Grove, Hal Newhouser and Sandy Koufax — are all Hall of Famers. That’s not the sort of company anyone would have predicted he’d keep.
“That’s what keeps me going and keeps me driven,” Bieber said. “Just trying to prove people wrong and continue the uphill climb.”
(Photo: Brace Hemmelgarn / Getty Images)
What did you think of this story?
 
So I got interested in looking at Quantrill today since he keeps popping up in the threads.

A couple general observations.
  • He doesn’t rotate well and as a result he pulls with his front side and posture shifts
  • He is a 2014 TJ recipient which means he is getting close to the shelf life of the first surgery (usually 6 to 7 years) if mechanical changes that caused the first surgery aren’t made.
  • He didn’t do a lot (at least that is what my memory tells me from the time I watched him pitch at Stanford) to change mechanics and save himself from having to do TJ again.
When a pitcher doesn’t rotate well (leg on the rubber - post leg), their front side (plant leg) becomes "active" to try to get their hips opened and squared up to the plate for ball delivery. That starts a cascading chain of events in the delivery.

cqNruXN.png


There are several things one can spot with the naked eye that are symptoms of the lack of rotation (above). One is how the plant leg moves as it goes out to landing. His operates independent of the back side (post leg) and it should be in tandem. The hip on the back side should be active while the front side inactive. The backside turns the front hip (therefore the plant leg) into landing versus the plant leg turning itself towards the plate.

XrrROPC.png


He posture shifts (above), which all about how your spine moves during the delivery, and has that “flamingo finish” (below). The movement of that spine is where the "body runs away" from the arm and causes extra stress in the elbow and shoulder. The flamingo thing is a result of the back hip having to kind of "climb over" the front one, given they don't rotate together so the back hip can't clear the front one. That is where you start having hip problems.

90Q5KES.png


Not sure if it was @Gson that has been promoting Quantrill or not (excuse me if it isn't Gson), but I was underwhelmed. However, I am a pitching enthusiast that looks at pitching differently then "just the results maam".

Quantrill will be a guy that tends to have command problems. That lack of command can show up as walks or just as a lot of balls squared up (hits getting strung together). He is a guy I wouldn't be counting on as a workhorse for innings in my rotation as the injury bug is looming right outside his door. And he is a guy that will tend to loose velocity. Which is never good. He seems to have a good groundball % so I will have to look at his repertoire at some point not just his mechanics.

My choice for him - THE DREADED PEN !!!!!!
 
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So I got interested in looking at Quantrill today since he keeps popping up in the threads.

A couple general observations.
  • He doesn’t rotate well and as a result he pulls with his front side and posture shifts
  • He is a 2014 TJ recipient which means he is getting close to the shelf life of the first surgery (usually 6 to 7 years) if mechanical changes that caused the first surgery aren’t made.
  • He didn’t do a lot (at least that is what my memory tells me from the time I watched him pitch at Stanford) to change mechanics and save himself from having to do TJ again.
When a pitcher doesn’t rotate well (leg on the rubber - post leg), their front side (plant leg) becomes "active" to try to get their hips opened and squared up to the plate for ball delivery. That starts a cascading chain of events in the delivery.

cqNruXN.png


There are several things one can spot with the naked eye that are symptoms of the lack of rotation (above). One is how the plant leg moves as it goes out to landing. His operates independent of the back side (post leg) and it should be in tandem. The hip on the back side should be active while the front side inactive. The backside turns the front hip (therefore the plant leg) into landing versus the plant leg turning itself towards the plate.

XrrROPC.png


He posture shifts (above), which all about how your spine moves during the delivery, and has that “flamingo finish” (below). The movement of that spine is where the "body runs away" from the arm and causes extra stress in the elbow and shoulder. The flamingo thing is a result of the back hip having to kind of "climb over" the front one, given they don't rotate together so the back hip can't clear the front one. That is where you start having hip problems.

90Q5KES.png


Not sure if it was @Gson that has been promoting Quantrill or not (excuse me if it isn't Gson), but I was underwhelmed. However, I am a pitching enthusiast that looks at pitching differently then "just the results maam".

