Our pitchers are all with Brady

[scOtt]

Yes, I think Brady's conditioning should help with velocity. But most of his velocity had returned when he came back to the team in late August, and he still stunk, because he didn't have a feel for his pitches. That's my point. I am not worried at all that Matusz won't be in good shape, and won't throw hard enough. I am worried whether he can regain his feel and command of the offspeed stuff and also regain his confidence.

Like I said in the post above... Brady and his contacts will win the day.

He had Palmer out there talking to (assuming) ALL the guys, but especially the pitchers. Think about it...

Palmer, Like first half of January, flying 3000 miles to Irvine to talk to ... I can't even remember all the names. Matusz, Tillman, Hunter, ... Pierce, Sacko and Vanzetti.

Is even The Mighty Boras going to get Palmer to do that? Doubt it.

[weams]

Like I said in the post above... Brady and his contacts will win the day.

He had Palmer out there talking to (assuming) ALL the guys, but especially the pitchers. Think about it...

Palmer, Like first half of January, flying 3000 miles to Irvine to talk to ... I can't even remember all the names. Matusz, Tillman, Hunter, ... Pierce, Sacko and Vanzetti.

Is even The Mighty Boras going to get Palmer to do that? Doubt it.

Obviously, Palmer has wanted to be involved and Brady understands the value of his knowledge.

[weams]

BRADY ANDERSON

[on working with Matusz] ?He came to me toward the end of last season, so it began as far as building his strength back up. It was before he went down on a few of his triple-a starts. We just started with the basics, getting his strength numbers up. And we did. As hard as we trained athletes need to understand that training never ends. It?s a continuous climb upwards in terms of strength and power.

That?s one thing Brian never had a problem with: he knew how to pitch by the time he came into the league. Maybe that was a little bit of a ?I wouldn?t say curse?but he just never experienced failure. And that?s hard. The first time it?s a little bit of a shock.?

[on sensing a determination to put last year behind him] ?Until you really rid yourself of that it?s hard. lt?s just one of those things that any athlete who cares about his performance will always go through. Coming back from a poor performance, until you?ve rectified it with a solid performance it?s probably all in the back of your mind whether you say it or not. It?s a fact of life in any sport.?

[so he dwells on 2011?] ?I would imagine it?s almost impossible not to. Especially when you think about what his life is like. He?s in spring training now, hasn?t pitching yet. Every question [the media] is asking is probably about last year. So even if he wanted to forget about last year, I?m sure you guys would make it impossible to do so.?

[on if this could this be something that makes him stronger in the long run] ?His work ethic will never be anything but excellent again. It just won?t be. The standards have been set, there?s performances that he knows he?s met already he?s going to have to maintain those and improve on those off the field. And he?s going to take care of his business on the field with the pitching coaches and matt wieters and learn how to pitch better even when he doesn?t have his greatest stuff. But as far as ever slipping back into not being the most powerful athlete you can be. That wont happen anymore.?

[what makes you say that?] ?I wont let it happen for one. We?re friends now and he understands the importance of it. Whatever he does on the field, it wont be based on his power capacity. And that gives and athlete a tremendous peace of mind too. It?s bad enough getting hammered on the field. It?s especially bad when you maybe think you weren?t as prepared as you think you should have been. There?s nothing worse for an athlete, or anybody, as having that chronic remorse of ?Wow, I wish I would have done this a little bit better.? In that way he?s not different than the rest of us.

http://brittghiroli.mlblogs.com/2012/02/23/matusz-on-last-season-and-moving-forward/

[weams]

Like I said in the post above... Brady and his contacts will win the day.

He had Palmer out there talking to (assuming) ALL the guys, but especially the pitchers. Think about it...

Palmer, Like first half of January, flying 3000 miles to Irvine to talk to ... I can't even remember all the names. Matusz, Tillman, Hunter, ... Pierce, Sacko and Vanzetti.

Is even The Mighty Boras going to get Palmer to do that? Doubt it.

Palmer always wanted to help. He said he had never been asked. It's a shame if it is true.

Palmer has been standing beside Duquette while watching the bullpens in several photos yesterday and today.

[scOtt]

Palmer always wanted to help. He said he had never been asked. It's a shame if it is true.

Palmer has been standing beside Duquette while watching the bullpens in several photos yesterday and today.

VERY good news! Hadn't seen any photos but great to hear. DD said early on about getting guys back with Bmore connections. Brady and Jim are two good ones.

And I have to say... :angryfire:

All these different O's threads tonight, and was listening to some good old ZZ a while ago...

All I can hear in my head is the BRADY BUNCH THEME!

[Frobby]

"His work ethic will never be anything but excellent again. It just won't be. The standards have been set, there's performances that he knows he's met already he's going to have to maintain those and improve on those off the field. And he's going to take care of his business on the field with the pitching coaches and Matt Wieters and learn how to pitch better even when he doesn't have his greatest stuff. But as far as ever slipping back into not being the most powerful athlete you can be. That won't happen anymore."

[what makes you say that?] "I won't let it happen for one. We're friends now and he understands the importance of it. Whatever he does on the field, it wont be based on his power capacity. And that gives and athlete a tremendous peace of mind too. It's bad enough getting hammered on the field. It's especially bad when you maybe think you weren't as prepared as you think you should have been. There's nothing worse for an athlete, or anybody, as having that chronic remorse of 'Wow, I wish I would have done this a little bit better.' In that way he's not different than the rest of us."

Good stuff here. I hope that kind of attitude will be held by all the players on the team under Brady's tutelage.

[primetime]

He'd also lost 5 mph off his FB. Will Brady's conditioning help with that? I've never been a pitcher but it seems like this would be helped more by training for explosiveness than the feel for his curve and change-up. I guess that I could really stretch things and speculate that his control and location might improve if his conditioning allows him to improve the repeatability of his delivery.

Don't forget that Mark Connor messed with his mechanics last year also. I'm sure that after years of using the same delivery and then having someone change it would mess up all your pitches in different ways.

Then, even after trying to revert back to your old mechanics, your dealing with confidence, trying to rebuild muscle memory and repeatibilty. Add to that poor conditioning and there's your velocity issues.

Hopefully, being stronger and confident will relax Matusz on the mound and he'll bounce back to the "ace" form of August-September of 2010. In a season that's filled with uncertainity and low expectations, Matusz coule emerge as a real pleasant surprise.