Rays vs Sox

A big game tonight as the Rays and Sox start their mid-week series. James Shields faces off against Justin Masterson in what should be a good battle.

I have previewed both Shields and Masterson before so here is Shields and here is all the Masterson previews.

Using FIP, which is fielding independent ERA, Shields shows up at 3.48 while Masterson comes in at 5.02. That paints a different picture than just looking at ERA, which has Shields at 3.76 and Masterson at 3.43.

I was looking forward to Shields last start vs Boston, but unfortunately that didn't last long because of the brawl.

Lastly, Keith Law mentioned in a chat the other day that he sees Justin Masterson as a better fit in the bullpen than the rotation, so I'll be taking a look at that to see if I notice anything. If Masterson did move to the pen this year, it would probably be to allow Clay Buchholz back into the rotation.

James Shield Brings His Changeup To Boston

Tonight is Jon Lester vs James Shields.

Lester frustrates me to much to look at him right now. Maybe later. If there is one thing that I could ask for out of Lester, it would be to cut down on his walks. Sorry Jon, but you just aren't going to be a good pitcher with a BB/9 of 4.26. Encouraging sign on the year for him though is a 49.6% GB rate. Just don't expect that ERA of 3.67 to last. His peripherals say it should rise to around 5.00.

On the other end of the control spectrum, we have James Shields. Let us take a look:

K/9: 6.47
BB/9: 1.9
HR/9: 0.78
BABIP: .289

Very easy to understand why he is successful. He strikes hitters out, keeps runners off base and doesn't give up the long ball.

Now onto the scouting:

Here is a nice article on James Shields' mechanics with some pitch f/x data.

So we know he throws a fastball, nasty changeup and curveball, but here is my question:

Does he throw a cutter or slider?

Baseball Info Solutions says cutter. Inside Edge says slider. Dan Fox, formerly of Baseball Prospectus, said slider.

In the end, it doesn't really matter what you call it. I will call it a cutter and move on.

Average pitch movement:

Everything there looks pretty impressive. To have 5 pitches that are grade out average or better is rare, but that is what makes Shields so good. That changeup is just devastating.

Another thing that makes him so impressive? Look at his pitch selection vs batter hand. He is confident in all his pitches, regardless who is at the plate:

stand	2 FB	CB	CH	CT	FB	Grand Total
L	45	38	194	105	172	554
R	40	49	114	81	187	471
Grand Total	85	87	308	186	359	1025

Finally, here is his BABIP, Strike % and Contact % by pitch type and batter hand. What else can you say but that is a nasty changeup.


Should be a good one. I'm going with 5-2 TB tonight.

6/04 Pitcher Preview: Edwin Jackson

Tonight will be Josh Beckett vs Edwin Jackson in TB.

We know Beckett is 2 seam fb, 4 seam fb, curveball and changeup. See these posts for Beckett data.

Here is Edwin Jackson:

4 pitch guy: Fastball, curveball, slider and changeup. The slider and curveball are fairly similar. Not an impressive curveball and has decent downward tilt on the slider. Here are his average speeds:

FB: 94
CB: 80
SL: 85
CH: 88

While he has 4 pitches, he really only uses three. His curveball is just for show:

Stand	FB		CB		CH		SL		Grand Total
Left	312	60.7%	32	6.2%	137	26.7%	33	6.4%	514
Right	317	61.0%	39	7.5%	21	4.0%	143	27.5%	520
Grand Total	629	60.8%	71	6.9%	158	15.3%	176	17.0%	1034

Versus LHB, he is a FB/CH guy. He could afford to throw a breaking ball more to lefties. LHB have a .789 OPS while RHB are at .648.

Here is his pitches by count, broken down by batter hand:

Looks pretty confident with that slider versus the righties. I wonder why he doesn't use it more against lefties. If he can learn to throw that slider down and in to lefties, he might be more effective against them.

6/03 Pitcher Preview: Matt Garza

Tonight the Red Sox face the first place Rays of Tampa Bay and will square off against Matt Garza.

Here is his numbers:

Nice two seamer, doesn't get much bite on the changeup, ok slider and a big 12-6 curve.

Pitch type by batter hand:

stand	2FB	CB	CH	FB	SL	Grand Total
L	70	44	48	230	27	419
R	62	8	10	165	71	316
Grand Total	132	52	58	395	98	735

Looks like Garza throws the Curve and changeup to lefties and the Slider mainly to righties.

Left
	2FB	CB	CH	FB	SL	Grand Total
BABIP	0.385	0.250	0.111	0.220	0.571	0.269
Strike %	0.56	0.61	0.50	0.66	0.67	0.62
Contact %	0.86	0.75	0.85	0.86	0.82	0.85
Right
	2FB	CB	CH	FB	SL	Grand Total
BABIP	0.077	0.500	0.000	0.316	0.571	0.328
Strike %	0.60	0.50	0.30	0.63	0.63	0.61
Contact %	0.77	0.75	1.00	0.91	0.76	0.85

Take a look at the two seam fastball. This pitch is thrown around the same amount for a right handed and a left handed hitter, but the BABIP varies greatly. That should even out as the season goes on.

Looks like his curveball is his best pitch vs the lefties. A high strike percentage and the lowest contact % of all his pitches. Note the contact % is the same on the pitch to both sides, but the strike % is much lower against RHB.

A 91% contact percentage on the fastball to RHB shows he is not missing bats with that pitch. Seems like more of a get me over pitch than an out pitch.

Lastly, here is his pitch type by count:


Incredible that he uses his off speed pitches early in the count and then completely abandons them when he falls behind. If I am a hitter, I let the first pitch go and take my chances that he falls behind. If he falls behind in the count, sit dead red because your getting the fastball. As we saw above, his fastball is not a swing and miss pitch so no worries there.

With a patient team like Boston facing Garza tonight, I expect Garza might struggle as he falls behind in the count. Should be interesting to watch the Red Sox strategy versus him.