Sale showed velocity today. He still didn't show vintage consistent 97 mph gas, but he averaged in the 94-95 range tonight. The problem was, it was a meatball every time or he missed high. Makes me wonder if he is overthrowing to get the velocity yet loses his command
Paxton dominated with a fastball and cutter. He hit his corners and was incredible by raising and lowering the eye level. His stuff was awesome. Sale showed improved stuff and a knockout breaking ball, but his fastball location was not good and a 94-95 over the heart of the plate is a homerball these days. Sale at 97-98 might have gotten a bit more run.
Sale has shown his stuff again, but his location is awful. I’m wondering if he needs to overthrow to get his prior velocity and now cannot pinpoint it.
I don’t think the decisions made on the rotation front are the crux of our issue right now. Our best pitcher thus far has been German and he wasn’t slated to start 2019 in the majors, so there’s that. Tanaka has been good. Paxton was tipping his pitches, and his career path shows more a lack of durability over a lack of performance. Happ was solid last year and a two year deal isn’t a bad thing for a veteran. And CC was lights out in his debut. Severino finished top 10 in the CY the last two seasons. You don’t replace that
Also, we usually crush Rodon. We usually torch lefties. But losing Stanton, Sanchez, Andujar, Tulo and even Didi (who hits lefties well), has left us with Judge, Voit and nobody
I’m not sure anyone can replace Sevy. Also, Tanaka has thrown 2 great starts and one stinker. When Tanaka leaves the ball up, he gets hurt. I knew it would be tough once he started pitching slowly. When he’s rolling, he gets the ball and goes. When he’s struggling, he takes forever.
Big start from CC there. We needed that. He is gonna frustrate the heck out of these young, aggressive teams with his combo of soft, softer and softest. We need others to follow suit
And if we went that route, we wouldn’t have Lemahieu, who is leading the league in hitting. Our offense is cobbled together with glue and duct tape, yet we keep scoring. Our pitching has been bad and there’s not much excuse for it
This is the tantalizing part of ERod. His stuff, when he’s on, is awesome. The problem is, he is too inconsistent and nibbles too much. When you’re pumping 95 and throwing a wipeout slider, don’t nibble