Ok 2 starts in and I am loving this kid!!! 2-0 2 ER 5 hits 13 innings Cliff Lee since joining the Phils 2-0 1 ER 10 hits 16 inings Just saying lol.....
The encouraging thing was that it was against 2 very good offenses. He could have been even better against bad offenses. The non-encouraging thing (or the reason to hold the optimism) is that he is still basically only throwing two pitches, and he's just occasionally mixing in the changeup. In the modern era, the only starting pitcher I've seen that survived and succeeded with just two pitches was Randy Johnson.... whom Norris is not. Even Oswalt had to change his approach ~2003-04 when the league finally started catching up on his pitch habits. But again... you really can't complain about him thus far. Just don't all jump ship when he eventually has a bad start because hitters are able to start picking up his fastball vs. slider.
We stayed in Houston this weekend. Norris was at the same hotel as us and when we were leaving this morning he was getting his car at the same time we were. He was with his dad so I left him alone, but it was funny because he didn't have his valet tag and they couldn't figure out which one was his car. He kept telling them it was under Norris because the front desk told him to tell them his name and they would find his car that way. The poor valets had no idea what he was talking about. he finally went around the stand and looked at the keys and found his. No idea what he was driving because we left before his car came around, but it was an Acura.
Probably should have, and would have gotten an autograph but I didn't have paper handy and he seemed fairly flustered becaus ehe was late and couldn't get his car.
Hopefully he can keep it up next season unlike brian mohler n chris sampson a couple years ago. they both looked like they would be good... even brandon backe
His first two starts were very encouraging. Last night was a Jeriome Robertson kind of start - didn't pitch well, but got a win.
Didn't Schilling pretty much stick with fastball and splitter for most of his starts? I don't remember him ever throwing much more than that.
He threw a changeup... about as often as Roy throws his slider. Its not as often as his other pitches, but they throw it enough to keep the batters honest. Bud needs to start doing the same.
2 consecutive starts against one of the hottest offenses in baseball, along with the Angels. He does likely need to further develop his changeup and mix up his pitches better if he wants to maximize his potential as a starter.
