Ubaldo Jimenez Today 2015

[UpstateNYfan]

Yes, the Pedroia walk was tough, the Ortiz walk semi intentional, Ramirez fouled off a tough two strike pitch and hit a single. He at least got through the 5th with minimal damage, but a lot pitches. I think he could of gone 6, but Buck has had a bull pen that has been exceptional, so why risk it. One inning stints are pretty manageable for the most part.

[Nevermore]

8 K's (but who's counting)

I never learned how to count. I still count on my fingers. :rofl:

[Nevermore]

Is he going deep into the games?

No.

However, I will gladly take this version of Ubaldo, than what we had last season.

As I said before, Ubaldo is still a work in progress. There is sort of a "vacuum" where there used to be walks and wild pitches. He's still learning how to fill that vacuum with more striikes, more variety of pitches that don't depend upon velocity.

[Redskins Rick]

As I said before, Ubaldo is still a work in progress. There is sort of a "vacuum" where there used to be walks and wild pitches. He's still learning how to fill that vacuum with more striikes, more variety of pitches that don't depend upon velocity.

I have a bit of trouble with the WIP part, how does a 10 year ML veteran still in the process of learning how to be a pitcher at the ML level?

[Reboulet'sStache]

I have a bit of trouble with the WIP part, how does a 10 year ML veteran still in the process of learning how to be a pitcher at the ML level?

I'm not sure Ubaldo is learning, as he just seems to be a guy that has bad mechanics and just needs to stay on top of them, but it's not uncommon to see a veteran have to learn how to pitch again as his velocity drops. He use to blow guys away, doesn't have that ability anymore, gets hit, and then learns how to pitch differently and then a season or so later he becomes good again. Kazmir for the A's would be an example of a guy who "learned" how to pitch again as a veteran.

[Redskins Rick]

I'm not sure Ubaldo is learning' date=' as he just seems to be a guy that has bad mechanics and just needs to stay on top of them, but it's not uncommon to see a veteran have to learn how to pitch again as his velocity drops. He use to blow guys away, doesn't have that ability anymore, gets hit, and then learns how to pitch differently and then a season or so later he becomes good again. Kazmir for the A's would be an example of a guy who "learned" how to pitch again as a veteran.[/quote']

Ok, I buy that, thanks.

[Nevermore]

I'm not sure Ubaldo is learning' date=' as he just seems to be a guy that has bad mechanics and just needs to stay on top of them,[b']but it's not uncommon to see a veteran have to learn how to pitch again as his velocity drops. He use to blow guys away, doesn't have that ability anymore, gets hit, and then learns how to pitch differently and then a season or so later he becomes good again.[/b] Kazmir for the A's would be an example of a guy who "learned" how to pitch again as a veteran.

Maybe "learn how to pitch again" is the wrong wording. Though I don't think so. Veteran Pitcher X is blowing batters away, even with control problems. Then his velocity goes down and he can no longer blow batters away with sheer velocity. He has to learn how to pitch, using finesse.

Particularly someone like Ubaldo, who lost his velocity. He was the extreme of a veteran with control issues who was blowing pitches past batters. Which sometimes led to some success, enough to get a 4 year, $50M contract from DD and the Orioles. He came to pitch for the O's and his velocity turned out to be shot to hell. But he still walked batters, leading to the miserable season that he had in 2014. Especially with O's fans regularly booing him off the mound. The final blow is when he was demoted to mop-up duty in the bullpen. This was someone who had to learn how to overcome his control issues, get batters out without blowing the ball past them. Else his career would come to a crashing halt. Fortunately, he was offered some teaching, and he jumped at the opportunity. The result? Back in the rotation, one of the better, most dependable pitchers for the Os in 2015. I think that his learning (or whatever you want to call it) is still going on.

[CA-ORIOLE]

Maybe "learn how to pitch again" is the wrong wording. Though I don't think so. Veteran Pitcher X is blowing batters away, even with control problems. Then his velocity goes down and he can no longer blow batters away with sheer velocity. He has to learn how to pitch, using finesse.