Quantrill will be a guy that tends to have command problems. That lack of command can show up as walks or just as a lot of balls squared up (hits getting strung together). He is a guy I wouldn't be counting on as a workhorse for innings in my rotation as the injury bug is looming right outside his door. And he is a guy that will tend to loose velocity. Which is never good. He seems to have a good groundball % so I will have to look at his repertoire at some point not just his mechanics.

My choice for him - THE DREADED PEN !!!!!!
Promotion isn't important to me either.... When he's fresh and gets on top of the ball..he can command the down in the zone and it's a beautiful thing.. It seems as if his mechanics regress back to a slinger/thrower with what I'll call "flare"..leg up..head falling to his none throwing side & nothing directly down the line/plate.. The short term answer, & I'm not certain I'm right, but Quantrill needs to move down to A ball where he can retool the fundamental attack approach of his delivery.. It's not a popular decision..but.. good on one pitch..followed by six that have no chance of being a quality offering.. says he doesn't have the command and control a ML starting pitcher needs to have.. or at least a clue about it..

Pen?..disagree.. that is.. I don't think so.. He needs to keep starting.. I'd vote for no higher than Akron to start 2021..

Thoughts?..
 
So I got interested in looking at Quantrill today since he keeps popping up in the threads.

A couple general observations.
  • He doesn’t rotate well and as a result he pulls with his front side and posture shifts
  • He is a 2014 TJ recipient which means he is getting close to the shelf life of the first surgery (usually 6 to 7 years) if mechanical changes that caused the first surgery aren’t made.
  • He didn’t do a lot (at least that is what my memory tells me from the time I watched him pitch at Stanford) to change mechanics and save himself from having to do TJ again.
When a pitcher doesn’t rotate well (leg on the rubber - post leg), their front side (plant leg) becomes "active" to try to get their hips opened and squared up to the plate for ball delivery. That starts a cascading chain of events in the delivery.

cqNruXN.png


There are several things one can spot with the naked eye that are symptoms of the lack of rotation (above). One is how the plant leg moves as it goes out to landing. His operates independent of the back side (post leg) and it should be in tandem. The hip on the back side should be active while the front side inactive. The backside turns the front hip (therefore the plant leg) into landing versus the plant leg turning itself towards the plate.

XrrROPC.png


He posture shifts (above), which all about how your spine moves during the delivery, and has that “flamingo finish” (below). The movement of that spine is where the "body runs away" from the arm and causes extra stress in the elbow and shoulder. The flamingo thing is a result of the back hip having to kind of "climb over" the front one, given they don't rotate together so the back hip can't clear the front one. That is where you start having hip problems.

90Q5KES.png


Not sure if it was @Gson that has been promoting Quantrill or not (excuse me if it isn't Gson), but I was underwhelmed. However, I am a pitching enthusiast that looks at pitching differently then "just the results maam".

Quantrill will be a guy that tends to have command problems. That lack of command can show up as walks or just as a lot of balls squared up (hits getting strung together). He is a guy I wouldn't be counting on as a workhorse for innings in my rotation as the injury bug is looming right outside his door. And he is a guy that will tend to loose velocity. Which is never good. He seems to have a good groundball % so I will have to look at his repertoire at some point not just his mechanics.

My choice for him - THE DREADED PEN !!!!!!
But, but Tito says the light will soon go on for Quantrill so no worries.
 
The delay of the minor season/Alt site option might be the best thing for someone like Quantrill. I don't see him as a long term starting option myself, but his maximum value lies in starting for now, so he should stay that way for the time being. Let him work on stuff/clean up his mechanics for a month or 3 and if we need someone to start for the ML club, maybe it's him. Maybe it's Stephan. Maybe it's Hentges.. IDK.

I do like him as a pen option someday. Same with Hentges in a way, both have some hills and mounds to climb as starters, but could ultimately flourish out of the pen given their repertoires.

A package of Quantrill/A.Rosario is available, bidding is open.
 
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Promotion isn't important to me either.... When he's fresh and gets on top of the ball..he can command the down in the zone and it's a beautiful thing.. It seems as if his mechanics regress back to a slinger/thrower with what I'll call "flare"..leg up..head falling to his none throwing side & nothing directly down the line/plate.. The short term answer, & I'm not certain I'm right, but Quantrill needs to move down to A ball where he can retool the fundamental attack approach of his delivery.. It's not a popular decision..but.. good on one pitch..followed by six that have no chance of being a quality offering.. says he doesn't have the command and control a ML starting pitcher needs to have.. or at least a clue about it..

