Jonathan Sanchez - What Clicked?
by Dewey Finn on Sep 7, 2009 9:51 PM EDT
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PrintMuch like Oliver Perez, Jonathan Sanchez has always seemed like a major c#&@ tease. The end of season numbers are typically never pretty. However, there are short periods within the seasons where he flashes the potential of being a dominant starting pitcher. The stuff has always been there I believe, but unfortunately, the consistency has not. After a rough May/June, Sanchez has really turned it on in the past couple of months:
April: 17 IP, 17 K, 12 BB, 2.60 ERA, 1.27 WHIP
May: 30 IP, 28 K, 22 BB, 6.00 ERA, 1.80 WHIP
June: 20.1 IP, 22 K, 12 BB, 7.08 ERA, 2.02 WHIP
July: 27.2 IP, 32 K, 8 BB, 3.25 ERA, 0.76 WHIP
August: 31 IP, 38 K, 16 BB, 2.61 ERA, 1.19 WHIP
September: 12 IP, 17 K, 6 BB, 1.50 ERA, 1.00 WHIP
Sanchez has increased his K rate and improved his BB rate from the 1st half of the season. Do you believe he has finally figured it out? Or is this just a hot streak? His minor league track record supports his 2nd half numbers.
What is your opinion on Jonathan Sanchez? Do you expect a big 2010 season out of him?
If the current strides he has made over the course of the season are for real, I think a 2010 season with a 3.50-3.75 ERA, 1.25-1.30 WHIP, & 180-200 Ks is possible. I realize I am probably being overly optimisitc, but after watching some of his starts recently, he really looks like a totally different pitcher from the 1st half. He's been NASTY.
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FWIW
This is his age 27 season. Is this when pitchers traditionally “get it”?
Obi-Wan Kenobi said to Dewey Finn: "You were the chosen one!"
No
Human beings are more complex than conforming to such blunt scales of development.
It sounds like Sanchez was resistant to coaching. This notebook is about a coaching change that purportedly led to Sanchez’s turnaround, but you never really know if this is the real reason or if something else sparked it:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/09/05/SPAR19HMQR.DTL&plckFindCommentKey=CommentKey:75806c0b-f204-4f6d-ab07-44770f6fe6e0
Jonathan Sanchez will pitch the series finale today at Miller Park, a place he will remember fondly for a single inning that might have changed the course of his career.
Sanchez’s spot on the team was hanging by a microfiber when he took the mound here June 28 for the ninth inning of a 7-0 win. In 14 games he was 2-8 with a 5.54 ERA and in danger of being demoted to Triple-A.
After a June 22 loss in Oakland, Sanchez was sent to the bullpen and had a heart-to-heart talk with pitching coach Dave Righetti, who persuaded the left-hander to slow his delivery and allow his arm to catch up with his body to improve control. Sanchez tested it in the bullpen then put theory into action against the Brewers.
He hit Prince Fielder, his first batter, but then struck out Casey McGehee, Mike Cameron and Corey Hart.
“From that day on, I’ve been throwing better and better,” Sanchez said in a glorious understatement.
Sorry, try this link instead
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/09/05/SPAR19HMQR.DTL
Manny Parra, Ollie, & Sanchez should be best friends.
Gio Gonzalez may be joining their crew too.
My favorite part about the club...
…is how, when the pitchers are throwing well, it’s because their pitching coaches told them some secret that blew their minds. “oh! that’s how to pitch well!”
some more info
Q: He has more turn in his delivery now. Mechanically, what’s the thought behind that?
A: I told him, `You don’t have to be a mechanical man like everybody wants you to be. You don’t play that way anyway.’ He’s kind of a loosey-goosey kid. He’s not gawky but long-limbed. I always wanted him to flow so there’s the least pressure on his arm. The only way you can do that is you’ve got to get yourself a nice turn but you’ve got to keep your leg compact and keep your hands close to the chest to produce pitches over the strike zone. A little old-school turn.
That’s going to be fine. He’ll be able to do that again. It’s the speeding up when he gets in the stretch. And he didn’t have to do it (Friday) night. He came back from the WBC with a lot of confidence and had changed position with his hands. He was doing the Johan Santana (motion). It’s to hide your pitches from the runner on second, and it’s a smart thing to do, but you’ve got to be careful getting too far away from your body. Then you get stiff and that’s what he was doing. He wasn’t getting the turn that I wanted in order to give that arm a chance to coil. He doesn’t have that fast short arm like Johan does. He was trying to copy the right guy, he was doing the right thing, which is why we let him continue to do it. It works for a short guy the way Santana’s built. But in Jonathan’s case, it didn’t quite fit and there was a lot of pushing of the baseball. I had to get rid of it somehow, and he believed in it, too. He was just searching, you know, trying to make it. He was trying to find his niche.
His early season problems were all mechanical
who has he been playing?
don’t forget Jason Hammel had a couple good months and Brad Penny and John Smoltz are showing exactly what the NL is made of. That being said the same crappy NL West offenses he is facing in 09 will most likely still be there in 2010.
Jennings, Hellickson, Davis, Brignac, Beckham, Moore > Your top 3
EPIC FAIL
Both Penny and Smoltz pitched against San Diego who has the worst offense in the league to prop up their numbers since switching leagues. Once Smoltz pitched against a good offensive team, he got hit hard by the Brewers.
I reject your reality and substitute my own.
by WayneCampbell08 on Sep 8, 2009 4:09 PM EDT up reply actions
penny
shut down the phillies for 8 innings… no mention on that tho??
Considering the fact earlier in the season he couldn’t get anyone out on those “crappy NL West offenses”, I’m pretty sure he has made some sort of an improvement.
His last two starts he has shutdown both the Phillies and Brewers at their respective bandboxes. Granted they both are only slightly above average offenses because they play in the NL.
Isn't there one of these guys every year?
Lefty pitcher, usually throws a plus breaking ball, minus command? Has some bad seasons, then has some good seasons, then has more bad seasons, and no one can figure out why?
Maybe those types are just naturally higher-variance in their performance than other pitcher types.
Linda's in the cold ground, won't see her anymore
Somewhere out on the highway tonight, the drunken engines roar
It's just one of those things, one of those things
-- Al Stewart, "Accident on 3rd St."
In memory of Nick Adenhart and all victims of drunk driving
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