Cutter to blame for velocity drop for Buchholz, Beckett, Lester?

[MANNYHOF24]

Very intersting article discussing the effect the cut fastball has had on the Red Sox top trio of pitchers.

 

http://1313sports.com/2012/04/30/why-clay-buchholz-cutter-is-fools-gold/

 

 

I have had this thought for a couple of years watching Lester and Beckett. Now it seems to be happening to Clay. The problem for Clay is that he is simply not as good at throwing the cutter as Beckett and Lester are.

[Elktonnick]

Very intersting article discussing the effect the cut fastball has had on the Red Sox top trio of pitchers.

 

http://1313sports.com/2012/04/30/why-clay-buchholz-cutter-is-fools-gold/

 

 

I have had this thought for a couple of years watching Lester and Beckett. Now it seems to be happening to Clay. The problem for Clay is that he is simply not as good at throwing the cutter as Beckett and Lester are.

 

I have had the same thought for several weeks also.

[Spitball]

Unless the pitcher is a reliever like Mariano Rivera, the cutter should be a secondary pitch only.

[Elktonnick]

Unless the pitcher is a reliever like Mariano Rivera' date=' the cutter should be a secondary pitch only.[/quote']

 

And he only uses it for one inning or once through an order.

[jacksonianmarch]

Cutters are a tease for a pitcher. Throw a pitch close to fastball velocity that has a slider like movement? It's the great white whale for a pitcher. The problem is, the cutter is thrown a little differently than the fastball and due to the fact that the ball is held off center, it is a little more difficult to control. And since it doesnt have the same pop as a fastball, the bat doesnt need to be as fast. And if it is left in to a righty or out to a lefty, it will break into the sweet spot of the bat. Big time pitching prospects are being taught that movement on the fastball is the key to winning in the bigs. This has been taught to guys like Hughes and Bard and Buchholz, etc. The problem is, these guys are trying to master that pitch and are losing the most important tool in the game for a pitcher; fastball command.

[jacksonianmarch]

Also, mastery of a cutter effectively gives you mastery over hitters for a longer period of time. If you can locate a good cutter regularly, you effectively give life to your fastball even as you age. Pettitte and Rivera are the biggest examples of that. Rivera still throws a low 90s cutter with monster movement. Pettitte throws a mid 80s cutter with good movement, but he uses it to highlight his upper 80s fastball and makes it look a lot harder. It is a method to prolong your career, but it shouldnt be the first thing 25 yr olds are learning at the big league level. They should learn it when they are 33 and start losing velocity. By that point, they will have mastered their deliveries and can learn the pitch without having to fight their mechanics

[Elktonnick]

Also' date=' mastery of a cutter effectively gives you mastery over hitters for a longer period of time. If you can locate a good cutter regularly, you effectively give life to your fastball even as you age. Pettitte and Rivera are the biggest examples of that. Rivera still throws a low 90s cutter with monster movement. Pettitte throws a mid 80s cutter with good movement, but he uses it to highlight his upper 80s fastball and makes it look a lot harder. It is a method to prolong your career, but it shouldnt be the first thing 25 yr olds are learning at the big league level. They should learn it when they are 33 and start losing velocity. By that point, they will have mastered their deliveries and can learn the pitch without having to fight their mechanics[/quote']

 

Excellent analysis

[Station 13]

The pitch has made Buchholz into a total joke. He had a dominant, deadly slider in 2010, then he went to the cutter club. Now he doesn't even have an advance breaking ball anymore.

[Elktonnick]

The pitch has made Buchholz into a total joke. He had a dominant' date=' deadly slider in 2010, then he went to the cutter club. Now he doesn't even have an advance breaking ball anymore.[/quote']

 

Couldn't agree more! That's why I think Buchholtz should lose the pitch and never throw it again.

[a700hitter]

Couldn't agree more! That's why I think Buchholtz should lose the pitch and never throw it again.

He has a good fastball and curve, and his best pitch is his change up. That should be good enough to pitch well.