Pedro's first start...

by beastball on Sep 3, 2007 5:00 PM EDT

Did anyone catch the game? How'd he look?

His final line was:

5 ip 5 hits (1 XBH) 3 walks 4 ks. 47 strikes vs 29 balls.

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looked great,

But i'll write more when I'm back from my dinner.

by JD Sussman on Sep 3, 2007 5:13 PM EDT reply actions

Pedro

Pitched in the low 80´s.

by metalboy15 on Sep 3, 2007 5:57 PM EDT reply actions

Did you even watch the game?

Pedros fastball sat 87-89 and touched 90 once. Great movement on his pitches, solid location, mixed his speeds very well.

He looked very good. Threw 76 pitches.

http://www.redsminorleagues.com

by dougdirt on Sep 3, 2007 6:32 PM EDT up reply actions

maybe it's the gun?

because from every site I read it was low 80's with only a few in the high 80's

by pedrophile on Sep 3, 2007 6:36 PM EDT up reply actions

I watched the first three innings, not every pitch. Every time I looked, they had his fastball at 82, 83. Keith Hernandez commented that was his fastball, NOT his change. I never saw him go above that, again, my attention was divided. Later, they showed his top speed per inning, and they were 87-88. But I never saw that.

BTW, SNY also had Harang sitting 88-91 with his fastball, so maybe the gun was slow, because I thought Harang had more giddyup than that.

by drwmsu1 on Sep 3, 2007 6:40 PM EDT up reply actions

Yes I did watch the game

And I gotta say, I saw a lot more 82s, 83s and 84s than 87s, 88s... But maybe it was the gun...

by metalboy15 on Sep 3, 2007 6:58 PM EDT up reply actions

I think you have it right

when I implied it might be the gun I was referring to dougdirt probably watching a home biased tv station with higher readings.

Lately certain tv stations have been getting significantly higher readings for their games. Not a cool thing to do IMO.

by pedrophile on Sep 3, 2007 9:39 PM EDT up reply actions

SNY gun...

Is far from souped up. It's been notoriously slow over the years, especially compared to others. When I watch road games on MLB.tv Met pitchers usually gain velocity, like Maine routinely hitting 95 MPH and such...

by MetfanBren on Sep 4, 2007 11:51 AM EDT up reply actions

I wouldn't know

I'm just talking out my ass. But it sounded good :)

by pedrophile on Sep 4, 2007 11:23 PM EDT up reply actions

From Rotoworld:

"In his return from shoulder surgery, Pedro Martinez gave up three runs -- two earned -- and five hits over five innings Monday versus the Reds.
He fanned four, including Aaron Harang in the second for the 3,000th strikeout of his career. Martinez typically worked in the low-80s today, and when he reached back for more, it only got him to 87. Still, he was able to limit the damage against a lineup that's pretty good against right-handers. It was an encouraging beginning, but he is working with very little margin for error when he tries to sneak 82-mph fastballs by major league hitters."

by metalboy15 on Sep 3, 2007 6:59 PM EDT up reply actions

3000th strikeout

Pedro enters the exclusive club.

by sdbaseballfan on Sep 3, 2007 5:58 PM EDT reply actions

FB velocity

He certainly did throw some (probably more) FB's 82-83 mph but also threw some in the high 80's and hit either 90 or 91 mph once or twice (SNY gun that had Harang mostly in the high 80's although I'm not sure what's typical from him). It would probably be accurate to say that he worked in the low 80's but it might be more important to note that he can dial it up to 90. At least in recent years Pedro hasn't worked at the top of velocity dial. He's said that he likes to be able to add and subtract on his fastball which necessarily means not throwing it as hard as he can most of the time. It could well also be to save his strength.

by jfcross4 on Sep 4, 2007 12:46 AM EDT reply actions

Pedro's Velocity

I watched the game on FSN (therefore NOT SNY) and there were similar readings. For the most part Harang was working 88-92 and Pedro was working 82-85. But, when Pedro wanted a little more, he was going 87-90. Especially against Phillips in the 5th, he threw 2 straight fastballs at 90 and then 88. The velocity is there, but he's not going to the well as much.

What really blew me away was how much touch Pedro seemed to have on his change or really, his control in general. He was moving in and out with all of his pitches. I'm impressed that he's this far along, but I'm not going to throw my hat in the Pedro ring until he can do this in back to back starts.

by thudean on Sep 4, 2007 9:39 AM EDT reply actions

kind of normal

in that TJ typically means pitchers recover velocity fast and another year or so for control. With shoulder it's the opposite.

Pedro is the one guy that can get away with it. Just don't expect too much in playoffs when hitters start to foul pitches off. He's amazing. But I'm not sure about missing too many bats right yet.

by pedrophile on Sep 4, 2007 11:25 PM EDT up reply actions

Many of those fastballs probably werent

He threw mostly offspeed stuff this start, cutters, sinkers, and the like. In watching his start, quite a few of his low 80's pitches moved like cutters or sinkers, so it could very well have been those.

Basically, I don't expect him to fully trust throwing his fastball until maybe the playoffs at the earliest, or possibly even until next year. He's the first pitcher to come back from this surgery in less than a year and he's not going to do this rehab again. Each pitch could be his last and he's going to naturally be cautious. It appears he could throw 90 somewhat consistently if he wanted to, but he doesn't right now because he doesn't trust he'll hold up. I don't blame him.

by andwoo on Sep 4, 2007 11:10 AM EDT reply actions