"I hate to keep repeating it, but it's consistency..."
"The guys that are up there now, like [Tom] Glavine and John Maine, they
command their fastball, they're not worried about how hard they're throwing,"
Humber said. "I mean, I think I throw hard enough. Glavine throws hard enough.
It's more about your command. Once you have command, you can stop being a
thrower and start being a pitcher."
Monday, April 30, 2007
Sounds like this kid gets it
Humber has one, maybe two years left on the farm before the Mets will be counting on him, and it sounds like he's really focusing on the right things:
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3 comments:
Definitely the right attitude.. Certainly a lack of control/confidence is what plagues pelfrey and perez.
Most guys that haven't cracked the majors are so concerned with their "stuff" that they don't focus on what counts: learning how to keep hitters off balance and out thinking the guy in the batters box.
It's so typical to see a guy come up with electric stuff, baffle the league for his first trip around the majors, and then get beat up for a couple of years. That's when it hits him: the blazing fastball and wicked curve that made him unhittable his entire life don't scare anyone in the bigs. He's still got to beat big league hitters by changing speeds and locating.
This is exactly where Humber's ahead of the game. He's working on the important stuff now. And based on his quotes, it shows that Omar and Willie know what they're doing by exposing these kids to Glavine and Duque. It's a great lesson for them.
Can you imagine what these kids must make of Glavine? Here's a guy with a fastball equivalent to a kids they've probably see who hit their ceiling in single-A. Meanwhile, Tommy's approaching 300 wins. It should make a young pitcher's mind start racing for answers.
Look at other examples: benitez, wagner, and papelbon all throw hard heat in upper 90s. However, so far papelbon has been more effective (in his limited career) due to pitch control - he doesn't have as much tendency to miss the strike zone as benitez and wagner. speed isn't everything.. otherwise no one could score runs off of detroit.
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