THE BOOK--Playing The Percentages In Baseball

Thursday, March 22, 2007

Pedro: Close your eyes, open your mind

I love Pedro.

His program for the day called for 25 throws at 45 feet, 50 at 60 feet, and 25 at 75 feet, the last distance an increase in length from what he had been doing the previous week.  Remarkably, at the two shorter distances, he threw to his personal trainer, Chris Correnti (who was formerly with the Sox as an assistant trainer), with his eyes closed. Why pretend to be blindfolded? The point was to help Martinez be consistent with his release point and feel free with his motion. It was impressive to watch him hit Correnti’s glove almost every time.

It doesn’t matter what it’s called, but what it does:

His take on the so-called gyroball, a pitch that is now in the heads of some batters and likely is more myth than substance: “I think it’s more of a backdoor slider. That’s what I think he’s throwing,” Martinez said. “If that’s what they call it in Japan, well, that’s what they call it.” Others are calling the pitch a screwball, similar to what Martinez has thrown in the past. Pedro is clearly amused by the discussion.  “The rotation I see is a backdoor slider, that’s all; it’s not anything fancy,” Pedro said again. “A screwball is more what I throw. I throw it as a changeup. It’s a good changeup. It spins away from lefties, inside to righties. According to what I saw, the ‘gyro’ is a backdoor slider. He throws it from the outside, and it burns the corner. People have a tendency to give up on that pitch. If he throws hard, and he uses it, it’ll be good. That’s the mystery.”

(Hat Tip: Baseball Musings)