MLB.com: This 1 pitch (is it 1?) makes César Valdez elite

[Tony-OH]

Great article explaining Valdez's success.

https://www.mlb.com/news/cesar-valdez-s-dead-fish-changeup-analyzed

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

 

[Just Regular]

I am lost what to pull for July 31.    It doesn't seem like this can go on for years, but the man can pitch and is one of the biggest joys these final few months of temporizing.   I love the notion that between catcher's knees and Valdez not finding the pitch mix until a few years ago that Adley and Valdez are actually about the same baseball age.

I do think if the pitch is good enough to beat MLB hitters many more years, his arm can deliver it that long too.

[PHRESH]

Cesar is basically our Mariano. 

[wildcard]

Cesar is a phenomenon.  With that pitch he could have success well into his 40's.   And it sounds like he will want to do that.  He can to a part on the rebuild.  I don't think he should be thought of as old.  Not with that pitch.

[ChrisP]

I enjoyed the article and enjoy watching him pitch. That being said, I'm trading him for the best offer come 7/31. He's 36...I'm sure we could probably get a top 100 from someone.

[Frobby]

23 minutes ago, ChrisP said:

I enjoyed the article and enjoy watching him pitch. That being said, I'm trading him for the best offer come 7/31. He's 36...I'm sure we could probably get a top 100 from someone.

At first I was going to compare his trade value to Koji Uehara’s when we traded him.    Then I remembered that Valdez has four years of service time remaining after this season.     So if Valdez is just as effective in July as he is now, I’d think we can get a package that on paper is better than what we got for Koji (Tommy Hunter and Chris Davis).  That’s potentially pretty darned good.   

[sportsfan8703]

Good read. I see a guy that can be a good cheap closer for a few years. The perfect guy to rack up saves so we don’t let one of the young arms accrue them then become expensive in arbitration. 

[Tony-OH]

Unless I'm blown away, I wouldn't trade Valdez this year because he's cheap, controllable, and with his pitch, he very well may be more like 29 in pitching years vs 36.

[Moose Milligan]

Gotta give props to Elias for bringing him in.  

Loved this quote: 

Quote

“I think originally [when I was called up], there was a lot of doubt,” Valdez said. “Because of my age, because I don’t throw as hard as X, Y or Z. How am I going to be able to compete because I don’t throw this hard or have this fastball? But I think with time, that reaction has changed a little bit.”

 

How can you not root for a guy like that?

Remains to be seen if he can keep this up...but if he can, it's fantastic.

[foxfield]

For anyone who really hasn't seen it.  Watch the video in the article above.  Jay Bruce misses the 80 something mph pitch by a foot.  It really is cartoonish.  I can't stop laughing at it.

 

And it is such a great story to boot.  I hope it lasts.

 

[BRobinsonfan]

I love watching this guy pitch.  It's refreshing to see someone have success with something other than an overpowering fastball for a change.  And, with throwing a change-up 85% of the time, it seems like he could be more durable and possibly have more years left in the tank than your average 36 year old pitcher. 

[now]

2 hours ago, Tony-OH said:

Unless I'm blown away, I wouldn't trade Valdez this year because he's cheap, controllable, and with his pitch, he very well may be more like 29 in pitching years vs 36.

In other words... He's a young 36.

[MCO'sFan]

There is varying research in the area of pitch type and stress on the arm/elbow. Here is an article from Driveline that discusses it. Overall, velocity plays a bigger role than pitch type. I don't think the article explains it but I assume it's because the arm speed (stress) is similar in each pitch type. Most kids I get (out of HS) don't throw a legit change up and it is stressful on their arms to learn it due to the early pronation. Once they figure it out though, the stress does lessen. So, what I am saying is the dead fish may or may not produce less stress on his arm than that of the average MLB pitcher. Also, is there any idea how many pitches are on the arm from the DR or Mexico? He may have had a heavy load. 

[Explosivo]

With 4 years of service time left...keep him and think in terms of age like what knuckleball pitchers are capable. No need to trade him when he will be there in some major capacity when we finally are good again. He’s also a complete outlier in the game of baseballs and gives us a differentiated product.