Thursday, April 06, 2006
One for a Fastball, Two for a Curve...
Games followed yesterday for at least one pitch:
Chicago at Cincinnati
Cleveland at Chicago
Boston at Texas
One of the story lines going into yesterday’s slate of games centered on all the starters making their debut with a new team.
The list included: Bronson Arroyo (Cincinnati); Jeff Weaver (Los Angeles/Anaheim); Jarrod Washburn (Seattle); Joe Mays (Kansas City); Josh Beckett (Boston); Orlando Hernandez (Arizona); and Matt Morris (San Francisco).
Of all those listed above, I only caught a glimpse of two, Arroyo (via MLB’s GameDay web cast) and Beckett.
Although there were some little things to nitpick on early (the Rangers got some decent swings on him in the opening frames, and the new battery combination hardly looked to be on the same page), the results speak for themselves:
His fastball was sharp, consistently in the 95-96 range as it always seems to be. And his breaking stuff, though not overwhelming, was solid.
From a viewer’s standpoint, the most interesting aspect of Beckett’s start was his interaction with Jason Varitek. By the second inning, Jerry Remy, analyst for NESN, noted that Beckett was routinely shaking off Varitek’s signs, not just a pitch here or pitch there, but sometimes multiple times in a sequence.
It reminded me of an old segment Joe Garagiola used to do on NBC broadcasts, “A Game Within a Game.” NESN focused on the signs between Varitek and Beckett extensively, and it provided insight into how much work it takes to get new teammates on the same page sometime.
Although I don’t know if this is true or not, Remy noted that Varitek is renown for going entire games without his pitchers shaking off a sign even once.
Remy’s explanation was that Beckett, at this point in the season, knows his stuff better than Varitek does. He had been watching this Texas offense for two games, sitting on the bench and talking to the other pitchers and coaches. He had a game plan in mind. It just seemed that, at various points, Varitek wanted to implement a different one.
Games followed yesterday for at least one pitch:
Chicago at Cincinnati
Cleveland at Chicago
Boston at Texas
One of the story lines going into yesterday’s slate of games centered on all the starters making their debut with a new team.
The list included: Bronson Arroyo (Cincinnati); Jeff Weaver (Los Angeles/Anaheim); Jarrod Washburn (Seattle); Joe Mays (Kansas City); Josh Beckett (Boston); Orlando Hernandez (Arizona); and Matt Morris (San Francisco).
Of all those listed above, I only caught a glimpse of two, Arroyo (via MLB’s GameDay web cast) and Beckett.
Although there were some little things to nitpick on early (the Rangers got some decent swings on him in the opening frames, and the new battery combination hardly looked to be on the same page), the results speak for themselves:
IP H R ER BB K
Beckett (W) 7 7 1 1 1 5
His fastball was sharp, consistently in the 95-96 range as it always seems to be. And his breaking stuff, though not overwhelming, was solid.
From a viewer’s standpoint, the most interesting aspect of Beckett’s start was his interaction with Jason Varitek. By the second inning, Jerry Remy, analyst for NESN, noted that Beckett was routinely shaking off Varitek’s signs, not just a pitch here or pitch there, but sometimes multiple times in a sequence.
It reminded me of an old segment Joe Garagiola used to do on NBC broadcasts, “A Game Within a Game.” NESN focused on the signs between Varitek and Beckett extensively, and it provided insight into how much work it takes to get new teammates on the same page sometime.
Although I don’t know if this is true or not, Remy noted that Varitek is renown for going entire games without his pitchers shaking off a sign even once.
Remy’s explanation was that Beckett, at this point in the season, knows his stuff better than Varitek does. He had been watching this Texas offense for two games, sitting on the bench and talking to the other pitchers and coaches. He had a game plan in mind. It just seemed that, at various points, Varitek wanted to implement a different one.
