Somewhat overlooked in last night’s rain-shortened 7-5 loss to the Yankees was the fact that Blue Jays right-hander Marcus Stroman experienced a resurfacing of his blister issues. Though Stroman himself didn’t speak to reporters after the game, manager John Gibbons told reporters that Stroman’s blister tore in the seventh inning of a recent dominant start against the Red Sox (h/t Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca). Gibbons also admitted that the club is considering a DL stint in order to get Stroman right again after he took 88 pitches to get through four innings last night (while giving up five earned runs).
More notes on a few pitchers around the league…
- Packed deep in a piece by Laura Albanese of Newsday are a few notable quotes by Mets right-hander Noah Syndergaard that shed some (admittedly vague) light on his struggles and seeming fall from “ace” status. Not only is Thor upset about his inability to hold baserunners (the Phillies swiped five bags off him and batterymate Kevin Plawecki last night), but he also hinted at some wider mechanical issues he’s trying to work through. “It’s something I battle every day when I go out there,” said Syndergaard. “I’m just trying to correct a lot of things that I’ve been doing wrong for a long time.”
- Elsewhere in the National League, Diamondbacks lefty Robbie Ray still hasn’t been able to get back on track, as Nick Piecoro details in a piece for the Arizona Republic. After a breakout 2017 campaign, Ray’s been unable to deliver any semblance of a repeat performance this season after starting the year with diminished velocity and succumbing to an oblique injury. After walking five batters last night, Ray had the following to say about his command issues. “I just need to get back to what I do best and that’s pound the zone. I’ve got too good of stuff to be pitching around the zone. I’ve just got to attack guys and then my off-speed stuff gets better.” Interestingly, Ray felt confident while warming up yesterday and felt in complete command of his pitches. He wonders whether a “lack of focus” could be to blame.
- Though the early returns of the Alex Cobb signing didn’t look good for the Orioles, the return to effectiveness of his change-up seems to have vaulted the right-hander back to his previous form, as Jon Meoli of the Baltimore Sun details in this piece. He notes that Cobb’s given up just nine hits on 184 change-ups since the All-Star break. His confidence in the pitch has led to him almost doubling its usage lately, and the results have spoken for themselves. Cobb’s strung together four consecutive quality starts of late, posting a 2.08 ERA with a 54.9% ground ball rate during that span.
I don’t understand. Even when it’s one of my favorite teams and it’s late in the season and they are out of it and a player has a bad health issue and they insist on playing the guy.. Just sit him out until he’s healthy.. I see that maybe Stroman could want to throw more innings for extra cash via an arbitration year coming up, but what is a possible extra win or 2 worth? They traded away 2 of their starters already, so that can’t be it. Try and get a higher pick next year and get him healthy and let the blister heal..
Professional athletes are competitive people. I don’t think they like being out of action at all.
Agree 100%..Like you said, professional athletes are very proud individuals, at times to a fault. Even when they aren’t 100% healthy, these players still feel like they are able to compete and perform at a high level..
What a lot of these athletes fail to realize is that their peer professionals are just about as talented as they are, so when they aren’t completely healthy, they are at a significant disadvantage, especially pitchers..
The art of pitching is such a fine craft that, whether a pitcher realizes it or not, the most minor injuries can impact their overall performance. Everyday issues that we deal with like blisters, aren’t a big deal for us..However, for a professional pitcher, it affects their grip strength, which in turn directly affects a pitcher’s spin rate and movement, command, and their control.
This is when it becomes on the coaches to step up, step in, and take away the option to compete from their players…
He’s a gamer he wants to go out and battle through it. He’s already missed a good chunk of the year with the shoulder thing.
Im sure he wanted to get that era under 5 and they would have loved to have seen him finish strong and up his value…but none of that’s happening now.
All these blisters are ridiculous man it’s hard enough keeping the elbow and shoulder healthy to see these guys keep going down because of the skin on their fingers is too much.
