Halladay's velocity is down, results are not
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Halladay's velocity is down, results are not
Matt Gelb
SAN FRANCISCO — Roy Halladay never went looking Monday for that black stationary bike in the bowels of AT&T Park. He had not stepped foot on the mound here since Oct. 21, 2010. The only reason he could keep throwing off it in Game 5 of the National League Championship Series was because of that bike that helped stretch a strained groin muscle.
"I don't ever want to see that again," Halladay said Monday. Then he smiled.
This time, Halladay could pitch without pain in a Phillies' 5-2 victory over the Giants. Then again, he did not dazzle with his best stuff. Halladay's velocity is experiencing an April drop. His results are not.
More than anything, it has shown the value of a well-located pitch.
"That and being smart," Halladay said. "For me, location and movement has always been more important than velocity. I'd love to be able to throw 95 every pitch, but as long as I'm locating and we're moving it… I think at times I need to take that as opposed to trying to add. That's where I get myself in trouble."
Halladay is throwing more cutters than sinkers because the cutter is a pitch he said he can throw with consistency to both sides of the plate. Last April, Halladay threw his cutter 48 percent of the time with an average velocity of 91.3 m.p.h. according to Pitch F/X data. He's thrown the cutter 51 percent of the time with an 89.5 m.p.h. average velocity this April.
On Monday, the drop was even more pronounced. He averaged 87.9 m.p.h. on his cutter and topped out at 90.8 m.p.h. with his sinker. But few of the pitches were straight.
It's hard to argue with the results. He's allowed two or fewer runs in each of his first three starts and the Phillies have won all three.
"I'll go back and check the gun readings later," Halladay said. "As long as I can focus on mechanics and repeating, that's more important for me right now. Being able to repeat consistently, if I can do that, I'm going to be fine. I don't necessarily need the extra one or two miles per hour if I'm doing the other things right."
It's important to note that according to Major League Baseball's Pitch F/X data, which is synchronized at every ballpark, a litany of top pitchers have experienced decreased velocity early in 2012. Even if the system is calibrated correctly, one scout wondered Monday how important April velocity readings are. It could portend arm issues later, but in Halladay's case, it simply appears the 34-year-old righthander needs more and more time as he ages to build arm strength.
What should be most encouraging about Halladay's outings are each time he has improved later in the game. In Monday's victory, he required only 24 pitches to record his final nine outs.
Halladay said his rhythm and mechanics are better later. He's used recent bullpen sessions to improve his all-around accuracy.
"It's not that it's not there," Halladay said. "It's just not consistent. It's there, but I feel like at times early on I get caught trying to make something better than it should be and getting away from what I should be doing. Really, I think that's the biggest thing. Staying within myself and not trying to make better pitches than I need to. I feel like that's been the biggest reason."
For the 19th time in his last 37 starts, the first batter of the game reached base against Halladay. Eleven times, including Monday, that runner has scored. If there is any fault to find in his performance, it's there.
"There are times when I'm trying to do too much," he said.
If doing too much yields a 1.17 ERA, the Phillies are quite content with that.
Have a question? Send it to Matt Gelb's Mailbag.
They call him Doc— shawnmac- As I commented on Murphy's column, it was chilly here last night. That and the heavy Bay air may have contributed to Halladay's velocity. There's a danger of getting too cute with this over-analysis...— Sam Crow
- Velocity is down not just with Roy but around all of baseball and the reason is tied to 2012 end of the world scenario where the first sign of the deterioration of the earth's magnetic fields and the switching of the poles is first noticed by a physicist who happened to also be a baseball fan. Noticing that velocity had deteriorated he determined that the reason the Mayans knew the world would end in 2012 is because they also played a game with a ball. They foresaw the global cumulative effect balls have on gravitational fields. The Mayans proficiency in astronomy showed them that after the end of the 2012 Baseball season the Astros would be knocked out of alignment by dark energy into the American league. This spun the earth off it's axis and into space. Pretty simple if you think about it.
— DUDESKINS - The way this guy adjusts his game to win is amazing.— s
- Doc is a HOFer. His "B" stuff only yields 3 BBs and 2 runs. Cliff Lee, take note.— palmyra21
- Velocity isn't everything when you actually know how to pitch out there on that mound, and Doc is the very definition of a "pitcher". That being said there truly are a lot of guys throwing slower than they did just a few years ago. Vindication for the PEDs leaving the sport? Lincecum didn't hardly crack 90-91 last night and he always used to be 94, 95, 96.....he threw a lot of junk and rumor has it his arm is in trouble. That's usually when we see velocity drops, when there is a problem.— Mark1npt
- Lincecum's problems are not arm trouble. Just look at his delivery. The body follows the head and his head is throwing out and off his body. With as much action has he has in his delivery it is hard to keep it in sync. With a smoother delivery, ie. Halladay, Lee, Hamels, it is alot easier to fix and tune up than Lincecum's.
I would ask, where's his dad - he was his pitching coach for years. He can fix this.— 24sDad - According to the San Francisco Chronicle: Tim Lincecum's velocity is down, no doubt, but Bruce Bochy doesn't want him fretting. [He wants Lincecum to] ignore the impulse to look constantly at a corner scoreboard, where radar-gun readings are posted after every pitch. Bochy said that since stadiums started flashing pitch speeds, the temptation to look has tortured athletes. When he managed in San Diego, he tried to use that tendency against Brad Penny, then pitching for the Dodgers. Bochy asked his scoreboard crew to tinker with the radar readings, posting them 3 or 4 mph lower than they really were. During the game, he saw a lot of 94s on the board and asked the operators why they hadn't fooled with the numbers, as requested. "They said, 'We did, he's throwing 98.'"
I'm assuming the same radar gun was used on Halladay's pitches. So, maybe there's not story here at all?
http://www.fannation.com/truth_and_rumors/view/327416-bochy-had-pads-toy-with-with-radar-readings?sct=hp_bf2_a5&eref=sihp
— wfiki - It is an honor to watch this man pitch. Once, just once, would like to stand in the batter's box to see up close the incredible movement on those pitches. He made Huff(might have been Belt) look like a Little Leaguer.— SilliBilli
- He dont need no stinking velocity!— vishman14
- Tom Seaver used to say that, in terms of importance, velocity is a distant third to location and movement.— PhightinPhil
- Sandy Koufax once said that pitching is the art of deception.— PhightinPhil
- I hope Cliff Lee was watching. He's too good not to have similar results even when not at his best. Outside of Phillies offensive problems, at least.— PhillySubsMac
- Cliff Lee wants to bat fifth and play center field.— gho_matt
- velocity is unique when it comes to the Phillies. If the pitcher is firing really high speed pitches they can overcome it if it's only fast balls. Once the pitcher switches to knuckle balls, sliders, curve balls, etc. and puts them all over the ball side edges of the strike zone, they are baffled and flail away no matter the speed.— atp2007