Particularly someone like Ubaldo, who lost his velocity. He was the extreme of a veteran with control issues who was blowing pitches past batters. Which sometimes led to some success, enough to get a 4 year, $50M contract from DD and the Orioles. He came to pitch for the O's and his velocity turned out to be shot to hell. But he still walked batters, leading to the miserable season that he had in 2014. Especially with O's fans regularly booing him off the mound. The final blow is when he was demoted to mop-up duty in the bullpen. This was someone who had to learn how to overcome his control issues, get batters out without blowing the ball past them. Else his career would come to a crashing halt. Fortunately, he was offered some teaching, and he jumped at the opportunity. The result? Back in the rotation, one of the better, most dependable pitchers for the Os in 2015. I think that his learning (or whatever you want to call it) is still going on.

He's not the thrower he was in COL but he really only dropped about 1 mph on his FB from 2013 with CLE to 2014 with us. Probably attributable more to mechanics and his FA offseason regiment (which he has admitted was poor) more than any real loss of velocity. This year he has gone much more to the 2 seam fastball, apparently fixed his mechanics to some degree and focused on getting ahead in the count. The walk rate was simply ridiculous last year, even for him.

[Nevermore]

He's not the thrower he was in COL but he really only dropped about 1 mph on his FB from 2013 with CLE to 2014 with us. Probably attributable more to mechanics and his FA offseason regiment (which he has admitted was poor) more than any real loss of velocity. This year he has gone much more to the 2 seam fastball, apparently fixed his mechanics to some degree and focused on getting ahead in the count. The walk rate was simply ridiculous last year, even for him.

He'd always been fast and wild i.e. "effectively wild." In 2014, he became ineffectively wild. So he had to fix his mechanics so that he would throw strikes, not balls. Reduce walks and get ahead in the count. He said, in an interview, that he learned to command his fastball, so that he could go to the splitter to get strikeouts.

[CA-ORIOLE]

He'd always been fast and wild i.e. "effectively wild." In 2014, he became ineffectively wild. So he had to fix his mechanics so that he would throw strikes, not balls. Reduce walks and get ahead in the count. He said, in an interview, that he learned to command his fastball, so that he could go to the splitter to get strikeouts.

Yes, i'm just saying there wasn't some tremendous drop off if velocity last year and that FB velocity really wasn't an issue.

[Nevermore]

Yes, i'm just saying there wasn't some tremendous drop off if velocity last year and that FB velocity really wasn't an issue.

I think that it seemed that Ubaldo's velocity had dropped. Enough to make him ineffectively wild rather than effectively wild. His main issue, however, was pitch command, affected by bad mechanics.

[kelsey59]

Ubaldo dominated to today and went 8 full innings with 4 hits, 7 K's and no walks. Can't ask for much more than that. I think Buck should have let him pitch a complete game.

Sargent in Arms of the Ubaldo Jimenez Fan Club! :clap3:

[Nevermore]

Ubaldo was absolutely lights-out. I figured that he had a game like this inside him. I'm not sure why Buck didn't have him at least start the 9th for a complete game shutout. But his pitch count was around 105, so maybe Buckwas afraid that his arm might fall off if he pitched any more. Not sure. All I know is that Ubaldo was in total control. 7 Ks and ZERO walks! What a change from last year. Ubaldo's hard work is certainly paying off.

The Grand Poobah of the Ubaldo Jimenez Fan Club :smile11:

[CA-ORIOLE]

Some nasty stuff today. Best he's looked all year imo.

[Nevermore]

o

Let's go, Ubaldo.

CHICAGO WHITE SOX O (JULY 3rd)

Adam "I'm not a Former Orioles Pitcher" Eaton - CF

Jose Abreu - 1B

Melky Cabrera - LF

Adam LaRoche - DH

Avisail Garcia - RF

Conor Gillaspie - 3B

Alexei Ramirez - SS

Tyler Flowers - C

Carlos Sanchez - 2B

John William Danks - LHP (3-8, 5.38 ERA)

http://www.baseballpress.com/lineups

As much as I am torn about facing the White Sox -- I am originally from Chicago --I have to go with my guy Ubaldo and our Orioles!

The Grand Poobah of the Ubaldo Jimenez Fan Club :smile11: