Because of its sharper snap than the curve and a barely noticeable lower release point than his other pitches, the cutter is tougher on the arm than Moyer's other pitches. A part of him wonders if it's more than coincidence that, the very year he started throwing the cutter as a de facto out pitch — in his five-hit win over the Yankees at Yankee Stadium, he befuddled Derek Jeter and his teammates by throwing over sixty cutters -- is the year he blew out his arm.
He imagines two large X's on the low part of the strike zone and on either outer side, or lane, of the plate. When those two pitches are combining to make that 'X' on the corner, he can add another look with his straight four-seam fastball.
That's three different looks for the batter to worry about on effectively two pitches — the fastball both four and two-seam and cutter. But I throw it as a depth pitch, meaning I want guys swinging over the top of it. Of the inch plate, Moyer considers the middle twelve inches the hitter's property. Mistakes are made when you encroach on their turf. The cat and mouse game between pitcher and hitter is all about establishing these lines of demarcation.
It's commonly agreed that the hardest act in sports is hitting a baseball. That's because the hitter has roughly 0. As a result, even the best hitters have to guess where the ball is going and at what speed. On top of that, they have to anticipate either a fast pitch or an off-speed one. Moyer excels at messing with hitters guessing pitching patterns, both in terms of location and speed.
He means that, on the counts that are typically considered hitter's counts, Moyer won't give in and throw fastballs over the hitter's part of the plate, even though, according to Baseball Prospectus , Ever since he and Dorfman first started talking in the early '90s about using hitters' egos against them, Moyer has actually gotten more aggressive -- throwing softer and with more precision toward the corners, especially inside, when the conventional wisdom is to the contrary.
The result has been that Moyer keeps hitters off-balance, or, as hitters like to say, "off the barrel of the bat. Moyer hasn't thrived for 25 years in the big leagues because he's like other pitchers, in other words.
Much is made of his velocity, or lack thereof, but it's quite intentional: he flusters batters by going from slow to slower to slowest. In Moyer's fastball averaged 81 miles per hour. Early in his career he was clocked in the mids, as reported in the scouting report that Chicago Cubs' scout Billy Blitzer prepared prior to the Cubs' selection of Moyer in the sixth round of the draft. Moyer still carries the report with him, in his shaving kit. As he struggled in the majors, Moyer would try and throw harder, pushing off his back leg with more and more force.
Debut: June 16, Age d, 15,th in major league history vs. PHI 6. Last Game: May 27, Age d vs. CIN 5. Rookie Status: Exceeded rookie limits during season. Twitter: jmo50Moyer. Question, Comment, Feedback, or Correction? Are you a Stathead, too? Subscribe to our Free Newsletter.
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Many historical player head shots courtesy of David Davis. It turned out to be a good decision as he became St. On the heels of his successful college season, the Cubs drafted Moyer on June 4, and he signed with the team three days later. He appeared to be on a fast track to the parent club. Moyer returned to Pittsfield at the beginning of and posted a record with a 0. As if having his parents and former college coach George Bennett in attendance were not enough excitement, Moyer faced his beloved Phillies and his boyhood idol, Steve Carlton.
Though Moyer won his debut, there were warning signs as he was consistently behind in the count and hit two batters. This kid knows how to change speeds, and today he was just behind hitters and he was in trouble. Moyer started the season with a bang against the Phillies on April 13, striking out 12 batters and taking a no-hitter into the ninth inning before tiring and giving way to reliever Lee Smith as the Cubs prevailed, Unfortunately, it turned out to be the high point of his season as his 5.
He allowed earned runs, the most by any National League pitcher that year, and he surrendered 28 home runs in innings pitched. Years later, Moyer realized he had, in effect, unintentionally sabotaged his early career by losing confidence in his most effective pitch, the changeup. However, he lowered his ERA dramatically to 3.
If the season was a mixed bag for Moyer, the same could be said for the offseason. It was kind of a joke between Harry and Steve all summer that they would introduce her to a player and her last day of work they introduced us.
On December 5, the negative episode occurred when the Cubs sent Moyer to the Texas Rangers in a nine-player trade. However, on May 30 against the Orioles in Baltimore, he suffered a pulled muscle in the back of his shoulder — a lat strain — which shelved him for a significant amount of time. When the season ended, he had made only 15 starts, putting up a record with a 4. I just need to get in a rhythm. The Cardinals were willing to find out if Moyer could still be a major-league starter and signed him as free agent on January 9, His stint with St.
Louis was a brief and unmitigated disaster. Over seven starts and one relief appearance, Moyer was with a 5. Louis released him on October The Cubs then decided to take a second look at Moyer, signing him to a minor-league contract with an invitation to spring training in January He failed to make the team but was offered a job as a minor-league pitching coach within the organization. Moyer was 29 years old now, an age at which most players have revealed whether their talents are truly of the major-league level.
The Tigers hoped to get an inexpensive-but-experienced innings eater and potential tutor for their young pitching prospects while Moyer viewed a minor-league stint as an opportunity to put his new mental theories into practice in a low-stress environment.
He signed with the Mud Hens on May 24, and posted a record with a sparkling 2. I got called up to the big leagues [the next year] and the rest was history.
However, it was not immediately evident that Moyer was about to turn his career around. He again became a free agent and, in December, signed a contract with Baltimore, which was willing to take a chance on him after his performance with Toledo. He showed vast improvement at Rochester, going with a 1. He earned a call-up to Baltimore in the latter half of May as a replacement for injured starter Arthur Rhodes but promptly bombed out again. Moyer even turned to superstition in the hope that anything might turn around his fortunes.
Though superstition flew in the face of everything that Dorfman had taught him, Moyer wore the garter belt when he earned his first major-league victory in three years against the Boston Red Sox on June I was really concerned that you were going to be able to see it through my white pants.
In truth, a more aggressive approach against batters, recommended by Orioles pitching coach Dick Bosman , helped him to find his groove. He also pitched three complete games, including his first shutout in three years against the Royals in Kansas City on July 6. Although he remained an Oriole for two more seasons, he failed to duplicate his initial success in Baltimore.
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