They are destroying the city with casinos and you guys are worried about an AT&T sign?
Casinos make jobs,and at this time we need jobs.
I know more people that have benefited off these casinos than anyone but trashing the city up and fixing short term job and budget problems off peoples gambling issues is not a good thing in my opinion.
They are destroying the city with casinos and you guys are worried about an AT&T sign?
Casinos make jobs,and at this time we need jobs.
I know more people that have benefited off these casinos than anyone but trashing the city up and fixing short term job and budget problems off peoples gambling issues is not a good thing in my opinion.
Cliff, the "trashing up the city" with casinos is totally overblown. You've been reading too much Joey Sweeney and his Philebrity, my city resident brotha. I'm not a fan of it, but people are making a bigger deal of it than I think is needed.
And Johnny, to keep fares down? Phssshhh, this is nothing more than greed, not to keep fares down. Fares already went up this year. Plus, they've got those new silverline rail cars about to hit the tracks so prices are definitely not going down anytime soon.
Before ya know it, you're gonna see The Toyota Phillies of Philadelphia. Count on it. Where ever advertising dollars can be rolled into revenue it is inevitable to happen. And it's sickening.
And on a baseball note, I wonder when the Phillies are going to realize Kyle Kendrick is Kyle Kendrick.
I'm gonna play a little devil's advocate here. Isn't this better than higher fares or reduced service? The only problem I have is the name doesn't tell you where you are. I find the concept more amusing than disturbing.
I'm with Johnny here. No big deal. We all know that Septa needs the money
CBP is a great place to see a game, but the park is a joke (as are a lot of the new parks). werth was way out on his front foot and he still put that thing 6 rows deep.
And let me just say, I LOVE the chick who sits second seat in, second row, behind the plate. She gets loud, older, therefor hot, and always at the games which her trophy-wife winning husband has provided with being some hawt shawt at some Fortune 500.
CBP is a great place to see a game, but the park is a joke (as are a lot of the new parks). werth was way out on his front foot and he still put that thing 6 rows deep.
Blasphemy. The only park that's normal is Dodger stadium. Every other park is either too small or too big.
I'm with Johnny here. No big deal. We all know that Septa needs the money
Thanks. The state & city told SEPTA that they had to figure out new ways of raising revenue, because they weren't going to be subsidized anymore. People in this country don't want to pay higher taxes, so you have things like AT&T Station. It's not that horrible, is it?
I'm with Cliffy on the casinos. It's like robbing Peter to pay Paul (is that the expression?).
Kendrick showed some guts last night getting out of the 1st. Team was clearly encouraged by that. Although it started to look like everyone was just trying to hit HR's after the 4th inning. (gotta complain about something, right?)
Spectrum 10/27/09; New Orleans JazzFest 5/1/10; Made in America 9/2/12; WF Center 10/21/13; WF Center 10/22/13; Baltimore 10/27/13; WF Center 4/28/16; WF Center 4/29/16; Fenway Park 8/7/16; Fenway Park 9/2/18; Asbury Park 9/18/21; Camden 9/14/22; Las Vegas 5/16/24; Las Vegas 5/18/24; WF Center 9/7/24; WF Center 9/9/24; Baltimore Arena 9/12/24
Tres Mtns - TLA 3/23/11; EV - Tower Theatre 6/25/11; Temple of the Dog - Tower Theatre 11/5/16
I'm with Johnny here. No big deal. We all know that Septa needs the money
Thanks. The state & city told SEPTA that they had to figure out new ways of raising revenue, because they weren't going to be subsidized anymore. People in this country don't want to pay higher taxes, so you have things like AT&T Station. It's not that horrible, is it?
I'm with Cliffy on the casinos. It's like robbing Peter to pay Paul (is that the expression?).
