HHP: Buck told Matusz to throw 30 straight fastballs in his minor league "adjustment"

[Roy Firestone]

Dont know if anyone read the game account of the Matusz start on Friday, but Buck
gave him strict orders to throw only fastballs in the first 30 pitches. No change ups
and no off speed anything or curves.
Apparently at first Matusz was all over the place, but he seemed to settle down and
then proceeded to pitch like he did more than 6 weeks ago when he was in a good
rhythm...whatever he did seemed to work. But the Orioles will keep him down there for at least a few weeks to work out whatever problems he has. They were very
pleased..but still very skeptical so he will not be up anytime soon.

[VeveJones007]

Dont know if anyone read the game account of the Matusz start on Friday, but Buck
gave him strict orders to throw only fastballs in the first 30 pitches. No change ups
and no off speed anything or curves.
Apparently at first Matusz was all over the place, but he seemed to settle down and
then proceeded to pitch like he did more than 6 weeks ago when he was in a good
rhythm...whatever he did seemed to work. But the Orioles will keep him down there for at least a few weeks to work out whatever problems he has. They were very
pleased..but still very skeptical so he will not be up anytime soon.

Good note, Roy. Thanks for passing it along.

I don't know if you were at the game tonight, but Palmer gave you a nice shout-out during the broadcast.

[Gurgi]

I know its all in his head......just hope he can settle down and figure things out.

[JohnnyK27]

In starts earlier this season I noticed Matusz taking a similar approach in the majors.

[Frobby]

In starts earlier this season I noticed Matusz taking a similar approach in the majors.

I've seen it, too, and I don't see how major league hitters are not going to feast on a constant diet of fastballs.

[stef]

I've seen it, too, and I don't see how major league hitters are not going to feast on a constant diet of fastballs.

I would hope that is Showalter's way of saying he needs to trust and establish his fastball.

From his Roch interview:

"I felt really good," Matusz said yesterday. "I threw to Caleb (Joseph) and we just got on the same page. I just attacked the zone and really established my fastball from the get-go. And all my off-speed pitches came off that.

No mention of it as a BS directive.

[RZNJ]

If it takes 30 straight fastballs to get a feel for your fastball or establish your fastball, you are in big trouble. I suppose the underlying them is that Matusz needs to command his fastball and if the hitter knows a fastball is coming you sure better command it well or you'll get your head handed to you.

[OregonBird]

He probably told him to throw 30 staight fastballs b/c Matusz was having problems repeating his delivery. Everything starts w/the fastball.

Younger pitchers often tweak their delivery and alter their rhythm when throwing offspeed pitches. Common problems are shortening the stride, altering the arm arc, changing the arm slot, etc. Sometimes a guy just has to get back to basics w/the fastball.

[RZNJ]

Aren't there ways of checking these things? I would be curious to know what Matusz threw on his first 30 pitches. I'm guessing that we'll find out that it wasn't 30 straight fastballs.

[vatech1994]

I've seen it, too, and I don't see how major league hitters are not going to feast on a constant diet of fastballs.

It can be done, but it takes the pinpoint control and ability to move to all four "good" zones at will for it to work if the pitcher doesn't throw 95+ or have great late movement. We saw an example of how it can be done from Weaver last night. He threw almost all fastballs the first time through and stayed 65% fastballs or so for the night. He was basically unhittable because he simply couldn't be predicted and he rarely threw a fastball over the middle 2/3rds of the plate. I'd love to see Brian regain that type of control, but it is extremely rare. Brian was thought to have really good control/command when he was drafted/in the minors, but he has never approached what I saw from Weaver last night. However, I think Brian's slider and curveball have the potential to be better than Weaver's.

I appreciate what Buck and company are trying to do. I agree that if Brian does develop even good (not great) command to all four quandrants, he could take off and become a really excellent pitcher. I also agree that he showed signs of being that guy in 2010. Matusz is the classic guy that could suddenly become almost unhittable if just a couple things shape up which is why I'd be really hesitant to trade him. I don't believe Hunter or Arrieta have nearly the same upside.

I went back and watched the tape of his last start very, very closely. He gave up 8 hard hit balls in the first four innings, seven of which turned into hits. That is a lot for sure. Every single one of the hard hit balls in innings 1-4 was a fastball that had the center 2/3rds of the plate and all of them were thigh high or higher. So, he definitely made a lot of mistakes with his fastball, but those 8 pitches were literally the only 8 "bad" fastball pitches I saw during those 4 innings. They hit every single bad pitch really hard. That is extremely unusual. 8 bad pitches sounds like a lot but he threw 70 pitches during those 4 innings so the ratio is a bit higher than a decent outing but not crazy high. The problem was the mistakes were all really bad mistakes and they pounced on all of them.

The other important piece to note is that Brian didn't give up a hit on a slider, curveball, or change up until the last hit he gave up in the 5th. It was on a slider and was just a routine semi-liner in the hole between 3rd and short. His pitch values/100 for all three other pitches were positive for the game, but his fastball value was scary negative.

My point in writing all this isn't to make excuses for Brian. He left too many balls in the happy zone for sure and he needs to go down to figure out where his FB command has gone. My point is that we've got a mostly ready pitcher here and fastball command isn't the hardest thing to regain if you had it at one time. I still think there is a reasonable chance that Brian turns out to be a very good pitcher in the near future. For that reason, I'd be hard pressed to trade him for a 2 month rental unless it was just him which I can't see Milwaukee doing.

[Roy Firestone]

Good note, Roy. Thanks for passing it along.

I don't know if you were at the game tonight, but Palmer gave you a nice shout-out during the broadcast.

I didnt see or hear it..what did Cakes say?

[CA-ORIOLE]

In addition to his FB there is something going on with his changeup. I've heard more than one announcer state that the hitters know it is coming. The layoff rate has declined by about 10% and his whiff/swing percentage has declined from 33% to 18% (from 2010 -2012), even with the issues with his FB command, his changeup should be more effective than it has been with his increased velocity.

[weams]

Good note, Roy. Thanks for passing it along.

I don't know if you were at the game tonight, but Palmer gave you a nice shout-out during the broadcast.

Roy was onscreen during the batting practice for quite a few minutes. Especially while Wieters was taking lefthanded swings.

[weams]

I would hope that is Showalter's way of saying he needs to trust and establish his fastball.

From his Roch interview:



No mention of it as a BS directive.

I think Buck is trying to get across to Brian that if he is going succeed in the majors with his stuff, he is going to have to be able to locate his fastball well enough to get the order out the first time through. I know Brian has gotten in much better shape with Brady, but I think he is having to over throw to make his fastball MLB worthy. When I watch Tommy Hunter and Brian throw long toss, Brian is max effort and Tommy is easy peasy.

[VeveJones007]

I didnt see or hear it..what did Cakes say?

He called you a big O's fan and said that he was talking to you before the game. He said that you gave him 90 seconds before he'd start crying during the statue ceremony next week, but he didn't think it would take that long.