Juan Nieves as pitching coach

[RedSoxNC84]

The pitching has paid off, but do we owe thanks to the teams pitching coach Juan Nieves?

 

 

A few things I've noticed since the start of the season. All the starting staff has made minor and even some significant changes to their approach or even mechanics.

 

Dempster has shifted on the mound towards first base, away from third base, and changed his release point. Somehow his contact rate has dropped significantly, his strikeout rate has risen accordingly. I know his career K% in his first 5 starts is higher than it is the rest of the season, but it's significantly higher than it ever has been in the past. Part of that is also due to the fact that he is throwing the splitter way more than he did before, and is using more four seams than sinkers as well.

 

Clay Buchholz, John Lackey, Allen Webster, and Felix Doubront have all changed their release points, and with the exception of Doubront still being kind of meh, it's seemed to have worked out very well.

 

Buch has been using his fastball more and cutters less, his changeup has always been great, but now it is completely unhittable.

 

The team's strikeout rate is through the roof, as I said in another thread, an article on fangraphs says that they have the highest team pitching strikeout rate in history, with 26.7%

 

A lot of the staff is still the same, so is it really the work of John Farrell and Juan Nieves?

 

Thoughts?

[mvp 78]

Yes.

[RedSoxNC84]

Yes.

 

Very elaborate.

[italstallianion]

I agree.

 

Better?

[RedSoxNC84]

I agree.

 

Better?

 

A little too wordy, but I'll take it.

[VA Sox Fan]

I think the combo of Nieves and Farrell have been a huge help to the pitching staff.

[reYoukilis]

Without knowing for sure why the pitching has improved so much, I would certainly bet that a big reason for it is Juan Nieves but its also probably John Farrell, improved defense (on paper), C Ross as catcher, both Pedro and Varitek being a part of it all, etc..

 

However listening to Nieves on NESN during ST, he seemed more interested in the pitcher throwing the correct pitch for the pitch count, than he was mechanics. I have a feeling that thats where their interests lie vs other pitch coaching philosophies.

[Dojji]

We've had Nieves, Farrell, Pedro and Tek all giving our pitchers pointers and ideas this season. That's a lot of high octane mentorship. Between these 4 guys that's a ton of experience, savvy and baseball knowledge.

 

Quite frankly, I think we also need to give Saltalamacchia his due as an improved pitch caller. He has made significant progress there this year.

[wyo-sox]

Quite frankly, I think we also need to give Saltalamacchia his due as an improved pitch caller. He has made significant progress there this year.

 

Can opened and worms released! Lol.

[Dojji]

It needed to happen.

 

I'm convinced a very large part of what Tek is doing is trying to drill knowledge into Salty.

 

Salty is only just now at the age Tek was when he started to come in to his own. Tek was not a very good defensive catcher at the outset -- he had to have years of experience first.

[a700hitter]

Salty seems to have very little awareness and instincts on the field. You can't teach that aspect of the game. They can continue to refine his skills and that will be helpful, but he is still going to pull rocks like turning 360's looking for the ball when it is at his feet and runners are advancing on the bases.

[Bellhorn04]

The CERA gap between Ross and Salty is widening. Ross 2.69 Salty 3.85. If it continues it'll be the third straight year Salty is more than a run worse than the other catcher. For whatever reason, whenever we give up a pile of runs like the 9-7 game, it seems like Salty's behind the plate. Overall he does seem to be better though.

[User Name]

Didn't Salty catch both of Aceves' meltdowns though? Because that's all on him, not the catcher.

[kapsis21]

Didn't Salty catch both of Aceves' meltdowns though? Because that's all on him, not the catcher.

 

yep Aceves's figures needs to be removed here from his CERA for sure. and the fact that Ross has only catched once every 4 games or so. small sample size.

[User Name]

You can't just "remove games from the sample though". You can acknowledge the caveat, but te numbers are what they are.

[mvp 78]

You can't just "remove games from the sample though". You can acknowledge the caveat, but te numbers are what they are.