Kendrick showed some guts last night getting out of the 1st. Team was clearly encouraged by that. Although it started to look like everyone was just trying to hit HR's after the 4th inning. (gotta complain about something, right?)
listen..i totally understand the reasons for it. i'm just not a big fan of seeing a corporate sponsor on just about everything in this world these days. at least it's orange
listen..i totally understand the reasons for it. i'm just not a big fan of seeing a corporate sponsor on just about everything in this world these days. at least it's orange
I guess it was lucky that AT&T's color is the same as the Broad Street Line. I just hope they clarify that this is the station at Pattison Ave.
The Wells Fargo sign on the WTF Center looks like shit.
Come on Joe the Pitcher! Magic Number: 11.
Spectrum 10/27/09; New Orleans JazzFest 5/1/10; Made in America 9/2/12; WF Center 10/21/13; WF Center 10/22/13; Baltimore 10/27/13; WF Center 4/28/16; WF Center 4/29/16; Fenway Park 8/7/16; Fenway Park 9/2/18; Asbury Park 9/18/21; Camden 9/14/22; Las Vegas 5/16/24; Las Vegas 5/18/24; WF Center 9/7/24; WF Center 9/9/24; Baltimore Arena 9/12/24
Tres Mtns - TLA 3/23/11; EV - Tower Theatre 6/25/11; Temple of the Dog - Tower Theatre 11/5/16
8/28/98- Camden, NJ
10/31/09- Philly
5/21/10- NYC
9/2/12- Philly, PA
7/19/13- Wrigley
10/19/13- Brooklyn, NY
10/21/13- Philly, PA
10/22/13- Philly, PA
10/27/13- Baltimore, MD
4/28/16- Philly, PA
4/29/16- Philly, PA
5/1/16- NYC
5/2/16- NYC
9/2/18- Boston, MA
9/4/18- Boston, MA
9/14/22- Camden, NJ
9/7/24- Philly, PA
9/9/24- Philly, PA
Tres Mts.- 3/23/11- Philly. PA
Eddie Vedder- 6/25/11- Philly, PA
RNDM- 3/9/16- Philly, PA
Told you Jason Werth had the best WAR on the team!
Wow - that was really fun to watch. Magic number: 10!
Spectrum 10/27/09; New Orleans JazzFest 5/1/10; Made in America 9/2/12; WF Center 10/21/13; WF Center 10/22/13; Baltimore 10/27/13; WF Center 4/28/16; WF Center 4/29/16; Fenway Park 8/7/16; Fenway Park 9/2/18; Asbury Park 9/18/21; Camden 9/14/22; Las Vegas 5/16/24; Las Vegas 5/18/24; WF Center 9/7/24; WF Center 9/9/24; Baltimore Arena 9/12/24
Tres Mtns - TLA 3/23/11; EV - Tower Theatre 6/25/11; Temple of the Dog - Tower Theatre 11/5/16
Reading 2004
Albany 2006 Camden 2006 E. Rutherford 2, 2006 Inglewood 2006,
Chicago 2007
Camden 2008 MSG 2008 MSG 2008 Hartford 2008.
Seattle 2009 Seattle 2009 Philadelphia 2009,Philadelphia 2009 Philadelphia 2009
Hartford 2010 MSG 2010 MSG 2010
Toronto 2011,Toronto 2011
Wrigley Field 2013 Brooklyn 2013 Brooklyn 2013 Philadelphia 2, 2013
Philadelphia 1, 2016 Philadelphia 2 2016 New York 2016 New York 2016 Fenway 1, 2016 Fenway 2, 2018 MSG 2022 St. Paul, 1, St. Paul 2 2023 MSG 2024, MSG 2024 Philadelphia 2024
"I play good, hard-nosed basketball.
Things happen in the game. Nothing you
can do. I don't go and say,
"I'm gonna beat this guy up."
I just hope he has a great last month as a Phillie.
