azdad1978
Championship!!!!
By Jack Magruder, Tribune
TUCSON — At first blush, Brad Halsey appears to be the anti-Randy. He is 6-foot-1, approachable and has a more moderate fastball, his inclusion in the Johnson trade with the New York Yankees seemingly a way to balance yin and yang.
But Halsey has the same intensity in his eyes as Johnson, and in his own way is as aggressive on the mound.
Halsey does something most left-handed pitchers do not; he challenges right-handed hitters on the inside of the plate.
It is a style that leaves little margin for error, but it also keeps righties off balance, the most important element of his craft.
"I throw 70 percent fastballs, so if I am not commanding both sides of the plate, forget about it,'' said Halsey, 24. "Guys like me, we have to walk a little bit more of a tightrope out there. You have to be a lot more fine but you also have to be more aggressive at the same time, too, because if you get down in the count, you don't have that 98-mile-an-hour fastball to rely on.''
Newcomer Halsey is one of the candidates for the No. 5 starter spot, along with Oscar Villarreal, Michael Gosling and Tony Pena.
Halsey made seven starts when injuries struck the Yankees' rotation last season, going 1-3 with a 6.47 ERA, but he was 11-4 with a 2.63 ERA and two shutouts in 23 starts at Class AAA Columbus, his third pro season after playing on the University of Texas' 2002 national championship team.
"His style is aggressive, which is nice. You don't see many lefties want to do that,'' said D-Backs pitching coach Mark Davis. During Davis’ days as a Cy Young-winning closer, the lefty said, he tried to stay away from the inner half, where one mistake could cost him a game.
"But if you can locate it in there . . . It is hard to hit the ball inside. As a starting pitcher, you can live in there a little bit more. The ones who do it effectively buy the outside part of the plate. It's a good way to pitch. If you can come in there and throw it where you want, it gives you a big weapon that not everybody has. I like what I've seen.''
Halsey has shown that command in his last two minor league seasons — he struck out 109 in 144 innings while giving up only 128 hits and 37 walks at Columbus in 2004, a year after he tied for the minor league lead with 17 victories while splitting time between Class A Tampa and Class AA Trenton.
"I'm happy to be in the situation I am now,'' Halsey said. "It's a chance to make the club, and I wasn't going to have that with the Yankees.
Being a young pitcher in New York "was more frustrating than anything, because no matter how well I did, the guys who were going to be with the major league club already were set.
"You do not want to be a guy knowing that, unless someone got hurt, you were not going to make the team. And you never want to hope someone got hurt. That sucks.''
http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/index.php?sty=37148
TUCSON — At first blush, Brad Halsey appears to be the anti-Randy. He is 6-foot-1, approachable and has a more moderate fastball, his inclusion in the Johnson trade with the New York Yankees seemingly a way to balance yin and yang.
But Halsey has the same intensity in his eyes as Johnson, and in his own way is as aggressive on the mound.
Halsey does something most left-handed pitchers do not; he challenges right-handed hitters on the inside of the plate.
It is a style that leaves little margin for error, but it also keeps righties off balance, the most important element of his craft.
"I throw 70 percent fastballs, so if I am not commanding both sides of the plate, forget about it,'' said Halsey, 24. "Guys like me, we have to walk a little bit more of a tightrope out there. You have to be a lot more fine but you also have to be more aggressive at the same time, too, because if you get down in the count, you don't have that 98-mile-an-hour fastball to rely on.''
Newcomer Halsey is one of the candidates for the No. 5 starter spot, along with Oscar Villarreal, Michael Gosling and Tony Pena.
Halsey made seven starts when injuries struck the Yankees' rotation last season, going 1-3 with a 6.47 ERA, but he was 11-4 with a 2.63 ERA and two shutouts in 23 starts at Class AAA Columbus, his third pro season after playing on the University of Texas' 2002 national championship team.
"His style is aggressive, which is nice. You don't see many lefties want to do that,'' said D-Backs pitching coach Mark Davis. During Davis’ days as a Cy Young-winning closer, the lefty said, he tried to stay away from the inner half, where one mistake could cost him a game.
"But if you can locate it in there . . . It is hard to hit the ball inside. As a starting pitcher, you can live in there a little bit more. The ones who do it effectively buy the outside part of the plate. It's a good way to pitch. If you can come in there and throw it where you want, it gives you a big weapon that not everybody has. I like what I've seen.''
Halsey has shown that command in his last two minor league seasons — he struck out 109 in 144 innings while giving up only 128 hits and 37 walks at Columbus in 2004, a year after he tied for the minor league lead with 17 victories while splitting time between Class A Tampa and Class AA Trenton.
"I'm happy to be in the situation I am now,'' Halsey said. "It's a chance to make the club, and I wasn't going to have that with the Yankees.
Being a young pitcher in New York "was more frustrating than anything, because no matter how well I did, the guys who were going to be with the major league club already were set.
"You do not want to be a guy knowing that, unless someone got hurt, you were not going to make the team. And you never want to hope someone got hurt. That sucks.''
http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/index.php?sty=37148
(feeling stupid) 
