Albuquerque Isotopes @ Las Vegas 51s
August 7, 2014
Teams
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
4
|
5
|
6
|
7
|
8
|
9
|
R
|
H
|
E
|
|
Abuquerque
|
0
|
1
|
2
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
6
|
15
|
0
|
|
Las
Vegas
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
2
|
9
|
2
|
W: Bennett (6-6,
3.97 ERA); L: Syndergaard (8-6, 4.79 ERA)
The Highlights:
Pitchers
Syndergaard – 5 IP,
7 H, 4 R (2 ER), 4 BB, 4 SO, 102 Pitches (64 Strikes), 5 GO: 2 FO
Zack Thornton (3.83
ERA) – 1 IP, SO, 1 GO: 1 FO
Miguel Socolovich
(3.65 ERA) – 0.2 IP, H, 2 SO, 2 IR – 1 S
Batters
Matt ∂en Dekker – 2-3, 2 2B (31), BB, SO
Matt Reynolds – 2-4
Kevin Plawecki – 1-4, R, 2B (5)
Cesar Puello – 2-3, R, 2B (14), RBI (30), BB
Recap:
Noah
Syndergaard could not control his secondary stuff Thursday night and the 51s
offense was shutdown by Isotopes starter Jeff Bennett as Albuquerque took game
1 of a 5-game set. Offensively, the 51s have been getting plenty of offense
from M∂D, Matt Reynolds and Cesar Puello lately, and all three contributed two
hits Thursday. They had a number of chances to score but could not get the key
big hits. Erik Goeddel came in for two innings of relief of Thor and was
generally impressing the 51s radio booth of Russ Langer and Jerry Reuss,
although the results were not great. Zack Thornton looked very strong and
needed only 8 pitches to get through the 8th. Jack Leathersich came
in and ran into trouble, retiring only 1 out of 3 batters he’d face before
Miguel Socolovich took over with two runners on. Socolovich would allow a
runner to score before finishing the inning, ballooning Leathersich’s ERA to
27.00 with AAA this year.
Although
the results have been better lately, Thor’s starts have become pretty
predictable: establish the fastball a lot early, then sprinkle in change-ups
and curveballs, but when in trouble, stick with the fastball. I’m not saying
that’s a bad plan, but he does need to throw strikes for it to work. He had
great control of his fastball Thursday night, but he had trouble blowing it
past hitters. He was sitting 96-97 MPH with the fastball all night; hitters
should be struggling to catch up to it, yet he only had four swinging strikes
with the heat. Hitters were waiting on the heat and spitting on the secondary
stuff – they swung at only 8 of 35 change-ups or curveballs, as only 6 of 27
secondary pitches taken were called strikes. In other words, he only threw the
secondary stuff for strikes 40% of the time. I have seen a lot of people say
that he has nothing left to learn at AAA, but what else is he doing at AAA if
not learning how to pitch? Sure, his stuff is great – averaged a 96 MPH
Fastball, 87 MPH Change-up, and 79 MPH Curveball last night – but he’s not
using it well with consistency. True, it’s possible there is some
PCL/environment effect, and maybe his stuff plays better in the majors – for
example, Vic Black is having much more success with his fastball/curveball
combo in the majors than he was in the PCL earlier in the year. That said, the
consistent problem appears to be that AAA hitters are able to wait on his
fastball until they can catch up with it and make good contact. Astromets Mind
has been tracking his pitch sequences (see below) since mid-May and has
compiled some tabular data here
(looking to add earlier starts after the minor league season ends) – his
fastball has allowed a .400+ BABIP, .170+ ISO and 35% line drive rate over the
span.
Goeddel
was throwing some mid-90’s heat to go along with a slider in the low-80’s and a
big curveball in the mid-to-upper 70’s. All three of those pitches can look
very good at times, and his slider was consistently impressing Reuss last
night, but he’s struggled with control and consistency throughout the season. I
am hopeful that Leathersich can make the PCL adjustment this year, but he did
not have a good debut or that long of a leash. M∂D keeps looking like a good
option for an offensive upgrade on the Mets roster, and Puello has been hitting
plenty when he’s played lately. On that front, Langer has mentioned multiple
times that Backman plans to play Puello mostly everyday the rest of the season
– makes you wonder if someone in the Mets front office finally said something
to Backman about his playing time. Matt Reynolds continues to make a case for a
September call-up and chance at SS, although I continue to read that he’s not
likely to stick as a SS starter. His defense should be adequate and I love his
line drive approach, but I understand the cause for concerns. He hasn’t shown
much power this season (he’s had three ‘bursts’ and is better overall in the
better hitting environment) and his strikeout rate increased/walk rate
decreased at AAA.