Spectrum 10/27/09; New Orleans JazzFest 5/1/10; Made in America 9/2/12; WF Center 10/21/13; WF Center 10/22/13; Baltimore 10/27/13; WF Center 4/28/16; WF Center 4/29/16; Fenway Park 8/7/16; Fenway Park 9/2/18; Asbury Park 9/18/21; Camden 9/14/22; Las Vegas 5/16/24; Las Vegas 5/18/24; WF Center 9/7/24; WF Center 9/9/24; Baltimore Arena 9/12/24
Tres Mtns - TLA 3/23/11; EV - Tower Theatre 6/25/11; Temple of the Dog - Tower Theatre 11/5/16
Also, victorino's crying after every call that goes against him is old. Someone needs to tell him to knock that shit off.
It didn't look like he did anything worth being thrown out, but I wasn't down there. He gave him the heave ho about .5 seconds after giving him the equip fine. These umpires are way out of control this year.
Let's keep Jurrjens' struggles going tonight!
Spectrum 10/27/09; New Orleans JazzFest 5/1/10; Made in America 9/2/12; WF Center 10/21/13; WF Center 10/22/13; Baltimore 10/27/13; WF Center 4/28/16; WF Center 4/29/16; Fenway Park 8/7/16; Fenway Park 9/2/18; Asbury Park 9/18/21; Camden 9/14/22; Las Vegas 5/16/24; Las Vegas 5/18/24; WF Center 9/7/24; WF Center 9/9/24; Baltimore Arena 9/12/24
Tres Mtns - TLA 3/23/11; EV - Tower Theatre 6/25/11; Temple of the Dog - Tower Theatre 11/5/16
guess you guys are happy we didn't trade werth a couple months back
helluva win. had that on the little tv all day. his at bat was perfect timing-right when the birds game ended. even better, we were watching it with a braves fan. hey. oh.
guess you guys are happy we didn't trade werth a couple months back
helluva win. had that on the little tv all day. his at bat was perfect timing-right when the birds game ended. even better, we were watching it with a braves fan. hey. oh.
You were in the presence of a FRAUD at your house ?!?!?!
My drinking team has a hockey problem
The ONLY thing better than a glass of beer is tea with Miss McGill
A protuberance of flesh above the waistband of a tight pair of trousers
guess you guys are happy we didn't trade werth a couple months back
helluva win. had that on the little tv all day. his at bat was perfect timing-right when the birds game ended. even better, we were watching it with a braves fan. hey. oh.
You were in the presence of a FRAUD at your house ?!?!?!
yeah. he's gonna be in my wedding. great friend...just got sucked into being a fan of his dad's team at a young age. don't think the rest of us don't give him the business every chance we get though
it's made this season that much more enjoyable too.
yeah. he's gonna be in my wedding. great friend...just got sucked into being a fan of his dad's team at a young age. don't think the rest of us don't give him the business every chance we get though
it's made this season that much more enjoyable too.
My sister-in-law's new boyfriend this year is a Braves fan, but doesn't seem to take it seriously enough to make it a lot of fun to mock him.
That was the fun part of beating the Mets those couple years - plenty of them to make fun of.
Spectrum 10/27/09; New Orleans JazzFest 5/1/10; Made in America 9/2/12; WF Center 10/21/13; WF Center 10/22/13; Baltimore 10/27/13; WF Center 4/28/16; WF Center 4/29/16; Fenway Park 8/7/16; Fenway Park 9/2/18; Asbury Park 9/18/21; Camden 9/14/22; Las Vegas 5/16/24; Las Vegas 5/18/24; WF Center 9/7/24; WF Center 9/9/24; Baltimore Arena 9/12/24
Tres Mtns - TLA 3/23/11; EV - Tower Theatre 6/25/11; Temple of the Dog - Tower Theatre 11/5/16
Cool article about Cole Hamels' cutter on espn. Apparently Doobs spends a lot of time teaching this pitch. Sorry I couldn't post the graphs - they're confusing anyway. By the way, I have no idea was FIP is.
After frustrating Philadelphia Phillies fans with what looked to be a step backward last year, Cole Hamels has bounced back in a big way this season. Thanks to an increase in strikeouts, Hamels is having the best year of his career; his ERA (3.01) and FIP (3.62) are both career lows. The key to his success? Adding the hot pitch in baseball right now -- the cutter.
