Links of Interest, May 3rd, 2012

by John Sickels on May 3, 2025 3:05 PM EDT

A few links of interest for you this afternoon:

**Mike Newman over at Fangraphs has a very interesting in-person scouting piece about Arizona Diamondbacks prospect Trevor Bauer. In particular, he discusses Bauer's propensity to throw fastballs high in the strike zone. Check it out. The piece includes video.

**Willie Mays Aikens was not a character in Major League. Until his career foundered on the rocks of drug abuse, he was an excellent hitter who could have been one of the star sluggers of his generation. Check out this outstanding piece about success, failure, redemption, and tragedy by SB Nation's Amy K. Nelson.

**We had 50 Pick 6 entries from Minor League Ball members yesterday, which ranked just 16^th among SB Nation baseball blogs. Given that we are one of the most heavily-trafficked sites on the entire network, this is disappointing. C'mon guys...play the game, it is free and doesn't take long. It is too late to lock in picks for today's game but you can lock in for tomorrow.

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Read More: Trevor Bauer (P - ARI), Arizona Diamondbacks

Comments

bauer and high fastballs

Wow . . .even I could have told you that one. I’m not sure there’s any video on him that DOESN’T show him working up in the zone.

by mrkupe on May 3, 2025 3:12 PM EDT reply actions

isn't this kind of a huge deal

go long with extenze...i do

by angelsownredsux on May 3, 2025 10:23 PM EDT up reply actions

yes and no

Yes in that it can cause trouble down the line. No in that knowing how to pitch up in the zone leads to missed bats. Also, no in that it’s nothing new for Bauer, this is the way he’s been in the past . . .so I’m assuming that this doesn’t ding him for anybody other than those who just didn’t know much about him in the first place.

by mrkupe on May 3, 2025 10:47 PM EDT up reply actions

makes sense

the prospect of him giving up a lot of HRs when he reaches Chase field seems very real though, doesn’t it?

go long with extenze...i do

by angelsownredsux on May 3, 2025 11:18 PM EDT up reply actions

we've been discussing this a lot on the Dbacks SBN blog

actually, some of us have been arguing about it on and off even before Bauer was drafted…..mostly when Ian Kennedy started pitching to a sub-3 ERA

i’m of the camp that flyball pitchers in Chase can succeed just as well, if not better (given our current outfield defense), than groundball pitchers. i honestly don’t think the expected value of a groundball is necessarily better (Chase field’s infield supposedly plays fast too) than the expected value of a flyball.

additionally, i’m of the camp that fastballs up in the zone (and of course fastballs above the zone) can be an effective pitching strategy.

by blue bulldog on May 4, 2025 3:41 PM EDT up reply actions

I would agree

That’s not to say a pitcher should be living high all the time, but there is a lot to be gained from knowing how and when to pitch up.

I remember back when Jered Weaver was in college/the minors, there was a LOT of skepticism about him specifically concerning his heavy flyball tendencies. He’s still a heavy flyball pitcher. Look at how that one has turned out. And he’s never been able to ramp it up like Bauer can. Lots of other differences of course (in particular, Weaver has exquisite command and Bauer’s is not exactly that), but that’s who came to mind as far as high-end pitching prospects go with the relationship between flyball rate and prospect status.

by mrkupe on May 4, 2025 4:34 PM EDT up reply actions