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| "Forget about the heater Wandy, give him the curveball" - Bizarro Lou Brown
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Not so long ago Wandy Rodriguez looked like just another long reliever or fifth starter, going 19-20 with a 5.58 ERA in 264 innings through two seasons with the Astros after posting a 4.65 ERA between Double-A and Triple-A.
He didn't throw especially hard, didn't induce tons of ground balls or miss many bats, his control wasn't very good, he was already 26 years old by the time he debuted in the majors, and the diminutive left-hander weighed 150 pounds soaking wet.
Yet here we are just a few years later and Rodriguez has emerged as one of the best pitchers in the National League, striking out 11 batters while beating the Rockies yesterday at Coors Field to improve to 4-2 with a 1.90 ERA on the season.
Rodriguez was the Astros' best starter last season too, posting a 3.54 ERA in 137 innings spread over 25 starts. Baseball history is certainly filled with plenty of late bloomers, especially among southpaw pitchers, but what's interesting about Rodriguez's turnaround is that it's been dramatic without involving a sudden increase in fastball velocity.
YEAR SO% BB% FIP FBmph 2005 14.3 9.5 5.12 89.1 2006 16.0 10.3 4.86 89.4 2007 20.2 7.9 4.18 88.9 2008 22.3 7.5 3.62 88.9 2009 24.1 7.5 2.36 89.5
SO% stands for strikeout percentage and as you can see Rodriguez has missed more and more bats every season, going from 14.3 percent as a rookie in 2005 to 24.1 percent so far this year. The major-league average is usually around 17-18 percent, so Rodriguez has gone from being 20 percent below average to 40 percent above average.
And he's racked up those strikeouts without hurting his control, as his walk rate has remained steady at 7-8 percent following some initial improvement. All of which is why his Fielding Independent Pitching or FIP--basically what his ERA should be if you take luck out of the equation--has gone from 5.12 to 4.86 to 4.18 to 3.62 to 2.36. In five years he's basically morphed from long reliever to No. 1 starter.
Yet if you look at the "FBmph" column on the above table, you can see that his average fastball velocity has been 88-89 miles per hour the entire time. So how has Rodriguez managed to nearly double his strikeout rate, maintain his walk rate, and turn himself into a legitimate ace without actually throwing any harder? Curveballs.
Through his first two seasons Rodriguez threw his curveball about 22 percent of the time, but that number jumped to 25 percent in 2007, 30 percent in 2008, and 34 percent so far this season. In fact, Rodriguez has thrown a curveball more often than any other starter in baseball this season and only Ben Sheets threw a higher percentage of curves last year.
As a wise man once said: "What you need is a curveball. In the show, everyone can hit heat."
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Wandy Rodriguez has always had very good stuff, according to Brad Ausmus. Wandy's major problem earlier in his career was failing to control his emotions. Now that he's matured and has finally learned to keep his emotions in check, he has elevated his game to another level. The potential has always been there and I believe the Astros saw that, which is why they have been patient and allowed him to come into his own. They are now reaping the benefits of the confidence they showed early on. Plus, pitching to Brad Ausmus and now Pudge Rodriguez hasn't hurt either.
Is he a number one starter? On some teams, maybe. With Roy Oswalt on the downhill side of his career, he definitely could be considered so on the Astros, though Oswalt with continue to get the title as long as he wears an Astros uniform. But Wandy certainly could be a number two or number three starter on most every team in the majors. He is that good, and I'm happy to see that he is finally getting the recognition that he has earned these past few years.
He has used his change more this season, giving him a decent third pitch. Now hitters have to worry about something other than a FB or a CB and that has really helped him.
Hearing about all this now is meaningless...it's too late. What would be helpful would be to see a list of players whose FIP has gone down steadily BEFORE the season!!! It's easy to find these players after they had a great start...it's anotehr thing to find them before they breakout.
Hey the website I use showed him got him at the minimum late!
There were rumors floating around of Wandy and HGH, I think we all see now what has happened here. He is on the HGH and it has improved his skills. People seem to think HGH is only for hitters, well it's for pitchers too.
HGH doesn't give you skills. "I can grip the ball better thanks HGH."
From USA today
"Wadler said the few studies that do exist show HGH provides no benefit after injury, although he pointed to two European studies that indicated there could be something to be gained. A 2007 article in the European Journal of Endocrinology revealed that adult human patients on HGH healed faster after a non-compound fracture of the tibia (shinbone). A group of pigs given HGH by German researchers healed slightly faster from bone and cartilage injuries, according to a 2003 study that appeared in the journal Bone.
"The legitimate use of HGH in adults usually involved patients who are in a marketable wasted state, like burn victims, AIDS patients with wasting disease," Wadler said. "HGH has been shown to slow the breakdown of tissue in those kinds of major traumas, and there is improved healing. But for a normal person who has surgery for whatever reason, there's very little evidence to suggest there's an enhancing effect.""
So healing faster after injury is the only possible use for it. And that has not even been proven to be true. The testimony of all the users of HGH also have said it did not help them. Baseball is a grueling sport that does cause injury. But Healing faster isn't a skill. And it certianly wouldnt help him change his pitch selection.
Beat me to it, Steve. But I must add: he took teh HGH cuz someone said he did and hes a CHEATER cuz nobody ever improves without cheating!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You my friend are completely wrong. This is taken from the Journal for Human Health,
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The controversial use of HGH by Jason Grimsley, the Diamondbacks pitcher and his admission to using HGH opened up a nest of controversies, as HGH does help a pitcher, in spite of it not being a steroid.
Since a pitcher’s arm goes through tremendous pressure, using HGH heals and strengthens the arm.
Sports persons look at HGH as one of the most potent, GHR1000 and GenF20 are supplements for human growth hormone that has been linked to several sports persons.
It seems to be greatly beneficial in enhancing performance minus the side effects caused by steroids."
A VERY reputable source, and it is well documented that Magic Wandy has been linked to the HGH controversy on multiple occasions. Open your eyes and see the truth, you will be enlightened and freed form these demons.
But why is it banned if it improves your healing without deleterious effects? Isn't that a good thing for baseball and the world?
And how do you account for all of those who've taken HGH and not become aces or sluggers?
Your quotes I found from a guy who promotes and sells HGH. Not saying he's wrong, but its not the Journal of Human Health.
Google Search: The controversial use of HGH by Jason Grimsley, the Diamondbacks pitcher and his admission to using HGH opened up a nest of controversies, as HGH does help a pitcher, in spite of it not being a steroid.
They will not let me put up the link. hghlook dot com
He's throwing inside more also.