Valdez: has the clock struck midnight?

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

[now]

Seems pretty obvious the league has figured him out. Like, forget swinging for the fences. Just wait for a changeup over the plate, and stroke it for a base hit. Repeat. 

BTW what's the story on Chris Holt?

[ScGO's]

I would still like to see him in a long relief/opener role for a minute.  If he continues to get hammered, its probably time to cut him.

[vab]

He's going to have to start mixing in more fastballs. Might not work but it's his only shot. 

[Frobby]

Holmes’ opinion:

Has the league figured him out?

“It has. It has and he knows it,” Holmes said. “We’ve talked about this. Matter of fact, me and Valdez had a great talk last night. What they are doing is - early on they didn’t know him. He comes from odd (arm) angles. He mostly throws changeups with mixed in a couple of sliders here and there. And now they are on to that. They’re making him get the ball up and they’re not swinging - if it looks like it’s mid-thigh, they are not swinging at it because they know it’s going to be a ball.

“So we talked about some things we’re going to do. We’re probably going to incorporate the fastball a lot more because when he throws a fastball off of what he is doing it looks - he threw a fastball last night, surprised me. He threw a fastball last night in a 3-1 count, it looked like it was 97 mph. Compared to what is coming in in the low 70s, high 60s sometimes. There are definitely some things we are going to do to get him on track. To get him in a better spot. Not really with his delivery but with his arsenal.”

https://www.masnsports.com/steve-melewski/2021/05/assistant-pitching-coach-darren-holmes-on-valdezs-adjustments-and-more.html

 

[interloper]

1 hour ago, Frobby said:

Holmes’ opinion:

Has the league figured him out?

“It has. It has and he knows it,” Holmes said. “We’ve talked about this. Matter of fact, me and Valdez had a great talk last night. What they are doing is - early on they didn’t know him. He comes from odd (arm) angles. He mostly throws changeups with mixed in a couple of sliders here and there. And now they are on to that. They’re making him get the ball up and they’re not swinging - if it looks like it’s mid-thigh, they are not swinging at it because they know it’s going to be a ball.

“So we talked about some things we’re going to do. We’re probably going to incorporate the fastball a lot more because when he throws a fastball off of what he is doing it looks - he threw a fastball last night, surprised me. He threw a fastball last night in a 3-1 count, it looked like it was 97 mph. Compared to what is coming in in the low 70s, high 60s sometimes. There are definitely some things we are going to do to get him on track. To get him in a better spot. Not really with his delivery but with his arsenal.”

https://www.masnsports.com/steve-melewski/2021/05/assistant-pitching-coach-darren-holmes-on-valdezs-adjustments-and-more.html

 

Refreshingly honest.

[now]

18 hours ago, interloper said:

Refreshingly honest.

And smart.

[Gentile4]

Not to hijack the thread, but can we now add Matt Harvey to this list.

[Moose Milligan]

It's creeping towards 2 am.  Cesar Valdez has lost his wallet and his cell phone and is pretty tipsy.

[HowAboutThat]

On 5/28/2021 at 3:48 PM, Frobby said:

Holmes’ opinion:

Has the league figured him out?

“It has. It has and he knows it,” Holmes said. “We’ve talked about this. Matter of fact, me and Valdez had a great talk last night. What they are doing is - early on they didn’t know him. He comes from odd (arm) angles. He mostly throws changeups with mixed in a couple of sliders here and there. And now they are on to that. They’re making him get the ball up and they’re not swinging - if it looks like it’s mid-thigh, they are not swinging at it because they know it’s going to be a ball.

“So we talked about some things we’re going to do. We’re probably going to incorporate the fastball a lot more because when he throws a fastball off of what he is doing it looks - he threw a fastball last night, surprised me. He threw a fastball last night in a 3-1 count, it looked like it was 97 mph. Compared to what is coming in in the low 70s, high 60s sometimes. There are definitely some things we are going to do to get him on track. To get him in a better spot. Not really with his delivery but with his arsenal.”

https://www.masnsports.com/steve-melewski/2021/05/assistant-pitching-coach-darren-holmes-on-valdezs-adjustments-and-more.html

 

That’s amazingly honest, congratulations, and to Steve as well for seeking a meaningful answer, unlike the other guys.