Grayson Rodriguez 2023

[tntoriole]

That one yesterday will serve as a driver for him to keep working harder.  And he will.  Many big time pitchers have had a bad start in postseason.  It happens.  The really great ones take from it what they can and then go back to working harder. 
 

His fastball percentage was really high compared to all his starts since he came back.  He only used that changeup 11 times and had 7 whiffs.  Early in the year, he would get hit, get rattled and then get away from throwing offspeed.  He had much better mix in good starts since then.  Some of that is on Adley a bit too to try to keep his mix better. 

[Tony-OH]

3 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

I don’t think it’s correct to say the moment is too big for him. I think that’s poor wording that has a far more negative connotation to it than needee.

It’s absurd to think he needs a shrink because of this outing. It’s not absurd to think he was too amped up though. I think rust was a bigger issue but we won’t know for sure.

Fair enough. That's a valid opinion.

[7Mo]

1 minute ago, tntoriole said:

That one yesterday will serve as a driver for him to keep working harder.  And he will.  Many big time pitchers have had a bad start in postseason.  It happens.  The really great ones take from it what they can and then go back to working harder. 
 

His fastball percentage was really high compared to all his starts since he came back.  He only used that changeup 11 times and had 7 whiffs.  Early in the year, he would get hit, get rattled and then get away from throwing offspeed.  He had much better mix in good starts since then.  Some of that is on Adley a bit too to try to keep his mix better. 

It was the prepared game plan. That's what was set up as their way of approaching the Rangers who are one of the best off-speed hitting teams in the majors, if not the best. 

That's not on Adley. 

[tntoriole]

1 hour ago, 7Mo said:

It was the prepared game plan. That's what was set up as their way of approaching the Rangers who are one of the best off-speed hitting teams in the majors, if not the best. 

That's not on Adley. 

Same thing they did in May when he got crushed .. and same approach that sent him to the minors .. sometimes you have to go with your strengths, not what you think plays better to the other team.  
 

It is just so strange they went away from his mix of the very successful run he had.  And even in game  .. they could not touch his changeup.. 7 whiffs on 11 pitches .. 

[Sports Guy]

Btw, it’s also possible he sucks in the playoffs. We have seen it with all time greats like Kershaw and Maddux.

Verlander is in the WS.

We are assuming he will learn from this and he likely will but it’s not some impossibility that he ends up struggling as a playoff pitcher.

[DirtyBird]

1 hour ago, 7Mo said:

It was the prepared game plan. That's what was set up as their way of approaching the Rangers who are one of the best off-speed hitting teams in the majors, if not the best. 

That's not on Adley. 

Good thing they stuck with the game plan. Could have gotten ugly if they deviated from that based on what he was able to throw for strikes.

[baltfan]

They were a bit too cute by half with Grayson. He should have been allowed to pitch how he normally does.  His stuff is good enough.  The bigger issue though was his fastball command was awful and the only effective secondary was his change.  That wasn’t going to get it done.  No pitcher goes 11 days without pitching during the course of the year.  It makes things extremely difficult.  Teams with 92+ wins are 0-8 in the playoffs and Atlanta is losing again to Phillu. 

[Frobby]

44 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

Btw, it’s also possible he sucks in the playoffs. We have seen it with all time greats like Kershaw and Maddux.

Verlander is in the WS.

We are assuming he will learn from this and he likely will but it’s not some impossibility that he ends up struggling as a playoff pitcher.

I wouldn’t lump Maddux (3.27 postseason ERA vs. 3.16 regular season) in with Kershaw (4.49 vs. 2.48).  Maddux did have some postseason struggles but he still pitched reasonably well there.  Kershaw has flat out sucked in the postseason. It’s obviously way too soon to worry about Grayson being a postseason Kershaw in the long run.  

[dystopia]

59 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

Btw, it’s also possible he sucks in the playoffs. We have seen it with all time greats like Kershaw and Maddux.

Verlander is in the WS.

We are assuming he will learn from this and he likely will but it’s not some impossibility that he ends up struggling as a playoff pitcher.

Nothing is impossible but don’t yup think one start in his rookie year is a little early to be concerned about this? Especially against an offense like Texas?

[backwardsk]

12 minutes ago, Frobby said:

I wouldn’t lump Maddux (3.27 postseason ERA vs. 3.16 regular season) in with Kershaw (4.49 vs. 2.48).  Maddux did have some postseason struggles but he still pitched reasonably well there.  Kershaw has flat out sucked in the postseason. It’s obviously way too soon to worry about Grayson being a postseason Kershaw in the long run.  

