A Papelbon idea: How crazy is Dojji this time?

[Dojji]

So here's what I'm seeing in the whole Papelbon discussion.

 

The known issues with Papelbon seem to be pitch efficiency, lack of secondary stuff and overreliance on the fastball as a result.

 

It seems to me that the last time these issues were not true was in 2007, when he was being groomed during the Spring as a starter and was forced to work on efficiency, secondary stuff, and not just trying to blow it by hitters.

 

Therefore, every Spring, we should go through the charade of stretching Paps out for the Spring to force him to re-take a crash course in these known issues. Maybe he'll be more effective that way and get back to his old great stuff.

[example1]

It is hard to vote. I like the intent of your idea (to make him better) but I imagine the Sox know what they're doing more than you. I'd say "no" overall.

[jacksonianmarch]

Stretching him out then shortening him up only makes things worse in terms of injury potential.

[Dipre]

Papelbon's percent of fastballs thrown so far this year (76.6%) is his lowest since 2006, and he is in fact using both the splitter (15.7%) and slider (7.7%). The problem is not overreliance on the fastball. He's just either throwing the ball outside the strike zone or right down the middle. In other words, he's simply sucking, and it's time to stop trying to make excuses for him.

[jacksonianmarch]

Papelbon is an interesting beast. He was most effective when he elevated his fastball. Looked like it was coming down the middle, but ended up unhittable at the letters. Recently, hitters have been laying off his higher FB, forcing him to come into the zone with it. That's the thing about the bigs. Very few players can be 1 trick ponies, which is why Paps is breaking out his slider a bit more than I have seen it in the past. The problem is, his control isnt that great to begin with, and now that he has to come into the zone more often, he is being exposed to some degree

[Dipre]

Hitters are swinging at more pitches Papelbon throws outside the zone this year (36.5%) than any other year in his career.

[jacksonianmarch]

How many of those are up in the zone? I'd be curious to see that number, because just by watching games, the hitters seem to be laying off the high fastball more than in previous seasons

[SoxSport]

Pap's problem has been hashed out before--he has lost his splitter. Hasn't had it for a couple of years.

Without it, they just wait for the fastball. Right now, he's far from an elite closer. He's going the way of most closers--they don't last very long. Rivera has lasted because nobody can hit his cutter. That's probably all he throws at this point.