|
Post by Chris Hatfield on Feb 15, 2013 23:02:50 GMT -5
Steven Wright is probably one of the biggest wild cards the Sox have this season. Can he elevate himself above mere minor league depth? This free article at BP has some excellent stuff on Steven Wright's story and, as a bonus, updates on former Sox knuckler Charlie Zink. www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=19617I'd say it's pretty much required reading. Great, great stuff there.
|
|
|
Post by grandsalami on Feb 15, 2013 23:20:01 GMT -5
Well it does not hurt that wake is mentoring him right?
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Feb 16, 2013 0:32:43 GMT -5
you never know what you can get from a knuckle-ball pitcher. you can get a charlie zink or an ra dickey. in wright, i hope dickey. probably wont happen but you never know. hope the sox give him a chance this year. he is on the 40 man and can replace someone in the rotation if someone gets hurt and if RDLR and webster aren't ready.
|
|
|
Post by grandsalami on Feb 16, 2013 13:26:25 GMT -5
Nick Cafardo @nickcafardo Tim Wakefield coming to Red Sox camp next week to work with knuckleballer Stephen wright
|
|
|
Post by charliezink16 on Feb 16, 2013 19:12:17 GMT -5
That 5th inning was crap. Coco caught the ball and visibly transferred it to his throwing hand. Damn umps
|
|
|
Post by remember04 on Feb 16, 2013 19:49:28 GMT -5
That 5th inning was crap. Coco caught the ball and visibly transferred it to his throwing hand. Damn umps oooooooookay ~quietly backs out of the room~
|
|
redsox04071318champs
Veteran
Always hoping to make my handle even longer...
Posts: 15,694
Member is Online
|
Post by redsox04071318champs on Feb 16, 2013 22:47:48 GMT -5
That 5th inning was crap. Coco caught the ball and visibly transferred it to his throwing hand. Damn umps oooooooookay ~quietly backs out of the room~ He's referring to the 5th inning of the game in 2008 against Texas in which Charlie Zink pitched the only game of his major league career. He was in line for an easy win as the Sox were blowing out Texas, but he failed to make it thru 5 to get the easy win - and as it turned out he wound up getting torched and so did the bullpen who surrendered a huge lead and actually put the Sox behind before Youkilis hit a big HR that was the difference in the eventual 19-17 Red Sox victory.
|
|
|
Post by Oregon Norm on Feb 16, 2013 23:12:19 GMT -5
Well it does not hurt that wake is mentoring him right? We should ask temple about this... "relationship".
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Feb 16, 2013 23:41:47 GMT -5
i hear that the difference between wake's and dickey knuckle is the speed. wake threw it in the upper 60's, and dickey throws it close to 80.
apparently, its the speed (and of course movement and deception of the pitch) that really distinguishes the effectiveness of a back-end starter like wake and front-line starter like dickey. scouting reports say that wright throws his knuckle in the 75-80 range, so that is good. he can probably throw it that fast because he used to be a "power pitcher".
hopefully wake can help wright with movement and deception, or the "art of the knuckle-ball" but i hope that wright doesn't slow down his knuckle like wake's was, but i hope he tries to keep it at a good velocity, which is close to 80. maybe we will have the next R.A. Dickey!
|
|
|
Post by klostrophobic on Feb 17, 2013 0:55:34 GMT -5
Tim Wakefield has the same career ERA+ as R.A. Dickey. Also a higher single season ERA+.
|
|
|
Post by mredsox89 on Feb 17, 2013 3:59:31 GMT -5
Wakefield's career will be far superior to Dickey's. Wakefield was a #2-#4 starter for 15 years. Dickey has had 1 great year, and 2 good years, with 5 bad to mediocre years prior
|
|
|
Post by brianthetaoist on Feb 17, 2013 7:54:00 GMT -5
Wakefield also didn't throw his knuckler exclusively in the upper 60s. He had a few different knuckleballs he threw. For most of his career, he would throw it in a range of speeds, from a floating mid-60s up to a sharper one in the mid-70s, even a little above sometimes. It was only in the tail end of his career (when he truly was a back-end of rotation starter) that his pitch slowed to the point he really could only throw it in the 60s.
|
|
|
Post by bluechip on Mar 6, 2013 23:30:17 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by knuckledown on Mar 8, 2013 8:02:19 GMT -5
My gut feeling is that he will make 3+ starts, show that he is worth keeping around and will be in the rotation by 2015.
|
|
|
Post by knuckledown on Apr 17, 2013 7:30:44 GMT -5
Pleased to hear he was called up. I had a question for the staff about his scouting grade that sort of relates to to bluechip's link there: with the extreme difficulty in projecting the upside of knuckleball pitchers, how solid is the 3-4 grade he's been given?
Side note: anybody heard anything from Charlie Haeger?
|
|