FrederickNewsPost: The New Coach

[weams]

https://www.fredericknewspost.com/sports/level/professional/coach-s-corner-orioles-sprinting-to-the-front-in-marathon/article_8780c14f-9c02-5e8f-9592-2be63468c7c9.html

The Old Coach has a theory for the recent success of the Orioles’ hurlers. Two significant changes in the club’s personnel have made a difference. Letting catcher Matt Wieters go (he’s now with the Washington Nationals) and replacing him with Welington Castillo is a definite upgrade at that position. Castillo can get more borderline strikes called because he is better at framing (or as manager Buck Showalter says, presenting) pitches. Framing is the technique of positioning the catcher’s mitt so that the incoming ball hits the glove and causes it to pivot toward the strike zone. When the glove comes to a stop, the umpire sees the glove in the strike zone, and the pitcher could get the call.

The result is better pitcher counts, keeping hitters from sitting on one pitch. Castillo is much better at showing the pitchers a low target, which helps the pitchers keep the ball down and get ground-ball outs. He calls a better game by making his pitchers use all of their pitches, change speeds and location, and keep hitters off-balance. Another big difference is that Castillo is not afraid to make visits to the mound to either calm down his pitchers or to make sure they are on the same page, something that Wieters rarely did.

 

There is no way of telling for sure, but new Orioles pitching coach Roger McDowell may be a difference-maker. McDowell had many years of experience pitching successfully at the major league level, so he knows the game. He spent the previous 10 years as pitching coach of the Atlanta Braves. The Braves pitching staff was always among the statistical leaders during his tenure. Like Castillo, he doesn’t hesitate to go out to the mound to make corrections to mechanics or to talk strategy.

[weams]

http://www.talkingchop.com/2017/1/9/13308704/atlanta-braves-roger-mcdowell-success-failures

 

[weams]

https://www.pressboxonline.com/2017/04/18/john-smoltz-orioles-dylan-bundy-has-dynamic-stuff-than-can-dominate

[weams]

https://www.pressboxonline.com/2017/01/16/roger-mcdowell-could-be-key-to-orioles-2017-season

[Can_of_corn]

26 minutes ago, weams said:

https://www.fredericknewspost.com/sports/level/professional/coach-s-corner-orioles-sprinting-to-the-front-in-marathon/article_8780c14f-9c02-5e8f-9592-2be63468c7c9.html

The Old Coach has a theory for the recent success of the Orioles’ hurlers. Two significant changes in the club’s personnel have made a difference. Letting catcher Matt Wieters go (he’s now with the Washington Nationals) and replacing him with Welington Castillo is a definite upgrade at that position. Castillo can get more borderline strikes called because he is better at framing (or as manager Buck Showalter says, presenting) pitches. Framing is the technique of positioning the catcher’s mitt so that the incoming ball hits the glove and causes it to pivot toward the strike zone. When the glove comes to a stop, the umpire sees the glove in the strike zone, and the pitcher could get the call.

The result is better pitcher counts, keeping hitters from sitting on one pitch. Castillo is much better at showing the pitchers a low target, which helps the pitchers keep the ball down and get ground-ball outs. He calls a better game by making his pitchers use all of their pitches, change speeds and location, and keep hitters off-balance. Another big difference is that Castillo is not afraid to make visits to the mound to either calm down his pitchers or to make sure they are on the same page, something that Wieters rarely did.

 

There is no way of telling for sure, but new Orioles pitching coach Roger McDowell may be a difference-maker. McDowell had many years of experience pitching successfully at the major league level, so he knows the game. He spent the previous 10 years as pitching coach of the Atlanta Braves. The Braves pitching staff was always among the statistical leaders during his tenure. Like Castillo, he doesn’t hesitate to go out to the mound to make corrections to mechanics or to talk strategy.

Neither of those statements is provable given the information we have available to us.

You can make a case that Castillo was the superior pitch framer last season.  But that is about it.

I have never seen anything that shows more frequent mound visits accomplish anything more than slowing the game.  If such data exists I would love to see it.

[mdbdotcom]

I'm inclined to believe that the success of our starting pitching of late has been due more to luck than anything else. Let's not get too caught up in one week's results. Things could look very different in the not too distant future. Just enjoy the success we're having while we're having it.

[Frobby]

Everybody likes nice, tidy, one size fits all answers.    But to me, you have to look pitcher by pitcher.   

Bundy - Has added a devastating slider that has totally changed his mix of pitches, plus he has a year of experience under his belt.

Miley - Started to get it together at the end of last year.    In any event, Castillo hasn't caught him yet, so he can't get the credit.   

Gausman and Jimenez -- haven't actually been better than last year.

Asher and Aquino -- have made one start each, so hard to draw any conclusions.    In any event, Wieters never caught a game they started.

Our pitchers threw 63.2% strikes last year, 62.1% strikes this year, so where's the evidence of some big upgrade in framing?   BP has Castillo at 1.3 framing runs below average for the season, compared to Wieters' 0.8 below average.    Last year, Castillo was -9.4 and Wieters -4.2.