If Rodriguez makes 32 postseason starts, I’d label it as one of those good problems.

[Can_of_corn]

2 minutes ago, backwardsk said:

If Rodriguez makes 32 postseason starts, I’d label it as one of those good problems.

Good for him sure.  But how many are those going to be for the O's?

[Sports Guy]

8 minutes ago, dystopia said:

Nothing is impossible but don’t yup think one start in his rookie year is a little early to be concerned about this? Especially against an offense like Texas?

I’m not even remotely concerned about it.

Just making the point that people saying he will learn from this and be fine, it may not be correct.

[Since1984]

2 hours ago, Tony-OH said:

Fair enough. That's a valid opinion.

I like your take Tony! Lots of factors to consider, especially with the layoff comment being a factor.

Was surprised at the heat hitting 100. Add a little crafty pitch ability to Grayson’s experience and he is a true ace.
First year in the pros. Look at Schilling’s later rise. Grayson has the stuff and tenacity! Hope he bounces back as he has already proved this year!

[Jim'sKid26]

4 hours ago, Sports Guy said:

Oh I see he meant it.  Wow, that’s an absurd opinion.

He hadnt pitched in 11 days. He walked 4 guys. One was on a pitch that was a clear strike and was called ball 4 and another was an obvious pitch around of Seager.

About 63% of his pitches went for strikes and if ball 4 to Carter was called a strike, that % jumps to 64.4%, which is above the league average.

He just didn’t throw enough quality strikes, especially with 2 strikes. They hit a lot of balls hard but they also found holes with those balls.  It happens especially when you are a little off and you had 11 days off. 

Ok, let's start with your label of my opinion as being absurd. Just because you don't agree with it doesn't mean it's absurd. Your continued tendency to name call and bully on this board is getting really tiresome. You get away with it because you post so much but it is offensive and, IMHO, detrimental to others sharing their opinions on this board. I read your posts and enjoy them for the most part. I think you are very knowledgable about the O's and baseball in general. Why you feel the need to name call and make others feel put upon is completely beyond me. I wish you would stop being a bully.

Secondly, everyone can see that, "He just didn't throw enough quality strikes..." The question is why did it happen in game 2 of the ALDS. Is it possible the pressure and his maladaptive response to it caused him to pitch poorly. He's a rookie for goodness sake. He's never pitched in that environment before. Of course the layoff had something to do with it. But the bottom line is other pitchers, (did you see what Pablo Lopez did?) handled their assignments without melting down. It happens. It is a learning experience.

If you don't agree with me, that's fine. Tell me you don't agree and tell me why. Don't tell me my opinion is absurd. That's condescending and frankly abusive. No one needs that from you or anyone else.

[Sports Guy]

5 minutes ago, Jim'sKid26 said:

Ok, let's start with your label of my opinion as being absurd. Just because you don't agree with it doesn't mean it's absurd. Your continued tendency to name call and bully on this board is getting really tiresome. You get away with it because you post so much but it is offensive and, IMHO, detrimental to others sharing their opinions on this board. I read your posts and enjoy them for the most part. I think you are very knowledgable about the O's and baseball in general. Why you feel the need to name call and make others feel put upon is completely beyond me. I wish you would stop being a bully.

Secondly, everyone can see that, "He just didn't throw enough quality strikes..." The question is why did it happen in game 2 of the ALDS. Is it possible the pressure and his maladaptive response to it caused him to pitch poorly. He's a rookie for goodness sake. He's never pitched in that environment before. Of course the layoff had something to do with it. But the bottom line is other pitchers, (did you see what Pablo Lopez did?) handled their assignments without melting down. It happens. It is a learning experience.

If you don't agree with me, that's fine. Tell me you don't agree and tell me why. Don't tell me my opinion is absurd. That's condescending and frankly abusive. No one needs that from you or anyone else.

 I know people hate the truth but if you are going to post something like that, with absolutely zero evidence, I’m sorry but that’s absurd imo. If I say something  you think is absurd, so be it. It’s not a big deal.

Tony mentioned maybe the moment is too big. I don’t agree with that label and the connotation of it but ok.  But taking it to the next step that he is some mental midget that needs therapy because of one start where he was off for 11 days is an absurd leap of judgement.  

In your post here, you talk of him being a rookie, learning experience, etc…notice how I’m not disagreeing with that or thinking it’s over the top?  You know why?  Because it’s not. Saying he needs therapy is. 

Edited October 10, 2023 by Sports Guy