I thought Cobb was Ubaldo 2.0 for a while. Hope he keeps his form. Hopefully he keeps it when the Os are don rebuilding in a couple years.
John I like your thinking. Unfortunately the Jays braintrust doesn’t share that thinking. The number one motive for Shapiro et al is money. They delayed the rebuild by years with the hopes of filling seats. It was only when they had no choice did they make the move.
I suspect that having Stroman pitch increases the gate, whether it is on the road or at home.
There is another possibility: that Stroman went to them and asked. The Jays have been open to suggestion from the players on certain requests, like trying Biagini in the starting rotation[which was called a farce from day one] or playing Russell Martin in the field[which works well].
Interesting though that the Jays have two starters, Stroman and Sanchez, with blister issues.
Does Stroman and whoever the other pitcher is have a history of blister issues? Just curious. not accusing any one/team of anything, but some have been better of controlling that issue than others. Miami used to be really bad several years back as an example. Josh beckett was a poster child as a guy who had multiple blister issues there. AJ Burnett had some as well and both never had any more after leaving.
Generally it has to do with a grip on a changeup. That’s a hard thing to unlearn.
Stroman and Sanchez began having blister problems last season. Sanchez a more severe case. It has been especially challenge for Sanchez to throw his curve. Some have pointed to the change in baseballs between the 2016 and 2017 seasons. Not sure if that is true.
Mets announcers Gary Cohen and Keith Hernandez said last night that Syndergaard was asked if he might consider cutting his hair, as Jacob deGrom did (and became a better pitcher). Syndergaard said no. He will keep his long hair.
As far as Cobb goes, he is a quality starter albeit not a 14mill/year quality starter.
I beleive will even get better than he has been pitching lately.
The only question moving forward for Cobb is his health. He has been forced to change the usage of his pitches over the years to stay healthy. This latest installment of a changeup has obviously helped dramatically.
I would have a healthy Alex Cobb in my rotation in a minute. Unfortunately age and injuries aren’t on Cobb’s side. If he can finish out this overpriced contract, I’d be very surprised. Good on him to go for the big contract and look after his family. Bad on the Orioles for shelling out the bucks that aren’t likely going to be well spent over the longterm.
His season would have started better had he signed early and had a real spring training. Took him a while to settle in. Cobb has pitched well in a tough hitting division. He was the better gamble over Lance Lynn this past offseason. I believe if you can pitch in the AL East you can pitch anywhere – even if that’s not 100% fullproof.
Jimmer I hear ya with the 14/year. If you can throw near 180 innings you can nail an eight-figure contract. Plus his agent could make a strong case for 14-per year against other pitchers hovering around the same number.
I remember lots of people telling me how dumb I was pointing out how overrated Alex Cobb was/is when he was a free agent due to his lack of Ks etc. Best signing Cubs never made. Also, people are so dumb.
They undid all of that with Chatwood/Darvish though
Spending 38 million on chatwood was definitely a much better decision. The value they got there is just unreal……. Cobb’s actually looking like an asset going forward. With a full ST and getting himself out of the ALE he may have been an asset all year.
Noah Syndergaard has a 2.69 FIP (career is 2.62), get all the way the way out of here with this “fall from ace status” crud. He had an awful defense behind him all year this year and that’s why his ERA is 3.40, simple as that.
I thought the changeup was always Cobb’s best pitch .. am I remembering wrong?
Noah Syndagaard….I noticed Noah saying he’s having to work on several things himself. Being Cardinal Fans, and as a by-stander, looking in, we feel your pain!!! The Cardinals use to have the absolute worst and laziest pitching coach in baseball. Mike Maddox is doing a heck of a job with the Cards pitching staff. He’s done over and above with the rookie pitchers. Why don’t you ask for a trade to the Cardinals. The pitching coach there will help you solve your pitching mechanic’s problem in short order!!! A shame you have to work those things out by yourself.