Pitch Coverage:
Table 1 – Breaking down pitch count by type and inning
Count (Strikes) –
Average Speed
|
1st
|
2nd
|
3rd
|
4th
|
5th
|
Total
|
Fastball
|
10 (6)
|
16 (13)
|
20 (14)
|
7 (6)
|
14 (11)
|
67 (50)ª
|
Change-up
|
0
|
2 (1)
|
3 (1)
|
2 (1)
|
5 (2)
|
12 (5)º
|
Breaking Ball
|
0
|
1 (0)
|
7 (4)
|
3 (1)
|
12 (4)
|
23 (9)†
|
Total
|
10 (6)
|
19 (14)
|
30 (19)
|
12 (8)
|
31 (17)
|
102 (64)
|
ª96.4 MPH on 61 Fastballs; ª87.3 MPH on 12 Change-ups; †79.3
MPH on 21 Curveballs
Table 2 – Breaking down pitch results by type
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
Fastball
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
Change-up
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
Breaking Ball
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
Speeds from the Cashman Field scoreboard
*Had no speed on the scoreboard
1st inning
1)
SS Darwin
Barney flied out to deep LF (7/F)
a.
96 MPH Fastball, low – ball 1-0
b.
95 MPH Fastball – strike 1-1
c.
96 MPH Fastball, low – ball 2-1
d.
97 MPH Fastball – foul 2-2
e.
97 MPH Fastball
2)
CF Joc
Pederson hit a grounder to Muno (43/G)
a.
96 MPH Fastball, low – ball 1-0
b.
95 MPH Fastball, inside – ball 2-0
c.
97 MPH Fastball
3)
C Tim
Federowicz popped out to Muno in the OF grass (4/P)
a.
Fastball, inside corner – strike 0-1*
b.
Fastball*
2nd inning
1)
1B
Clint Robinson looped a single into LF (S7/L)
a.
94 MPH Fastball – foul 0-1
b.
89 MPH Change-up, low – ball 1-1
c.
88 MPH Change-up – strike 1-2
d.
95 MPH Fastball – foul 1-2
e.
96 MPH Fastball
2)
LF Brock
Peterson reached 2B on an error by Cesar Puello – he dropped the ball as he hit
the wall in LF (E7/F)
a.
95 MPH Fastball, inside corner at the knees –
strike 0-1
b.
95 MPH Fastball, low and outside – ball 1-1
c.
96 MPH Fastball – swinging strike 1-2
d.
79 MPH Curveball, bounced – ball 2-2
e.
96 MPH Fastball, inside – ball 3-2
f.
96 MPH Fastball
3)
2B
Alex Guerrero reached on a fielder’s choice grounder to Satin, who got Robinson
out at home (FC52/G)
a.
96 MPH Fastball, at the knees – strike 0-1
b.
97 MPH Fastball, inside – ball 1-1
c.
96 MPH Fastball
4)
3B
Jamie Romak reached on an infield single by lining the ball off of Syndergaard
and deflecting beyond the 1B line – Peterson scored (S1/L)
a.
96 MPH Fastball – foul 0-1
b.
96 MPH Fastball, inside – foul 0-2
c.
Fastball*
5)
RF
Mike Baxter hit a chopper at Muno near the bag to start a 4-6-3 double play
(463/G)
a.
97 MPH Fastball, outside corner – strike 0-1
b.
97 MPH Fastball
3rd inning
1)
P
Jeff Bennett walked (BB)
a.
95 MPH Fastball, at the knees – strike 0-1
b.
96 MPH Fastball, high – ball 1-1
c.
96 MPH Fastball – foul 1-2
d.
96 MPH Fastball, way high – ball 2-2
e.
97 MPH Fastball, high – ball 3-2
f.
97 MPH Fastball – ball 4
2)
Barney
struck out looking (K/Lo)
a.
96 MPH Fastball, very high – ball 1-0
b.
96 MPH Fastball – foul 1-1
c.
96 MPH Fastball – foul 1-2
d.
97 MPH Fastball, low – ball 2-2
e.
81 MPH Curveball – called strike 3
3)
Pederson lined a single into CF (S8/L)
a.
97 MPH Fastball – foul 0-1
b.
96 MPH Fastball
4)
Federowicz popped out to Muno – infield fly rule
(4/P)
a.
