In this generation, the art of pitching has evolved from making batters mis-hit the ball to making batters miss the ball entirely. The art of hitting has evolved into big swings, with strikeouts considered more of a side effect than an actual problem. According to Baseball Savant, 22 pitchers this season average at least 90 mph on their change ups , 14 on their sliders. Hitting is largely about rhythm and timing.
It stands to reason, then, that a hitter attuned to facing pitches at mph might struggle against a knuckleball. The knuckleball puts little stress on the arm, largely because a good knuckleball is pushed more than thrown. Conte said the risk of Tommy John surgery, in which a torn ulnar collateral ligament is reconstructed, would be eliminated in a pure knuckleballer.
Dickey, the only knuckleballer to win a Cy Young award, was born without a UCL in his pitching elbow. The average starting pitcher this season goes five innings. Candiotti, a broadcaster for the Arizona Diamondbacks, said teams might appreciate knuckleballers now more than ever. Less fatigue on the arm means knuckleball pitchers can throw more innings, more often. In the modern era, Niekro is the career leader in innings pitched.
In , when he was 45, Hough pitched innings for the expansion Florida Marlins. To learn more or opt-out, read our Cookie Policy. With no true standard-bearers for the pitch in pro baseball, some are ready to declare it an endangered species.
Until this month, year-old Mets minor league knuckleballer Mickey Jannis had never struck out more than nine hitters in any of his plus career games in affiliated ball. But on August 13, in a start for Double-A Binghamton, Jannis struck out 10 batters in six innings and walked only one.
In his next outing, he struck out 12 in seven innings, again walking one and allowing four hits. His next start went well, too: He struck out only five but threw eight scoreless innings. And on Wednesday of last week, he pitched a complete game against Portland and struck out 10 again. Through August 1, Jannis owned an 8. And in his last 30 innings, Jannis has struck out 37 with a 0. Where the heck did all those Ks come from?
RumblePoniesBB pic. Before his breakout, Jannis had given up 45 hits in his last 25 innings, along with nine walks and only 13 strikeouts.
He knew the knuckler needed help. For knuckleballers like Jannis, though, help has historically been difficult to find. Jannis was selected by the Rays in the 44th round of the amateur draft—the second-to-last draft that went farther than 40—and lasted two seasons in their system before being released.
He landed in the independent leagues, and inspired by R. But by then, Dickey had moved on, and no knuckleball mentor remained. Jannis still lacks an expert instructor for his specialized pitch, but he does have a helper in the form of a compact blue box: an Edgertronic camera.
Jannis threw while the camera recorded him, and he and his pitching coach studied the footage that revealed what had gone wrong. And with the knuckleball, you really want to stay behind it and on top and stay through the pitch. When I was able to see that visually, it just kind of clicked in my head that I needed to stay behind it a little bit more. And while Hoyt Wilhelm may not have needed a camera to perfect his floater, technology could be the key to preserving a scarce and precious pitch.
Only two dedicated knuckleball pitchers have spent time in the majors this season: year-old Ryan Feierabend, a recent knuckleball convert who pitched two games for Toronto in May before returning to Triple-A, and the oft-injured Red Sox swingman Steven Wright, who turned 35 on Friday and spent his birthday nursing an elbow injury that may end his season.
The obvious downside to the knuckleball is that if it isn't "dancing" -- or moving -- it becomes very easy to hit because of the slow speed of the pitch. Because the pitch is so hard to master and the risks of throwing a bad knuckleball are so great, very few pitchers throw the knuckleball -- typically no more than a handful of Major Leaguers have done so at any given time in history. The knuckleball gets its name from the typical grip used to throw the pitch, with the knuckles either on the ball or hovering just over it while the fingernails dig into the surface.
The pitch is thrown with relative ease, and as a result, knuckleballers typically have the least strain on their arm of all pitchers. They can often pitch deeper into games and without as much rest in between starts. They frequently pitch into their 40s, without as significant a career decline as a typical hurler.
0コメント