Up to this year, Hamels had been a three-pitch pitcher. His repertoire was consistently based around 60 percent fastballs, 30 percent changeups and 10 percent curves. This year, he has reduced the usage of all three of those pitches in order to accommodate the new weapon, which he throws 15 percent of the time. It isn't just a once-a-game option, as Hamels has really begun to feature the cut fastball even though it's a new pitch for him.
Compared to his more traditional fastball, his cutter moves in on right-handed batters (and, naturally, cuts away from left-handed batters). As a result, he tends to throw it further inside to righties than his fastball.
While his fastball is generally slightly away, the location of his cutter is much more extreme, regularly placed on the inside edge of the plate, as graph No. 1 (right) shows. This allows him to pitch to both corners, keeping batters more off-balance than in the past, when his fastball was traditionally thrown to just one side of the plate.
Hamels' stuff has always been good, but his reliance on similar-looking fastballs and changeups didn't give hitters much variety, and advanced scouting reports would give them a pretty good idea of where to look for a fastball. By adding a cutter, he can mix in a pitch that doesn't look like anything else he throws, and he's putting it in a place that he's traditionally avoided.
It isn't just deception, either -- these inside cutters are very effective. Graph No. 2 (right) illustrates the swinging strike rate on the pitch to right-handed hitters by horizontal location. The league average swinging strike rate is about 8 percent, so as you can see in graph No. 2, Hamels' cutter is not a pitch-to-contact offering, especially where he's throwing it. The pitch peaks in effectiveness on the inside edge of the plate, very close to where he puts it the most often. Not only has he learned the pitch quickly, but it appears that he has also learned the optimum way of using it.
Hamels' best pitch, and main out pitch, is still his changeup, but the cutter gives him another weapon he can throw for strikes early in counts. The new pitch allows him to get ahead of hitters more often and sets up his dynamic changeup for more two-strike counts. The leap forward in his strikeout rate (from 7.89 K/9 last year to 9.29 this year) can't be entirely attributed to the addition of the cut fastball, but it has almost certainly played a role in how he's developed.
If you're wondering how he picked it up so quickly, just look around at his teammates. The Phillies lead the league in percentage of cutters thrown -- 16.4 percent -- by a huge margin. The Tampa Bay Rays come in second in frequency at 9.4 percent, and the league average is about 5 percent. All five Phillies starters use the cutter, and while Joe Blanton uses it the least (5.9 percent), even he is above the league average. In addition, relievers Ryan Madson and Chad Durbin throw cutters.
When you look at the list of pitchers who have added the cutter in recent years, it is easy to see why it has become so popular. With Cliff Lee, John Danks and C.J. Wilson among the recently converted, it has become a big pitch for left-handed starters who need another weapon to make up for average velocity.
Hamels was good with his old pitch mix, but the addition of the cutter has made him a legitimate ace. Of course, he doesn't have to be the No. 1 starter in Philadelphia, because he's got the luxury of pitching behind Roy Halladay, who has also made quite a career for himself by throwing a lot of cut fastballs.
Spectrum 10/27/09; New Orleans JazzFest 5/1/10; Made in America 9/2/12; WF Center 10/21/13; WF Center 10/22/13; Baltimore 10/27/13; WF Center 4/28/16; WF Center 4/29/16; Fenway Park 8/7/16; Fenway Park 9/2/18; Asbury Park 9/18/21; Camden 9/14/22; Las Vegas 5/16/24; Las Vegas 5/18/24; WF Center 9/7/24; WF Center 9/9/24; Baltimore Arena 9/12/24
Tres Mtns - TLA 3/23/11; EV - Tower Theatre 6/25/11; Temple of the Dog - Tower Theatre 11/5/16
Interesting game for a 23-year-old to make his major league debut. The Braves have summoned righthander Brandon Beachy to start against the Phillies tonight in place of Jair Jurrjens, who was scratched from the start with a sore knee.
