Submariners, sidearmers and knuckleballers
by RoyalsRetro on Jun 28, 2009 10:32 PM EDT
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PrintI love unorthodox, quirky pitchers. The game needs more of them. I loved the chapter on Chad Bradford in "Moneyball." Dan Quisenberry, Mark Eichhorn, Ted Abernathy, Kent Tekulve, even Byung Hyun Kim - all were fun to watch. And more often than not, they seem to have quirky personalities. I guess you have to when you're pitching in such an unorthodox manner.
Nowadays, I'm a huge fan of Chris Hayes, a Royals minor leaguer with - a quirky personality (check out his blog if you haven't already) - and a submarine delivery that keeps the ball low with outstanding ground ball ratios.
And then there are the knuckleballers, the true oddballs of baseball. Tim Wakefield I believe is the only one in baseball that throws it regularly, correct? I'm not sure why some team doesn't hire Tom Candiotti or Charlie Hough, and begin a "Knuckleball Academy" with their injured pitchers. Why not?
Anyway, I was just wondering what submariners, sidearmers and knuckleballers are in the high minors that may have a chance of appearing in a big league roster someday soon. Who is the next Brad Ziegler?
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Charlie Zink is a knuckleballer for Pawtucket
Made a start for the Sox last year.
Btw, Just read today that Tim Wakefield has been pitching with a torn labrum for a while. He refuses to have surgery, because he doubts he’ll come back if he takes a year and a half off. Says he’ll have surgery when he retires. Pretty amazing.
Now 18 wins short of Cy Young and Roger Clemens on the Sox all time win list.
Another thing – Most of the knuckleballers Ive seen werent failed pitchers – they were failed position players. Wake was a 1B in the minors.
Wakefield has a point...
He takes that time off and he has to prove he can still pitch to teams… but to pitch like that, ouch.
"I couldn't do that. Could you do that? Why can they do it? Who are those guys?"
Lance Niekro (the nephew of Phil) was a former major league 1st baseman. and is now a knuckleball pitcher in the GCL with the Braves. It would be a great story if he made it back to the majors
by Heyward is the next crime dog on Jun 28, 2009 11:29 PM EDT reply actions
Is he actually? I haven’t seen any stats on him yet. I know after he was sent down by the Giants he pitched an inning and got fairly shelled in AAA. Then he went to the Astros and played 1B in the minors, but didn’t know he’d gone completely to pitching now.
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I miss Pat Neshek
http://www.eteamz.com/patneshek/
A side arm guy with a odd personality. A Vegan who is into Baseball cards, Heavy Metal and blogging. Say “Cheese?”
"I couldn't do that. Could you do that? Why can they do it? Who are those guys?"
did he ever come back from surgery?
He was such a good arm…
by David Tokarz on Jun 28, 2009 11:55 PM EDT up reply actions
+1 Max
Pat Neshek was a dominant set-up man
and I doubt he ever regains that form he once had again.
it is too bad.
by SteveHoffmanSlowey on Jun 29, 2009 2:20 AM EDT up reply actions
Peter Moylan of the Braves is another guy that throws from down under and hes from Australia he also has a quirky personality and his accent just adds to it
by Heyward is the next crime dog on Jun 28, 2009 11:30 PM EDT reply actions
Moylan actually inspired this post
I didn’t know he was a submariner until I saw a highlight of him today. Didn’t know he was Australian. Very cool. Wonder if fellow Aussie Josh Spence will make the big leagues someday with his unorthodox arm angles.
Relive Royals History at royalsretro.blogspot.com
by RoyalsRetro on Jun 29, 2009 12:17 PM EDT up reply actions
Yep, there really arent many better relievers in the AL than O'day this year
he has to be the number one guy you talk about when you ask who is the next best side-arming RP
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I think it was Rob Neyer that asked why modern-day pitchers don’t incorporate knuckleballs into their pitching repertoire like pitchers from the earlier half of the 19th Century used to do. Really, it seems like an all-or-nothing path: either you’re a full-fledged member of the Knuckleballers Brotherhood or not. I remember Smoltz used to throw a knuckleball occasionally but, other than that, I can’t recall a pitcher mixing it in with his other pitches.
Neyer believed it was due to the belief that, in order to throw a good knuckleball, one had to be entirely dedicated to it. I don’t know if I subscribe to that belief but, then again, there don’t seem to be any current examples supporting my position.
early half of the 19th century??
by Heyward is the next crime dog on Jun 29, 2009 11:35 AM EDT up reply actions
Reasoning
It takes a lot a work to learn to throw a knuckle ball well, and if you can’t throw it well, it will get destroyed. For most pitchers, that time and energy is probably better spent refining the other parts of their craft. Smoltz only picked it up because his arm was about to fall off.
Now the eephus pitch is a lot easier to “learn” and that’s why you see more pitchers fool around with it.
http://mlb.mlb.com/media/video.jsp?mid=200807273209355&c_id=ari
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFvp7kMraAw
I remember Mark Lemke tried to make a comeback as a knuckleballer. Didn’t work.
Josh Banks
His knuckleball isn’t that great, but then again neither are any of his other pitches. He throws it about 20% of the time… watch for him in a San Diego Padres rotation near you later this week!
by realitypolice on Jun 29, 2009 12:56 PM EDT up reply actions
Mark Eichorn
Every Jays fan over 30 remembers this beauty. Eichorn was a hell of a reliever and did a great Popeye impression as well!!!
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by King Billy Royal on Jun 29, 2009 2:09 PM EDT reply actions
Jared Fernandez!
I have no clue what it is about him, but I’ve had a soft spot for this guy since seeing him with.. Cincy? Houston? I forget. But maybe it was that he threw a faster knuckler. Not sure how much that helped matters…
Pretty sure he’s in Japan now, after years of flirting with AAAA status.
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A couple
Diego Echevarria is a knuckleballer low in the Rays’ minor league system, although I doubt he ever makes it to the majors unless he seriously improves.
Derek Rodriguez in the White Sox system is mostly a sidearmer, although he does sometimes switch to overhand.
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by Brickhaus on Jun 30, 2009 2:16 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs
lance broadway
formely of the cws. ranked 3rd best prospect in their system in 2007.
by kershaw_equals_stud on Jun 30, 2009 5:28 PM EDT reply actions
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