There was a fascinating article written in the Kansas City Star about the Royals, and ranked many different aspects of the team. Everything from starting pitching, relief pitching, pitching styles, certain individual pitches, base running, fielding, you name it, it was discussed. This is a great article to help us Kansas City fans sort through the guys playing for starting spots on this years team.
Let’s talk about pitching. Every pitcher knows that the fastball is the “make or break” for any pitcher starting off, and wanting to be noticed. However, throwing it for strikes is what seperates the major league pitcher from the rest. Finding your spot on the outside corner, or allowing it to trail up and in, still hitting the corner of the strike zone. Speed is obviously important, but some kind of movement usually helps get recognized.
I am talking about a ball like Joakim Soria (RHP); not the fastest ball on the roster, but definitely the most movement. This makes the ball almost look blurry to the batter, as he is trying to decide whether to swing at a strike, or allow it to pass, and maybe it will fall out of the strike zone.
Zack Greinke (RHP) has that power. He has the heat. He is the only pitcher on this Royal staff who has hit 100 mph on the gun in the past. At that speed, being tricky with movement is not as important, as you just “chuck it” and hope that the batter cannot catch up to it. Even if he does, it is most likely going to end up a souvenire for the local faithful.
Gil Meche (RHP) is your text book power pitcher. He has the ability to get ahead in the count early, which then gives him the ability to pick from his other pitches, and keep the batter off gaurd. Meche has the stuff that makes him a good major league pitcher.
Now that we have that out of the way, let’s talk about what seperates good from great. A second pitch. Most of the best pitchers have this “out” pitch. Meaning that it gets them out of trouble in a bind and usually is what they use to get their team back into the dugout, and swinging at the plate.
Again, we look at Gil Meche. His second pitch is a curveball. When it is on, it is sick! When Meche does what he wants with that pitch it is unhittable. This is the stuff you see in highlight film reels being taught to our youth. It falls out of the sky. It curves right around a bat. This thing is crazy. It looks like it is being remote controlled from the clubhouse, or owner’s suite. This is the pitch that you can look for in any critical situation. In my opinion one of the best curves this league has to offer. The curve ball of Luke Hochevar (RHP), also, has been compared to Meche, which is a tremendous compliment.
This pitching staff seems to be ready to make their presence known this year. Pitching is key, and the Royals have some ballplayers who can do just that. Pitch.