Beachy is 5-1 with a 1.73 ERA at Double-A and Triple-A this season and has posted stellar strikeout and walk rates of 11.2 K/9 and 2.1 BB/9.
Jurrjens has dominated the Phillies in his career, allowing just 17 earned runs in 59.2 innings over nine starts. He held them to three runs on two hits in six innings back on July 6 when he was just returning from a two-month stay on the DL. Last season, he held them to four earned runs in 26.2 innings.
According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Beachy has been a fast-riser in the system, going from an undrafted free agent out of Indiana Wesleyan two years go to the major leagues without showing up on any top prospect lists.
Spectrum 10/27/09; New Orleans JazzFest 5/1/10; Made in America 9/2/12; WF Center 10/21/13; WF Center 10/22/13; Baltimore 10/27/13; WF Center 4/28/16; WF Center 4/29/16; Fenway Park 8/7/16; Fenway Park 9/2/18; Asbury Park 9/18/21; Camden 9/14/22; Las Vegas 5/16/24; Las Vegas 5/18/24; WF Center 9/7/24; WF Center 9/9/24; Baltimore Arena 9/12/24
Tres Mtns - TLA 3/23/11; EV - Tower Theatre 6/25/11; Temple of the Dog - Tower Theatre 11/5/16
also, regarding victorino...I wasn't at the game either. I think he might be developing a reputation though. He bitches about a LOT of calls, which could make him an easy target for umps. He needs to keep his mouth shut and play.
Interesting game for a 23-year-old to make his major league debut. The Braves have summoned righthander Brandon Beachy to start against the Phillies tonight in place of Jair Jurrjens, who was scratched from the start with a sore knee.
Beachy is 5-1 with a 1.73 ERA at Double-A and Triple-A this season and has posted stellar strikeout and walk rates of 11.2 K/9 and 2.1 BB/9.
Jurrjens has dominated the Phillies in his career, allowing just 17 earned runs in 59.2 innings over nine starts. He held them to three runs on two hits in six innings back on July 6 when he was just returning from a two-month stay on the DL. Last season, he held them to four earned runs in 26.2 innings.
According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Beachy has been a fast-riser in the system, going from an undrafted free agent out of Indiana Wesleyan two years go to the major leagues without showing up on any top prospect lists.
we always seem to struggle against guys we've never seen. that combined with the run support thingy with hamels means i would not be surprised if this is the one we lose. i think we win 2 out of 3 though...
Comments
I know more people that have benefited off these casinos than anyone but trashing the city up and fixing short term job and budget problems off peoples gambling issues is not a good thing in my opinion.
Cliff, the "trashing up the city" with casinos is totally overblown. You've been reading too much Joey Sweeney and his Philebrity, my city resident brotha. I'm not a fan of it, but people are making a bigger deal of it than I think is needed.
And Johnny, to keep fares down? Phssshhh, this is nothing more than greed, not to keep fares down. Fares already went up this year. Plus, they've got those new silverline rail cars about to hit the tracks so prices are definitely not going down anytime soon.
Before ya know it, you're gonna see The Toyota Phillies of Philadelphia. Count on it. Where ever advertising dollars can be rolled into revenue it is inevitable to happen. And it's sickening.
And on a baseball note, I wonder when the Phillies are going to realize Kyle Kendrick is Kyle Kendrick.
I'm with Johnny here. No big deal. We all know that Septa needs the money
Blasphemy. The only park that's normal is Dodger stadium. Every other park is either too small or too big.
Thanks. The state & city told SEPTA that they had to figure out new ways of raising revenue, because they weren't going to be subsidized anymore. People in this country don't want to pay higher taxes, so you have things like AT&T Station. It's not that horrible, is it?
I'm with Cliffy on the casinos. It's like robbing Peter to pay Paul (is that the expression?).
