Orioles sign knuckleballer

[Morgan423]

After we didn't resign him for 2019, he decided to sign in the Mexican League.  I couldn't find any details as to why.

[OsEatAlEast]

15 minutes ago, Morgan423 said:

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Floating like a butterfly!

[HowAboutThat]

I remember Charlie Hough with great fondness, And I really have very high hopes for this guy, I bet he could be a real diamond. But my God, what is he going to do our catching staff?

I remember Bob Uecker’s comment about how to catch a knuckleball:

“You don’t catch it, you just wait till it stops rolling and then you pick it up.”

[esmd]

7 minutes ago, Philip said:

I remember Charlie Hough with great fondness, And I really have very high hopes for this guy, I bet he could be a real diamond. But my God, what is he going to do our catching staff?

I remember Bob Uecker’s comment about how to catch a knuckleball:

“You don’t catch it, you just wait till it stops rolling and then you pick it up.”

Let's just say you're much, much more optimistic than I am.

[Moose Milligan]

...would rather watch him instead of Cashner.  

[Redskins Rick]

6 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

...would rather watch him instead of Cashner.  

Just think how much they can gripe about it, in the game day threads.

 

[Moose Milligan]

5 minutes ago, Redskins Rick said:

Just think how much they can gripe about it, in the game day threads.

 

True.  Those who want Cashner back are not allowed to gripe about him if we sign him and he's terrible.

[Redskins Rick]

2 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

True.  Those who want Cashner back are not allowed to gripe about him if we sign him and he's terrible.

Just waiting for him to sign elsewhere, and do pretty well. lol

[Enjoy Terror]

4 hours ago, sportsfan8703 said:

What's his spin rate?    

 

 

[HowAboutThat]

51 minutes ago, esmd said:

Let's just say you're much, much more optimistic than I am.

Possibly, but think about it from a teachers perspective:

trying to develop an arm a certain way eventually becomes useless because for whatever reason the arm, however gifted, won’t respond.

But if you try to use the talent in a different way, all the original possibilities return except those that are dependent on age. Time will march on, you know.

this guy is trying something new and showing genuine progress. I would much rather have his potential than that of the countless guys who throw 100 but have no idea where it’s going, because “fast but wild” is such a common problem that it is difficult to find new solutions.

Stories like Givens’ are uncommon, but not unprecedented. So I’m more than commonly interested in what happens to this fellow over the next few months.

[Tony-OH]

27 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

True.  Those who want Cashner back are not allowed to gripe about him if we sign him and he's terrible.

I don't know. What if we resigned him, have him pitch some good baseball for two months then trade him for two more DSL players.

[interloper]

20 minutes ago, Enjoy Terror said:

 

 

Honestly, it's incredible that it's possible to throw a ball as hard as knuckleballers throw them without spinning it. It feels like a violation of physics. Especially when you see it in slo mo like this. 

[DrungoHazewood]

Always happy when the org signs a knuckleballer.  He's just 31, that's young for someone like him.  And on a team that doesn't really care what their win loss record is he could pitch five innings of mopup relief every three days.  

Jannis was a Southern Maryland Blue Crab in 2014.  I don't know if there's ever been a player who went from the Blue Crabs to eventually play on the O's.  Maybe one or two went the other way.  Joe Gannon was another knuckleballer who briefly made it as high as AAA Ottawa before ending up on the Blue Crabs for years.

[DrungoHazewood]

Just now, interloper said:

Honestly, it's incredible that it's possible to throw a ball as hard as knuckleballers throw them without spinning it. It feels like a violation of physics. Especially when you see it in slo mo like this. 

It's a little embarrassing that knuckleballers look like they're playing soft toss, yet a 70 mph knuckler is about as hard as I ever threw a fastball in front of a radar gun.  I blame a speed pitch booth at a Harrisburg Senators game for some of my shoulder issues.

[interloper]

2 minutes ago, DrungoHazewood said:

It's a little embarrassing that knuckleballers look like they're playing soft toss, yet a 70 mph knuckler is about as hard as I ever threw a fastball in front of a radar gun.  I blame a speed pitch booth at a Harrisburg Senators game for some of my shoulder issues.

Exactly. Max effort I could probably hit 50 and strain my elbow lol.

Knuckleballers are cool man.