Chavez and Oswalt, I don't get it

[DaDakota]

Why is Raul Chavez, Roy - Os personal catcher?

It seems that he had better success with Ausmus calling the game.

Also, why has Roy fallen in love with the high fastball? He used to paint the corners and pitch low.

The High fastball is a much riskier pitch, and I am certain that Ausmus would call a smarter game than Chavez.

I just don't understand.....help !!

DD

[codell]

Roy calls his own game. So the catcher shouldn't matter a whole lot.

[JPM0016]

#1 starters just like having their own personal catcher. Greg Maddux used to have Charlie O'Brien and Shane Reynolds had Tony Eusebio and the list goes on.

I don't think having Ausmus behind the plate will make a bit of difference. It doesn't matter who's behind there if Roy isn't hitting his spots.

[fatman510]

Ausmus cannot catch 162 games in a season, so you have to break it up with Chavez at times. Jimy just decided that since Clemens and Pettitte are new to the NL, Redding is young and Wade is not as successful that he would regularly schedule Chavez as Roy's catcher to give Ausmus a break.

[Kam]

Originally posted by fatman510
Ausmus cannot catch 162 games in a season, so you have to break it up with Chavez at times. Jimy just decided that since Clemens and Pettitte are new to the NL, Redding is young and Wade is not as successful that he would regularly schedule Chavez as Roy's catcher to give Ausmus a break.

Yeah, i was going to say that.

Ausmus knows the NL, because Clemens and Pettitte are new to it. Redding is not quite there, and Wade needs help. They figure Roy can carry Chavez.

[DaDakota]

Well then it is Roy who is calling a bad game.

Perhaps he needs to let Chavez call it.

Anything to get him away from throwing all those high heaters.

DD

[gunn]

DaDakota, those rising fastballs at 97 are not easy to hit.

[DaDakota]

Gunn,

At 97 a low ball is even harder to hit....

Look at the homer he gave up in the 8th tonight...the guy just had to stick the barrel of the bat on it and away it went.

His ERA is a good point higher than normal, and his record is well below Roy-Os usual.

He is struggling.....and his style has changed.....seems to me that when he pitched lower with an occasional High heater he was more effective.

Just my observation.

DD

[rudager]

Roy's inflated stats are due to poor management and his rib injury. He perseveres, nevertheless, because he's a hoss. This is why I've accepted him as my personal savior.

[codell]

Originally posted by DaDakota
At 97 a low ball is even harder to hit....


When you consider the plane of most hitters swings, its not. A high fastball and a slow breaking, 12-6 curve are a deadly combination.

ROy's problem IMO, might be that hes tipping off his pitches somehow. I think Nick originally brought this up a month or so ago. Roy will be cruising along and then hitters will just start teeing off on him. Hitters that aren't good enough to be guessing right that often.

[gunn]

DD, I think that Roy had some bad outings early in the year, but he seems to be really rounding into form right now. There's no question that Roy made a couple mistakes tonight, but all in all, he pitched a good game. Currently, Oswalt seems to be going with what is working for him on a given night, and he has the stuff to do that. The Rangers are a great hitting team with some quick bats and were able to take advantage of Roy's few mistakes, and that needs to not be forgotton. If Oswalt worked in a change-up, he would be nearly unstoppable. I think the lack thereof of said change-up gets him into routines and he becomes predictable.

[gunn]

Originally posted by codell
ROy's problem IMO, might be that hes tipping off his pitches somehow. I think Nick originally brought this up a month or so ago. Roy will be cruising along and then hitters will just start teeing off on him. Hitters that aren't good enough to be guessing right that often.

Like I said, I don't think he's tipping off his pitches, I think that he becomes predictable at times. And again, if he worked in a change-up, he would be nearly unstoppable. When you are running fastballs upwards of 98 mph and curves in the low sixties and you mix in a change with the arm speed of his fastball in the mid eighties, you become unhittable.

[rudager]

Originally posted by gunn
Like I said, I don't think he's tipping off his pitches, I think that he becomes predictable at times. And again, if he worked in a change-up, he would be nearly unstoppable. When you are running fastballs upwards of 98 mph and curves in the low sixties and you mix in a change with the arm speed of his fastball in the mid eighties, you become unhittable.

Actually, I read or heard the other day that Roy was worried that he was tipping his pitches. Anyway, you're right--it's either fastball or slow curve, so a hitter can just sit on one and wait for it. He was throwing something of a slider today--a pitch that dipped a bit at 87 mph.