Kendrick showed some guts last night getting out of the 1st. Team was clearly encouraged by that. Although it started to look like everyone was just trying to hit HR's after the 4th inning. (gotta complain about something, right?)
WF Center 4/28/16; WF Center 4/29/16; Fenway Park 8/7/16; Fenway Park 9/2/18; Asbury Park 9/18/21; Camden 9/14/22;
Las Vegas 5/16/24; Las Vegas 5/18/24; WF Center 9/7/24; WF Center 9/9/24; Baltimore Arena 9/12/24
Tres Mtns - TLA 3/23/11; EV - Tower Theatre 6/25/11; Temple of the Dog - Tower Theatre 11/5/16
listen..i totally understand the reasons for it. i'm just not a big fan of seeing a corporate sponsor on just about everything in this world these days. at least it's orange
I guess it was lucky that AT&T's color is the same as the Broad Street Line. I just hope they clarify that this is the station at Pattison Ave.
The Wells Fargo sign on the WTF Center looks like shit.
Come on Joe the Pitcher! Magic Number: 11.
WF Center 4/28/16; WF Center 4/29/16; Fenway Park 8/7/16; Fenway Park 9/2/18; Asbury Park 9/18/21; Camden 9/14/22;
Las Vegas 5/16/24; Las Vegas 5/18/24; WF Center 9/7/24; WF Center 9/9/24; Baltimore Arena 9/12/24
Tres Mtns - TLA 3/23/11; EV - Tower Theatre 6/25/11; Temple of the Dog - Tower Theatre 11/5/16
10/31/09- Philly
5/21/10- NYC
9/2/12- Philly, PA
7/19/13- Wrigley
10/19/13- Brooklyn, NY
10/21/13- Philly, PA
10/22/13- Philly, PA
10/27/13- Baltimore, MD
4/28/16- Philly, PA
4/29/16- Philly, PA
5/1/16- NYC
5/2/16- NYC
9/2/18- Boston, MA
9/4/18- Boston, MA
9/14/22- Camden, NJ
9/7/24- Philly, PA
9/9/24- Philly, PA
Eddie Vedder- 6/25/11- Philly, PA
RNDM- 3/9/16- Philly, PA
Told you Jason Werth had the best WAR on the team!
Wow - that was really fun to watch. Magic number: 10!
WF Center 4/28/16; WF Center 4/29/16; Fenway Park 8/7/16; Fenway Park 9/2/18; Asbury Park 9/18/21; Camden 9/14/22;
Las Vegas 5/16/24; Las Vegas 5/18/24; WF Center 9/7/24; WF Center 9/9/24; Baltimore Arena 9/12/24
Tres Mtns - TLA 3/23/11; EV - Tower Theatre 6/25/11; Temple of the Dog - Tower Theatre 11/5/16
http://www.csnphilly.com/09/19/10/Phils ... feedID=704
Albany 2006 Camden 2006 E. Rutherford 2, 2006 Inglewood 2006,
Chicago 2007
Camden 2008 MSG 2008 MSG 2008 Hartford 2008.
Seattle 2009 Seattle 2009 Philadelphia 2009,Philadelphia 2009 Philadelphia 2009
Hartford 2010 MSG 2010 MSG 2010
Toronto 2011,Toronto 2011
Wrigley Field 2013 Brooklyn 2013 Brooklyn 2013 Philadelphia 2, 2013
Philadelphia 1, 2016 Philadelphia 2 2016 New York 2016 New York 2016 Fenway 1, 2016
Fenway 2, 2018
MSG 2022
St. Paul, 1, St. Paul 2 2023
MSG 2024, MSG 2024
Philadelphia 2024
"I play good, hard-nosed basketball.
Things happen in the game. Nothing you
can do. I don't go and say,
"I'm gonna beat this guy up."
I just hope he has a great last month as a Phillie.
