Britton explains why Arrieta flourished in Chicago

[LookitsPuck]

Arrieta was not out of options.

If you look at his PitchFx breakdown, from 2010-2012 with the O's, he threw the following the most:

2010: Fastball (~550 times), sinker (~500 times)

2011: Fastball (~900 times), sinker (~350 times), slider (~350 times)

2012: Fastball (~650 times), sinker (~500 times)

Then something happened (the Cubs):

2013: Sinker (~475 times), Fastball (~350 times)

2014: Slider (~700 times), Sinker (~600 times), Fastball (~500 times)

2015: Sinker (~1200 times), Slider (~1000 times), Fastball (~500 times)

Now, his slider isn't just a traditional slider. It's a hybrid slider/cutter type. So, they effectively said:

Forget the O's approach. Throw your slider/cutter. And throw your sinker more.

He went from being a ho-hum fastball/sinker guy to a slider/cutter, sinker and a mid/high 90s fastball guy.

That's a huge difference.

[LookitsPuck]

Arrieta's walks (top 3 pitch types per year):

2010: 19 on fastballs, 15 on sinkers, 7 on changeups

2011: 41 on fastballs, 7 on sinkers, 5 on sliders

2012: 16 on fastballs, 9 on sinkers, 3 on sliders

2013: 22 on fastballs, 10 on sinkers, 8 on sliders

2014: 13 on fastballs, 12 on sliders, 9 on sinkers

2015: 19 on sinkers, 18 on sliders, 3 on fastballs

So obviously he's throwing fastballs less. And since he throws it less, it's a much better change of pace for him so he's not walking as many hitters with it. Instead he has better control over his slider/cutter and sinker.

This is a dramatically different approach from the O's who really minimized the usage of the slider/cutter. Couple that w/ Buck's infatuation with time to plate....and well...

[Ohfan67]

From Roch: Britton Tries to Save the Organization's Reputation (clarifies his comments)

http://www.masnsports.com/school-of-roch/2016/04/britton-trying-to-save-an-organizations-reputation.html

[Stotle]

That still doesn't excuse it. I'm certainly not saying the O's were fault free, just that some of the blame should fall on Jake for not, imo, buying in.

I didn't say anything about "excusing it." I just disagree with the weight you are placing on doing things the way the organization wants you to do it. The ancillary point is teams that develop well tend to acquire players that fit their developmental style.

I mean, if I'm a player being asked to redo a ton of things that I've been comfortable with for my entire competitive career, my question would be, "Why did you spend $1.1 million on me if you thought I was doing everything wrong?"

In the end, I reiterate I believe communication and trust are at the heart of the issue. Saying "because I said so" isn't how you get a player to buy into a system. If you're going to rearrange a player's world view on the craft, maybe sell him on why it needs to be changed?

[Il BuonO]

I didn't say anything about "excusing it." I just disagree with the weight you are placing on doing things the way the organization wants you to do it. The ancillary point is teams that develop well tend to acquire players that fit their developmental style.

I mean, if I'm a player being asked to redo a ton of things that I've been comfortable with for my entire competitive career, my question would be, "Why did you spend $1.1 million on me if you thought I was doing everything wrong?"

In the end, I reiterate I believe communication and trust are at the heart of the issue. Saying "because I said so" isn't how you get a player to buy into a system. If you're going to rearrange a player's world view on the craft, maybe sell him on why it needs to be changed?

Well, at the time Adair really thought his way was THE way. Buck did, too. You couldn't tell Buck that it was Peterson and not Adair who made a difference with Tillman in modifying his delivery. I asked him about it before a game in Anaheim and he was almost indignant that his coach wouldn't get the credit for the success of a pitcher.

Arrieta must have others trying to implement the philosophy before Adair arrived on the scene though. I believe it was amplified because that is when they decided to promote him.

[Stotle]

Well, at the time Adair really thought his way was THE way. Buck did, too. You couldn't tell Buck that it was Peterson and not Adair who made a difference with Tillman in modifying his delivery. I asked him about it before a game in Anaheim and he was almost indignant that his coach wouldn't get the credit for the success of a pitcher.

Arrieta must have others trying to implement the philosophy before Adair arrived on the scene though. I believe it was amplified because that is when they decided to promote him.

I don't disagree, but that's ego getting in the way of success. And watching Arrieta struggle with it I wonder how big the ego has to be before you say, "Okay, you know what? Go to Norfolk and try it your way. You've got an option so let's give this a go."

[baltfan]

If you watched the post game comments of Buck during the Arrieta era, it was obvious that he rubbed Buck a bit the wrong way. He was far more tolerant of other pitchers screwing up than Arrieta. I don't have time to go back through all of the old MASN articles but he was pretty tough on Arrieta not stepping up in big situations in the game like he felt he needed to. Perhaps that was just Buck thinking that was the way to get through to Arrieta, but it could be that he just didn't like his attitude.

Arrieta clearly has a pretty strong personality. This is a quote from Britton in today's MASN article.

“He always spoke and acted as if he was going to be a stud pitcher and I believed it with the stuff he had. And now he’s gone out and shown everybody that that’s what he’s capable of.”

