Looks like we got some decent pitching today

[shoewizard]

El Duque had a good gameagainst the Angels., throwing 6 Ip, 1 ER , 5 hits, walked 2, struck out 2, ...the lone run on a homer by Morales in the 3rd.

And Nippert must have had a good outing against the Padres, as it's 2-1 in the 9th. He must have just let up the one run in the 4th.

 

[AZZenny]

Obviously this is one of those years when it pays to badmouth the pitchers so they can prove us wrong.

 

[shoewizard]

Right now, we will have to latch on to anything positive.

 

[McCray]

both nippert and webb are products of this system who made it to the majors without ever learning any way to hold a runner. shouldn't this be one of the things taught in single and double a? is there just virtually no running game in the minors?

i guess i'm just confused -- people are saying nippert needs to learn to hold runners before he's ready for the majors, and yet our minor league system doesn't seem to really teach it there, so what's the reason he isn't going to be pitching up here from day one?

sure, it starts his clock, but is that really an issue? his clock starts this season anyway, no matter what.

 

[whozurmomma]

I am not sure that the Dback minor coaches aren't 'teaching' how to hold a runner on. Am pretty sure our RHP son worked his runners at first ... but can't really say how many guys are running these days either. As I saw discussed on another board somewhere ... in a thread about Bonds and steroids etc. ... one of the posters commented that the day of the 'running game' in baseball seems to have gone by the wayside, more emphasis on power etc takes away from that part of the game. So if baserunners aren't taking off ... seriously stealing ... the pitchers have little to work with.

Just did a little check on the Midwest League stats for 2005 on stolen bases ... break down is as follows: 19 batters had more than 20 SB; 54 had between 10 and 20 SBs; 155 had between 1 and 9 SBs. I didn't tabulate the SB attempts for these batters but for the most part, at a glance, the guys with the lower numbers weren't running very often at all. Anyway, if they don't run, the pitchers can't keep them on.

Also, I think you might see that the pitchers who were drafted out of college may be more likely to work at keep runners from stealing ... something I know our son worked a lot on during college. That is just speculation on my part, but being able to hold a runner seems a lost art at other levels. And it isn't always the pitcher that they steal off of ... quite often (do I sound like a pitcher's mom?) they steal the bag off of the catcher. JMHO

 

[McCray]

when i used to play as a kid, my dad told me i couldn't hold runners on at all. so he told me to always walk the first guy in the inning, just for one game. the first guy scored in the first inning, got taken down at the plate in the second, scored in the third, but after that, i held that little brat in place.

maybe if nippert spends a month in aaa, polishing his stuff, and works side games with a runner on his off throwing days, maybe that'd help? they just rattle him so much, and i think if he got more used to them it'd do a world of wonders for him.