WF Center 4/28/16; WF Center 4/29/16; Fenway Park 8/7/16; Fenway Park 9/2/18; Asbury Park 9/18/21; Camden 9/14/22;
Las Vegas 5/16/24; Las Vegas 5/18/24; WF Center 9/7/24; WF Center 9/9/24; Baltimore Arena 9/12/24
Tres Mtns - TLA 3/23/11; EV - Tower Theatre 6/25/11; Temple of the Dog - Tower Theatre 11/5/16
Yeah, let's hope for a carlos beltran-like playoff push for a contract
Huge win today. That 9th inning was ridiculous. Nice to see werth make up for missing that ball in CF. He should never play CF ever again.
3 game lead heading into the big series.
It didn't look like he did anything worth being thrown out, but I wasn't down there. He gave him the heave ho about .5 seconds after giving him the equip fine. These umpires are way out of control this year.
Let's keep Jurrjens' struggles going tonight!
WF Center 4/28/16; WF Center 4/29/16; Fenway Park 8/7/16; Fenway Park 9/2/18; Asbury Park 9/18/21; Camden 9/14/22;
Las Vegas 5/16/24; Las Vegas 5/18/24; WF Center 9/7/24; WF Center 9/9/24; Baltimore Arena 9/12/24
Tres Mtns - TLA 3/23/11; EV - Tower Theatre 6/25/11; Temple of the Dog - Tower Theatre 11/5/16
helluva win. had that on the little tv all day. his at bat was perfect timing-right when the birds game ended. even better, we were watching it with a braves fan. hey. oh.
You were in the presence of a FRAUD at your house ?!?!?!
The ONLY thing better than a glass of beer is tea with Miss McGill
A protuberance of flesh above the waistband of a tight pair of trousers
yeah. he's gonna be in my wedding. great friend...just got sucked into being a fan of his dad's team at a young age. don't think the rest of us don't give him the business every chance we get though
it's made this season that much more enjoyable too.
My sister-in-law's new boyfriend this year is a Braves fan, but doesn't seem to take it seriously enough to make it a lot of fun to mock him.
That was the fun part of beating the Mets those couple years - plenty of them to make fun of.
WF Center 4/28/16; WF Center 4/29/16; Fenway Park 8/7/16; Fenway Park 9/2/18; Asbury Park 9/18/21; Camden 9/14/22;
Las Vegas 5/16/24; Las Vegas 5/18/24; WF Center 9/7/24; WF Center 9/9/24; Baltimore Arena 9/12/24
Tres Mtns - TLA 3/23/11; EV - Tower Theatre 6/25/11; Temple of the Dog - Tower Theatre 11/5/16
After frustrating Philadelphia Phillies fans with what looked to be a step backward last year, Cole Hamels has bounced back in a big way this season. Thanks to an increase in strikeouts, Hamels is having the best year of his career; his ERA (3.01) and FIP (3.62) are both career lows. The key to his success? Adding the hot pitch in baseball right now -- the cutter.
Up to this year, Hamels had been a three-pitch pitcher. His repertoire was consistently based around 60 percent fastballs, 30 percent changeups and 10 percent curves. This year, he has reduced the usage of all three of those pitches in order to accommodate the new weapon, which he throws 15 percent of the time. It isn't just a once-a-game option, as Hamels has really begun to feature the cut fastball even though it's a new pitch for him.
Compared to his more traditional fastball, his cutter moves in on right-handed batters (and, naturally, cuts away from left-handed batters). As a result, he tends to throw it further inside to righties than his fastball.
While his fastball is generally slightly away, the location of his cutter is much more extreme, regularly placed on the inside edge of the plate, as graph No. 1 (right) shows. This allows him to pitch to both corners, keeping batters more off-balance than in the past, when his fastball was traditionally thrown to just one side of the plate.
Hamels' stuff has always been good, but his reliance on similar-looking fastballs and changeups didn't give hitters much variety, and advanced scouting reports would give them a pretty good idea of where to look for a fastball. By adding a cutter, he can mix in a pitch that doesn't look like anything else he throws, and he's putting it in a place that he's traditionally avoided.