A change would be devastating, and I'm sure he could pick it up with little trouble. Apparently he has an incredible knuckleball!

[codell]

Gunn,

You can be predictable and still not get hit around in short stretches like Oswalt does. And I highly doubt that Roy is in a pattern where players know what hes going to throw at a particular time in the count (unless hes tipping his pitches). In fact, when Roy has these stretches, alot of times hes getting hit on the first pitch to the batter, whether its a curve or a fastball.

[codell]

Originally posted by rudager
Apparently he has an incredible knuckleball!

If he threw a knuckler, it would be impossible for him not to tip off that pitch :)

[gunn]

Originally posted by rudager
Actually, I read or heard the other day that Roy was worried that he was tipping his pitches. Anyway, you're right--it's either fastball or slow curve, so a hitter can just sit on one and wait for it. He was throwing something of a slider today--a pitch that dipped a bit at 87 mph.

A change would be devastating, and I'm sure he could pick it up with little trouble. Apparently he has an incredible knuckleball!

Ryan has been working with Oswalt on a change but apparently it's not quite there and he's dropped it. I know that Roy was toying with it early in the year which may have resulted in early struggles. Currently Roy has the stuff to get hitters out, but with his build (like Pedro's) he won't be able to rely on that forever.

[rudager]

Originally posted by codell
If he threw a knuckler, it would be impossible for him not to tip off that pitch :)

Yeah, I'm just saying he's a natural talent...who'll be pitching well into his 50s. :D

[gunn]

Originally posted by codell
Gunn,

You can be predictable and still not get hit around in short stretches like Oswalt does. And I highly doubt that Roy is in a pattern where players know what hes going to throw at a particular time in the count (unless hes tipping his pitches). In fact, when Roy has these stretches, alot of times hes getting hit on the first pitch to the batter, whether its a curve or a fastball.

Codell, I used to pitch in high school, and although it's not the major leagues, I can relate. When you have two solid pitches that you rely on, it's not hard for the hitter to key in on what you are doing (ofcourse the are other factors involved, but generally speaking). As I said in another post, Roy has the stuff, currently, to get these batters out but he can't rely on that forever. There are alot of times when I can tell what he's going to throw before throwing, and I'm not a major league hitter. He gets hit because he is predictable. If he had a solid change up as a second or third pitch Oswalt would be a Cy Young canidate.

[Nick]

We honestly should not be worried about Roy... his good is so much better than his bad, its not even funny.

But, his biggest flaw is that he's always around the strike-zone (if you can call that a flaw), and that only really hurts him on pitches when he's ahead in the count.

2 years ago, when he broke on the scene, he fooled everyone when he got ahead in the count, cause he'd throw a screamer or a slow curve right down the middle, and the batters would just watch it.

If you can track the # of strikeouts he's got looking vs. swinging, I gurantee you that the looking # has gone way down, since batters now know that he'll challenge you in the strikezone no matter what.

Roy needs to learn how to throw that big curve to somehow dive into the dirt... cause he's getting beat on the 1-2 pitch everytime (when the hitters guess either fastball or curveball).

Also, I don't mind the 1st pitch aggressiveness... cause in the long run, the hitter will get himself out and the pitcher will prevail in the end.

Roy is our stud... our ace... our man... I'm goin out on a limb and saying that he'll end up as the most prolific pitcher that this franchise would have ever had.

book it...

[BigM]

roy oswalt is the last thing i'm worried about on this team. with the kind of stuff he brings he IS a cy young candidate every single year. he'll be fine.

[Htownhero]

Originally posted by gunn
DaDakota, those rising fastballs at 97 are not easy to hit.

No such thing as a rising fastball.

[Creepy Crawl]

Chavez was Roys catcher in the minors . He knows Roy's tendencies and they worked well together back then so maybe thats why he uses him ? But yeah Roy just is'nt the Roy O of old right now . :confused:

[baytownson]

Creepy, the only time Chavez caught Roy in the minors was for 1 month (April) in 2001. They were both in New Orleans in April. Roy got called up, I believe, May 1.

[DaDakota]

I figured as much.

Ausmus and Chavez are not exactly offensive juggernauts and Ausmus defense has gone down hill.

UGH, this team is blowing it.

DD

[DaDakota]

Sure worked tonight.....

DD