 

Yeah, maybe Salty's inability to calm pitchers may be a factor in blowout losses? (Not saying that's the case.) Idk. You can't just completely discredit those games though.

[wyo-sox]

The CERA gap between Ross and Salty is widening. Ross 2.69 Salty 3.85. If it continues it'll be the third straight year Salty is more than a run worse than the other catcher. For whatever reason, whenever we give up a pile of runs like the 9-7 game, it seems like Salty's behind the plate. Overall he does seem to be better though.

 

It's widening from what? When they were tied at 0?

 

Which really sounds more realistic... that our entire staff is a 2.6. Or our entire staff is a 3.8? Do you honestly think if Ross catches 50 to 100 games from all our pitchers his CERA will be 2.6? Given Ross has only caught such a small sample size I would put less than zero stock in this comparison.

[wyo-sox]

You can't just "remove games from the sample though". You can acknowledge the caveat, but te numbers are what they are.

 

Yes you can And should if you are trying to determine anything. Cera is a dumb stat as there are way to many factors to put era's on a catchers plate for comparative purposes. If you are trying to compare catchers...... why would you not throw out oddities that only one catcher dealt with? Doesn't common sense tell us if you don't, it's not a fair comparison. Pitching to a guy having a meltdown that got booted down to aaa in a cold thunderstorm is an oddity in the sample size we have this year.

 

If you really want to compare catchers why would you want to include situations that are not comparable?

[Bellhorn04]

It's widening from what? When they were tied at 0?

 

Which really sounds more realistic... that our entire staff is a 2.6. Or our entire staff is a 3.8? Do you honestly think if Ross catches 50 to 100 games from all our pitchers his CERA will be 2.6? Given Ross has only caught such a small sample size I would put less than zero stock in this comparison.

 

They were actually virtually tied a couple of weeks ago I think, and I mentioned it at the time.

 

Ross has caught 39% of the innings, so it's not that small of a sample.

 

I really didn't mean to start up this argument with you again. I've certainly been encouraged by the fact we've had a lot of well-pitched games with Salty. I think it's just a couple of games that have unbalanced things.

 

But as UserName said, you can't just toss aside the numbers like they don't exist.

[User Name]

Yes you can And should if you are trying to determine anything. Cera is a dumb stat as there are way to many factors to put era's on a catchers plate for comparative purposes. If you are trying to compare catchers...... why would you not throw out oddities that only one catcher dealt with? Doesn't common sense tell us if you don't, it's not a fair comparison. Pitching to a guy having a meltdown that got booted down to aaa in a cold thunderstorm is an oddity in the sample size we have this year.

 

If you really want to compare catchers why would you want to include situations that are not comparable?

 

I don't quite think you understand what i was trying to say. Maybe if you let go of some that anger stemming from your passion for your crusade defending Salty, you'd notice i was actually trying to defend the guy, and this was just a follow up to the post in which i was doing so.

 

Chill out.

[wyo-sox]

I don't quite think you understand what i was trying to say. Maybe if you let go of some that anger stemming from your passion for your crusade defending Salty, you'd notice i was actually trying to defend the guy, and this was just a follow up to the post in which i was doing so.

 

Chill out.

 

I shall never chill out! Seriously though, no anger on my end and I apologize if it came across that way. It's not that I want to defend Salty... more that I don't like cera and think it gets used unfairly. Trust me I would like to see an upgrade behind the plate for us.... but not because of cera. Primarily because of his inability to throw out runners.

 

But like I said, I apologize if my posts came across angry, not my intent. I generally enjoy you as a poster and was not trying to offend. Just pointing out if we a 're trying to com p are players, it's only sensible to try and use the most comparable situations.

 

Go Sox!

[kapsis21]

You can't just "remove games from the sample though". You can acknowledge the caveat, but te numbers are what they are.

 

i just dont think aceves's blunder had anything to do with Salty's catching behind the plate.

but point noted.

[Behindenemylines]

A lot of last years pitching staff remains from 2012. So you would have to say that Nieves and Farrell are responsible for some of the turn around.