It isn't just deception, either -- these inside cutters are very effective. Graph No. 2 (right) illustrates the swinging strike rate on the pitch to right-handed hitters by horizontal location. The league average swinging strike rate is about 8 percent, so as you can see in graph No. 2, Hamels' cutter is not a pitch-to-contact offering, especially where he's throwing it. The pitch peaks in effectiveness on the inside edge of the plate, very close to where he puts it the most often. Not only has he learned the pitch quickly, but it appears that he has also learned the optimum way of using it.
Hamels' best pitch, and main out pitch, is still his changeup, but the cutter gives him another weapon he can throw for strikes early in counts. The new pitch allows him to get ahead of hitters more often and sets up his dynamic changeup for more two-strike counts. The leap forward in his strikeout rate (from 7.89 K/9 last year to 9.29 this year) can't be entirely attributed to the addition of the cut fastball, but it has almost certainly played a role in how he's developed.
If you're wondering how he picked it up so quickly, just look around at his teammates. The Phillies lead the league in percentage of cutters thrown -- 16.4 percent -- by a huge margin. The Tampa Bay Rays come in second in frequency at 9.4 percent, and the league average is about 5 percent. All five Phillies starters use the cutter, and while Joe Blanton uses it the least (5.9 percent), even he is above the league average. In addition, relievers Ryan Madson and Chad Durbin throw cutters.
When you look at the list of pitchers who have added the cutter in recent years, it is easy to see why it has become so popular. With Cliff Lee, John Danks and C.J. Wilson among the recently converted, it has become a big pitch for left-handed starters who need another weapon to make up for average velocity.
Hamels was good with his old pitch mix, but the addition of the cutter has made him a legitimate ace. Of course, he doesn't have to be the No. 1 starter in Philadelphia, because he's got the luxury of pitching behind Roy Halladay, who has also made quite a career for himself by throwing a lot of cut fastballs.
WF Center 4/28/16; WF Center 4/29/16; Fenway Park 8/7/16; Fenway Park 9/2/18; Asbury Park 9/18/21; Camden 9/14/22;
Las Vegas 5/16/24; Las Vegas 5/18/24; WF Center 9/7/24; WF Center 9/9/24; Baltimore Arena 9/12/24
Tres Mtns - TLA 3/23/11; EV - Tower Theatre 6/25/11; Temple of the Dog - Tower Theatre 11/5/16
jurrjens scratched tonight. braves called up a no name from AAA
This might be bad news...
http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/Phillie-killer_Jurrjens_scratched_from_start.html
Interesting game for a 23-year-old to make his major league debut. The Braves have summoned righthander Brandon Beachy to start against the Phillies tonight in place of Jair Jurrjens, who was scratched from the start with a sore knee.
Beachy is 5-1 with a 1.73 ERA at Double-A and Triple-A this season and has posted stellar strikeout and walk rates of 11.2 K/9 and 2.1 BB/9.
Jurrjens has dominated the Phillies in his career, allowing just 17 earned runs in 59.2 innings over nine starts. He held them to three runs on two hits in six innings back on July 6 when he was just returning from a two-month stay on the DL. Last season, he held them to four earned runs in 26.2 innings.
According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Beachy has been a fast-riser in the system, going from an undrafted free agent out of Indiana Wesleyan two years go to the major leagues without showing up on any top prospect lists.
WF Center 4/28/16; WF Center 4/29/16; Fenway Park 8/7/16; Fenway Park 9/2/18; Asbury Park 9/18/21; Camden 9/14/22;
Las Vegas 5/16/24; Las Vegas 5/18/24; WF Center 9/7/24; WF Center 9/9/24; Baltimore Arena 9/12/24
Tres Mtns - TLA 3/23/11; EV - Tower Theatre 6/25/11; Temple of the Dog - Tower Theatre 11/5/16
we always seem to struggle against guys we've never seen. that combined with the run support thingy with hamels means i would not be surprised if this is the one we lose. i think we win 2 out of 3 though...