Dubee 'encouraged' with Halladay's uneven debut
The Phillies pitching coach saw positive progressions from Halladay despite an outing that was over before the end of the fourth inning.
Dubee 'encouraged' with Halladay's uneven debut
Ryan Lawrence, Daily News Staff Writer
Panic?
Not in Atlanta. The Phillies continue to spin Roy Halladay's struggles positively.
But then again, what is the alternative?
In his 2013 debut against the Atlanta Braves on Wednesday night, Halladay needed 95 pitches to retire 10 batters. He was gone after 3 1/3 innings of an eventual 9-2 defeat.
Nine of the 10 outs Halladay recorded did come via strikeout, which was somewhat impressive given the quality of his off-speed pitches but more concerning given that it only made his pitch count rise wiht each at-bat.
Pitching coach Rich Dubee spoke about Halladay for nearly 15 minutes on Thursday.
Q: What’s taken so long for it all to click for him?
Dubee: Bad habits. Bad habits that he acquired when he was hurt. This was a guy who did something as consistently as you could possibly do it for years.
Q: Bad habits in delivery?
Dubee: Yes, bad habits to get the ball to the plate last year, trying to work through some of the health issues. And I’m a big believer that the more you do something wrong, the more it becomes ingrained. If you do it wrong and you do it wrong and you do it wrong, it takes time to get that feeling out of your body ad get the right feeling back in it.
Q: What is the bad habit – arm path?
Dubee: He lost direction a little bit in his front side, and of course his arm slot got lower. He’s re-learning (the arm slot), staying more solid on his front side and staying on his line and trying to get better feel for that. But, again, who knows how many pitches he threw last year not feeling right. But because he is talented enough he was still able to go out there and compete. You have to ween off that stuff and get the good stuff in there. And he’s getting it.
Q: Do you think he’s capable of rediscovering old mechanics even with some of the wear and tear maybe he’s sustained?
Dubee: Absolutely. I think, again, over the last 3 outings I’ve been encouraged each time out. I think he’s building and he continues to build.
Q: He's a mentally tough guy. Has this been taxing on him?
Dubee: I don’t think what the media says or what’s out there in this and that is taxing to him, I think whats taxing to him is this guy has tremendous pride and wants to be part of a winner. And he is - like I’ve said many times - he’s probably the most accountable guy I’ve ever been around. And he feels very, very accountable that he has to go out there and pitch well for us to win. And that could be taxing at times, sure. I think it was taxing with cliff last year when he didn’t win for how long. Those things start to wear on you. But this is an accountable guy. I think the more he goes out there and relaxes and is tension-free. He’s going to continue to get it for me.
Q: You said you’ve seen progressions. But when do you need to see results?
Dubee: I think I’m starting to see some results. You think I’m going to take the ball away from this guy? Jesus Christ you’re talking about a two-time Cy Young Award winner. What do you think, we’re going to put him in the bullpen?
I’m seeing results. I’m seeing nine strikeouts out of 10 outs last night. Do you see many other guys doing that in baseball. Yu Darvish against the Astros. Yu Darvish wasn’t facing the Atlanta Braves.
Q: If everything is OK, why did he get away from sinker and cutters?
Dubee: He wasn’t able to do it arm-slot wise.
Q: No, last night. He threw 50 percent off-speed pitches.
Dubee: Because what were they doing? Where they swinging at it?
Q: They also took a lot of them, building pitch count.
Dubee: And that’s the part we have to work to, we have to get quicker outs. ... It’s a matter of making the pitch to finish guys, making that one good, quality pitch.
I have a feeling Dubee is going to replace Rube s GM.— Copper34- What can Dubee say at this point? It is what it is. It's Doc's last season with the team. They got their money's worth out of the first two seasons, got hosed last season and will likely get hosed this season. Not much to say. If this is how it ends, Doc's career with the Phils was a mixed bag. The season just started so that remains to be seen.— Steve Jeltz
- Does anyone believe in dubious Dubee or have any faith in him? Clean house!— wmontanez27
- Let's see if Sandberg gets to pick his own pitching coach. Whatever led Monty and the Blue Bloods to hire Gillick, I hope it happens again. We need a GM with a brain.
— Copper34 - "Dubee not panicking over Doc"
So in spring training Dubee swore there was nothing wrong with Halladay. He said this despite the fact that Halladay couldn't get 15 outs in one game in all of spring training.
When he talked about Halladay, he said he was "hurt" that people didn't believe him.
Now, Dubee has lied every time a pitcher has been hurt. But we're supposed to believe him this time.
Meanwhile, Halladay looked like a 70 year old man on the mound yesterday and Dubee is not panicking.....— fmMD - Dubee is a born liar, just like Amaro. He's also worthless, so I wouldn't expect him to help Doc, just like he's come up short with Kendrick all these years. Dubee is about the most worthless person in the dugout, other than Manuel.
- I saw a pitcher who looked like he hasn't had a full spring training...struggling with his arm slot, and missing fat with his fastball in the first inning. Then, I saw a pitcher who made a very potent offense look silly at times with what I would describe as "filthy stuff." Then, I saw a pitcher who clearly ran out of gas when he hit the 80/85 pitch mark.
I'm not deluding myself into thinking that he's the dominant, CY Young force he was when he first arrived, but I'm not going to rush to write him off for the season, because he was inconsistent in what amounts to a spring training game for him.— sfactor - Dubee is a loser— shawnmac
- Maybe Dubee should take Doc's next turn in the rotation. It can't be any worse...— coloradoeagle
- Encouraged? Are you kidding Dubee? Or are you just sucking down too many of your name sake? I think you should be concerned about your OWN performance and job security. Your job, like Manuel's (and even Amaro's), is on the hot seat.
- He's not a liar, or lying. These interviews are 90% meaningless spin. It's like politicians' statements to the press.They're just blithering what they hope will keep the fans and voters happy.— doc35
- He's as much a liar as you are an apologist. Man, wake up. That's all these guys do. And, for your information, if you don't call what politicians do as "lying" then there's no hope for you. Your last sentence defines the term. Hello. It's called LYING. Wow.....
- Dubee is another Manuel. Low intel, right place at right time, came cheap, never developed a young player, talks a lot of babble. Yo lo tango is right clean house with these guys.— Phillip Phan
- Exactly. Manuel and Dubee are the "Larry and Curly" of the dugout, with Moe (Amaro) haplessly running the show.
