Re: OT: Pitchers should be better hitters
Which makes me wonder how some pitchers are so poor at what they do to begin with. Let's be honest here as faithful Giants fans: Barry Zito doesn't look like a pitcher when he's up there throwing. His fastball tops out 4 MPH slower than Lincecum's changeup, his curveballs miss up in the zone and his changeup can't find the zone. His work ethic - to - results provided ratio shows that his practice as a pitcher is paying off less dividends than his practice at the plate, and that's saying something for the awful hitter that he is.
Here's the other issue... they spend very much time on things other than just pitching, as pitchers. They focus on PFP, pickoffs, etc. I know it's costly to overthrow a pickoff, but it can't be much harder than throwing a strike at the plate (I wasn't that bad at pickoffs when I pitched, actually).
I'm just saying that they should be very familiar with batting at this point in time. They've done it when they were young, they do it every game that they pitch, and they do it for batting practice. They should understand a pitcher's mentality as well as anyone, and I can always throw out the ol' cliche "I can hit twice as good as him" remark.
As for the statement about draft players, they would be much better hitters than pitchers. I'm not saying they would hit much better, but they would be much better hitters. There's a big difference and that's what I'm mostly trying to spell out. I want a pitcher out there that looks like an athlete while at the plate, that actually knows what he's doing, that I don't have to rule out the possibility of a hit in any given at bat. I mean the majority of them just look straight dumb at the plate.
Plus, don't position players "focus" on many other things besides hitting as well? They need to work on fielding their position, they need to work on baserunning, I mean it doesn't really end for them either. I'm not saying that they do routines in fielding as often as pitchers do in the pen, but to say that they just focus on hitting isn't a correct statement.
I believe this can be quite fair to make a comparison with the statement "Designated hitters should be better fielders." They've played the game, they understand how it works, and when the time comes that AL teams need to play in an NL yard they are expected to get the job done in a decent manner in the field. It's not their first time out there and they can assure it won't be their last as long as they hit better than the next guy.
These are professionals that have been playing this game for a long time. I'm sure that, with only a slight change of their workout routine or how they are coached, that they can at least give me hope to come through every once in a while.
Which makes me wonder how some pitchers are so poor at what they do to begin with. Let's be honest here as faithful Giants fans: Barry Zito doesn't look like a pitcher when he's up there throwing. His fastball tops out 4 MPH slower than Lincecum's changeup, his curveballs miss up in the zone and his changeup can't find the zone. His work ethic - to - results provided ratio shows that his practice as a pitcher is paying off less dividends than his practice at the plate, and that's saying something for the awful hitter that he is.
Here's the other issue... they spend very much time on things other than just pitching, as pitchers. They focus on PFP, pickoffs, etc. I know it's costly to overthrow a pickoff, but it can't be much harder than throwing a strike at the plate (I wasn't that bad at pickoffs when I pitched, actually).
I'm just saying that they should be very familiar with batting at this point in time. They've done it when they were young, they do it every game that they pitch, and they do it for batting practice. They should understand a pitcher's mentality as well as anyone, and I can always throw out the ol' cliche "I can hit twice as good as him" remark.
As for the statement about draft players, they would be much better hitters than pitchers. I'm not saying they would hit much better, but they would be much better hitters. There's a big difference and that's what I'm mostly trying to spell out. I want a pitcher out there that looks like an athlete while at the plate, that actually knows what he's doing, that I don't have to rule out the possibility of a hit in any given at bat. I mean the majority of them just look straight dumb at the plate.
Plus, don't position players "focus" on many other things besides hitting as well? They need to work on fielding their position, they need to work on baserunning, I mean it doesn't really end for them either. I'm not saying that they do routines in fielding as often as pitchers do in the pen, but to say that they just focus on hitting isn't a correct statement.
I believe this can be quite fair to make a comparison with the statement "Designated hitters should be better fielders." They've played the game, they understand how it works, and when the time comes that AL teams need to play in an NL yard they are expected to get the job done in a decent manner in the field. It's not their first time out there and they can assure it won't be their last as long as they hit better than the next guy.
These are professionals that have been playing this game for a long time. I'm sure that, with only a slight change of their workout routine or how they are coached, that they can at least give me hope to come through every once in a while.
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