96 MPH Fastball, up and in – foul tip 0-1
b.
96 MPH Fastball
5)
Robinson walked (BB)
a.
88 MPH Change-up – ball 1-0
b.
97 MPH Fastball – foul 1-1
c.
98 MPH Fastball – foul 1-2
d.
80 MPH Curveball, low – ball 2-2
e.
87 MPH Change-up – foul 2-2
f.
78 MPH Curveball, outside – ball 3-2
g.
97 MPH Fastball – foul 3-2
h.
86 MPH Change-up, up and away – ball 4
6)
Peterson lined a double into the left-center
field gap that scored two. (D7/L) Robinson was thrown out at home (7-6-2)
a.
79 MPH Curveball – strike 0-1
b.
79 MPH Curveball – foul 0-2
c.
97 MPH Fastball, inside – foul 0-2
d.
78 MPH Curveball, away – foul 0-2
e.
78 MPH Curveball, low – ball 1-2
f.
97 MPH Fastball – foul 1-2
g.
97 MPH Fastball
4th inning
1)
Guerrero ‘rocketed’ a single back up the middle
(S8/G)
a.
97 MPH Fastball, low – ball 1-0
b.
96 MPH Fastball
2)
Romak
broke his bat on a weak groundout to Reynolds to start a double play (643/G)
a.
79 MPH Curveball, bounced and outside – ball 1-0
b.
95 MPH Fastball
3)
Baxter lined a single into RF (S9/L)
a.
88 MPH Change-up – swinging strike 0-1
b.
97 MPH Fastball, inside corner at the knees –
strike 0-2
c.
79 MPH Curveball, low – ball 1-2
d.
87 MPH Change-up, outside – ball 2-2
e.
97 MPH Fastball, inside
4)
Bennett struck out swinging (K/Sw)
a.
97 MPH Fastball – swinging strike 0-1
b.
98 MPH Fastball – swinging strike 0-2
c.
79 MPH Curveball, low and away – swinging strike
3
5th inning
1)
Barney hit a chopper to Satin (53/G)
a.
Fastball, outside corner – strike 0-1*
b.
Curveball, low – ball 1-1*
c.
Curveball, bounced and outside – ball 2-1*
d.
Fastball – foul 2-2*
e.
Fastball, outside – ball 3-2*
f.
97 MPH Fastball, inside
2)
Pederson
walked (BB)
a.
87 MPH Change-up, inside – ball 1-0
b.
86 MPH Change-up, outside – ball 2-0
c.
88 MPH Change-up, high – ball 3-0
d.
97 MPH Fastball, outside – ball 4
*Pickoff attempt from Syndergaard
was thrown away (high) before a pitch was thrown, allowing Pederson to go to 3B
3)
Federowicz hit an RBI double that one-hopped the
wall in right-center field (D9/F)
a.
97 MPH Fastball- foul 0-1
b.
81 MPH Curveball, outside corner – strike 0-2
c.
81 MPH Curveball, outside corner – ball 1-2
d.
81 MPH Curveball, bounced – ball 2-2
e.
98 MPH Fastball
4)
Robinson struck out swinging (K/Sw)
a.
87 MPH Change-up, outside corner – strike 0-1
b.
87 MPH Change-up, inside – foul 0-2
c.
78 MPH Curveball – foul 0-2
d.
98 MPH Fastball – foul 0-2
e.
98 MPH Fastball, high – swinging strike 3
5)
Peterson walked (BB)
a.
80 MPH Curveball, bounced – ball 1-0
b.
80 MPH Curveball, bounced – ball 2-0
c.
97 MPH Fastball – foul 2-1
d.
78 MPH Curveball – strike 2-2
e.
78 MPH Curveball, low – ball 3-2
f.
81 MPH Curveball, low and away – ball 4
6)
Guerrero struck out swinging (K/Sw)
a.
97 MPH Fastball, outside corner at the knees –
strike 0-1
b.
96 MPH Fastball, high and outside – ball 1-1
c.
97 MPH Fastball, ‘heart of the plate’ – strike
1-2
d.
97 MPH Fastball, foul – 1-2
e.
79 MPH Curveball – swinging strike 3
Fascinating.RT @coreyspowell: This "bridge" is 2.6 million light years long. http://t.co/ooNIJV32DA pic.twitter.com/gdQYh2nnb0
— Mario Livio (@Mario_Livio) August 8, 2014
Leave your comment
Post a Comment