Pen?..disagree.. that is.. I don't think so.. He needs to keep starting.. I'd vote for no higher than Akron to start 2021..

Thoughts?..
Well Gson, I really don't know how "hurting" Cleveland is for pen arms, since it is tax season and I haven't been able to see many games (but I think I will see those Indians next weekend in AZ finally). So maybe I should have said - if they need him, I see him as a pen arm not a starter. However, if they don't need him ... sending him down to work on things makes a lot of sense.

As a starter, I would be afraid he would "burn up" my pen because of the length and quality of his outings. Don't know how he has actually pitched in spring training because I haven't seen him before today, haven't looked at any stats and I only watched a part of one inning before I got the hankering to do a post about him instead. So I spent the time I had doing screen shots, and drawing pretty arrows, and annotating, and ... Just no emojis :doh: what was I thinking, no emojis. But the talk I have seen on this board about he or Allen for the 5th spot piqued my interest, so I tuned in, at least for a little bit.

Allen is the next subject of my interest since I may actually be working with him in an obscure way.
 
So I got interested in looking at Quantrill today since he keeps popping up in the threads.

A couple general observations.
  • He doesn’t rotate well and as a result he pulls with his front side and posture shifts
  • He is a 2014 TJ recipient which means he is getting close to the shelf life of the first surgery (usually 6 to 7 years) if mechanical changes that caused the first surgery aren’t made.
  • He didn’t do a lot (at least that is what my memory tells me from the time I watched him pitch at Stanford) to change mechanics and save himself from having to do TJ again.
When a pitcher doesn’t rotate well (leg on the rubber - post leg), their front side (plant leg) becomes "active" to try to get their hips opened and squared up to the plate for ball delivery. That starts a cascading chain of events in the delivery.

cqNruXN.png


There are several things one can spot with the naked eye that are symptoms of the lack of rotation (above). One is how the plant leg moves as it goes out to landing. His operates independent of the back side (post leg) and it should be in tandem. The hip on the back side should be active while the front side inactive. The backside turns the front hip (therefore the plant leg) into landing versus the plant leg turning itself towards the plate.

XrrROPC.png


He posture shifts (above), which all about how your spine moves during the delivery, and has that “flamingo finish” (below). The movement of that spine is where the "body runs away" from the arm and causes extra stress in the elbow and shoulder. The flamingo thing is a result of the back hip having to kind of "climb over" the front one, given they don't rotate together so the back hip can't clear the front one. That is where you start having hip problems.

90Q5KES.png


Not sure if it was @Gson that has been promoting Quantrill or not (excuse me if it isn't Gson), but I was underwhelmed. However, I am a pitching enthusiast that looks at pitching differently then "just the results maam".

Quantrill will be a guy that tends to have command problems. That lack of command can show up as walks or just as a lot of balls squared up (hits getting strung together). He is a guy I wouldn't be counting on as a workhorse for innings in my rotation as the injury bug is looming right outside his door. And he is a guy that will tend to loose velocity. Which is never good. He seems to have a good groundball % so I will have to look at his repertoire at some point not just his mechanics.

My choice for him - THE DREADED PEN !!!!!!
Thanks jup! It's great to get detailed info on some of these guys that isn't readily available. I've been a big Quantrill supporter and thought that his future as a starter is bright. While I'm not throwing that idea out the window, clearly some mechanical adjustments need to be made in order for him to be consistent and remain healthy. Great stuff!
 
hmmm....

Burning the pen.. would be most of the time.. Being in the pen would be less appropriate as this pen has more depth than I've seen in a while.. and it shouldn't include two RH long guys....

I still see Quantrill as a starter until he isn't.. The prior injury history (as you alluded to the mechanics) has every chance of being revisited.. While he's young and strong.. and still (hopefully... as I don't have any direct personal interactions) coachable.. He has to learn.. He has the arm..now it's time to get the squishy shit between his ears to realize there's more than throwing hard that makes a pitcher.. although..throwing hard with a downward plane..doesn't hurt.. like when he's so effective..

I'll look forward to your Allen comments.. try desperately not to include quirky lefthander bias.. lol..

Thanks..
 

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