Link Report for Tue. 5/22 -- Jungmann Shines, Peralta's Not Ready Yet

[HiAndTight]

PrinceFielderx1, I'd still like to try to win this season. Read Moneyball...Beane spends the first 2-3 months assessing his weaknesses, then addresses them for the final 3-4 months. It's a long season, but fixing a hole can work. Plus, it's scary that we're not that far out of it

 

 

 

I agree with the premise, but hasn't the shine on Billy Beane worn off a little? He rode three pitchers, and a couple MVP's to a great stretch, but what's he done since?

[PrinceFielderx1]

PrinceFielderx1, I'd still like to try to win this season. Read Moneyball...Beane spends the first 2-3 months assessing his weaknesses, then addresses them for the final 3-4 months. It's a long season, but fixing a hole can work. Plus, it's scary that we're not that far out of it

 

I'm torn on this. Wolf hasn't been good this season and yes there is time for him to turn it around, but should we really expect that from a now 35 year old pitcher who rely's on location to be effective? We tried that with Suppan and that really didn't turn out that good at all. Part of me wonders if the Brewers were to call up Thornburg or Peralta to replace Estrada for a few starts, and they perform well, if Doug Melvin would have the confidence to trade Wolf to make room for one of them. GM's think about the short-term, but they also have to think about the long-term as well. With Greinke and Marcum likely leaving after this season they have to start incorporating some of these young pitchers into the pitching staff. I think it's a bad move to do it at the complete last minute. I don't see Doug Melvin just giving Thornburg and Peralta spots in the rotation out of Spring Training next season. I'm thinking the Brewers can still be competitive and perhaps a better team with Wolf gone and one of the Brewers starting pitching prospects taking his place.

 

I agree it's scary that we're not that far out of it right now.

[wsuprise24]

I find it shocking that Jungmann had previously been using his index finger as his spin finger on his breaking ball. It's only been a few years since I pitched and I dealt with plenty of different pitching instructors (mostly Chris Bosio) and I've never heard of anyone ever using a grip like that. I looked for some older shots of Jungmann and sure enough:

 

http://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/host.madison.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/5/6c/56c5125e-c882-11e0-8c26-001cc4c002e0/4e4b37a6cb69f.image.jpg

 

His middle finger is down past the seam, and his index finger is on the seam, providing the spin. Just by holding a baseball, you can tell that this is a pretty awkward grip. The middle finger is longer and thus leaves the ball last, so having that on the seam and the index finger more on top of the ball, providing stability, works much better. He'd already been having a solid season, but in the long run I think this should really help his curve become more of a downward, strikeout pitch.