A couple days ago Curt Schilling said that he was getting ready to use two new pitches this season. Traditionally a power pitcher with a mean splitter, Curt plans to add a changeup to his aresenal in '06. A good changeup always brings a whole new layer of depth to a pitcher, and if Curt can master the pitch (which, with his work ethic, shouldn't be a problem) as well as continue to pound the strike zone with power, he looks to be very dominating this year. Not only that, but he also spoke of throwing fastballs inside on batters, not something he's been known to do in his career. Historically, the most dominating pitchers (Pedro Martinez, Roger Clemons, Randy Johnson) use the inside fastball as a means to intimidate batters and perhaps break some bats, and even some batters should the need arise. These two pitches look to increase the value of Schilling as a power Ace.
Meanwhile, Keith Foulke (who has made his career out of having the best changeup in any bullpen, and has always been known to have nice command of his fastball and his third-best pitch, the slider) spoke today of adding a split-fingered fastball to his arsenal. Are Schilling and Foulke working together to make sure they each have better '06 seasons that '05 or something? The splitter is Curt Schilling's signature pitch and if Foulke can indeed master it, it'll bring a whole 'nother level to what he does, because each of his pitches not only moves differently, but they all have different speeds and the same (or damn close to the same) delivery, so the batter (who already had to make a decision as to whether he was throwing a fastball or a changeup) will now have to decide if that fastball is going to stay up in the zone or if it's going to "roll off the table" as the splitter does.
These are two great pitchers and by adding these pitches, you know they can only improve their stuff because they know better than to add fluff to their repertoires.
No comments:
Post a Comment