There is nothing wrong with that but you could easily see how if Adair was in Buck's ear the above type attitude could rub Buck the wrong way given the results.

[weams]

Well, at the time Adair really thought his way was THE way. Buck did, too. You couldn't tell Buck that it was Peterson and not Adair who made a difference with Tillman in modifying his delivery. I asked him about it before a game in Anaheim and he was almost indignant that his coach wouldn't get the credit for the success of a pitcher.

Arrieta must have others trying to implement the philosophy before Adair arrived on the scene though. I believe it was amplified because that is when they decided to promote him.

I don't disagree, but that's ego getting in the way of success. And watching Arrieta struggle with it I wonder how big the ego has to be before you say, "Okay, you know what? Go to Norfolk and try it your way. You've got an option so let's give this a go."

Chris told me that Mike Griffin had the biggest impact on getting him straightened out. He also did praise Rick Peterson secondarily. The name Rick Adair has never come up between us.

[weams]

The elbow issues were caused by bone chips he decided against having removed if I recall correctly.

That dragged out over two seasons and it turned out to be fibrous tissue growth and not the chips. It was a very odd situation how it was handled.

[Can_of_corn]

That dragged out over two seasons and it turned out to be fibrous tissue growth and not the chips. It was a very odd situation how it was handled.

You can't force folks to have surgery. Nick ever get his cyst fixed?

[weams]

You can't force folks to have surgery. Nick ever get his cyst fixed?

I think a couple years back. Might be wrong. I guess not. I can find no evidence.

[beardbr]

Treat each player like an individual rather that something off an assembly line. Find out what makes each player tick. Don't coach like robots.

I think this is the bigger issue. Arrieta has a really unique workout, that works for him, combining yoga, pilates and meditation. I don't think the Orioles ever understood him or really tried to.

[sportsfan8703]

If you watched the post game comments of Buck during the Arrieta era, it was obvious that he rubbed Buck a bit the wrong way. He was far more tolerant of other pitchers screwing up than Arrieta. I don't have time to go back through all of the old MASN articles but he was pretty tough on Arrieta not stepping up in big situations in the game like he felt he needed to. Perhaps that was just Buck thinking that was the way to get through to Arrieta, but it could be that he just didn't like his attitude.

Arrieta clearly has a pretty strong personality. This is a quote from Britton in today's MASN article.

?He always spoke and acted as if he was going to be a stud pitcher and I believed it with the stuff he had. And now he?s gone out and shown everybody that that?s what he?s capable of.?

There is nothing wrong with that but you could easily see how if Adair was in Buck's ear the above type attitude could rub Buck the wrong way given the results.

Good point. This probably goes along with the famous I'm so close to being good quote we all criticized him for. We let one get away.

Buck was brought in to change the culture of the franchise after all the losing. The staff obviously made a bad read on Jake. But since then we've had the most wins in the AL. It wasn't going to happen here for Jake.

[Frobby]

You know who is responsible for Arrieta not pitching well in Baltimore? Arrieta is responsible, no one else. And the author is suggesting that Tillman is not a legit big league starter? Nonsense.

Between the lines it's the pitcher responsibility to succeed, Wallace and Show don't hold their hands.

I don't think the Orioles do a good job developing pitching, but Arrieta needed a change, he got it.

I think this is the wrong way to look at the issue. It's the job of the managers and the coaches to maximize the potential of the players. In a case where they are unable to do it, and the player immediately succeeds in another organization, it's completely reasonable to ask what our organization and coaches could have done differently, and whether we have the right coaching personnel and philosophy in place. That's not relieving the player of his responsibility, it's simply looking at what our organization can do better to help its players succeed.

[malkusm]

It doesn't look like this has been posted yet - here were a couple interesting quotes from his interview with ESPN yesterday:

I was going through some difficult times at Triple-A Norfolk. I was going through failure at a high rate and questioning my ability. I questioned whether I was going to continue to play. I was in a situation where I was basically as uncomfortable on a pitching rubber as I ever have been in my entire life. A lot of it is with good intention -- coaches are trying to genuinely help players make adjustments to better themselves. But it was just something where I knew that I could be more consistent in my delivery if I just did it my way. Then when the trade happened [to the Cubs in 2013], that's when things really turned around.

When I got traded over to the Cubs, I knew that I was coming to an organization where I was going to be able to be myself. Not worry about "is this guy going to want me to do something different?" So I hit the ground running. I knew I was going to be able to go back to a delivery that I was confident I could repeat, and it's steadily gotten better over these last two years. I still think there's room to improve.

...

When I was 10 or 12 years old, I threw very similar to the way that I do now. I look back at video and pictures of myself throwing from when I was a little kid. We pick up a lot of the natural movements we have when we're very young. I think the emphasis needs to be on how to repeat that movement -- whether it's a golf swing or a pitching delivery or a jump shot or the way a quarterback delivers a football. I think that release is where the emphasis needs to be -- how can we repeat this delivery on a consistent basis, pitch to pitch, throw to throw, swing to swing.

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/15411588/chicago-cubs-ace-jake-arrieta-talks-mindsets-workouts-winning-world-series