Friar Watch

Pretty interesting discussion over at the Sons of Sam Horn Red Sox forum. SOSHer Scotian Sox posted some photos of Josh Beckett gripping his curveball with a raised index finger and wonders if hitters will pick up on that. Curt Schilling responded with some inside knowledge:

It’s a normal grip for alot of guys that throw the curve ball. I have the same grip for the most part. Hitters don’t pick it up, not most anyway, because hitters don’t look behind the pitchers head. Hitters focus on the spot, or slot, the arm delivers the ball in. Just like the guy that brings the ball behind his back and holds it vastly different.

At the 97 AS Game I sat around a table with Maddux, Gwynn, Glavine I think, and about 8 other pitchers and hitters and we openly talked about some things like this. 99.9% of hitters do not have the ability to look anywhere other than that arm slot where the ball is delivered when the pitcher is in his windup. I’ve tried it, and I suck at it, but it’s absolutely impossible to do and maintain focus on the arm and ball.

What I take away from this is the hitter must maintain focus on that expected arm slot in order to get a read on the pitch. It follows then that anything the pitcher does to distract the hitter’s attention, however briefly, can cause the hitter to have difficulty in recognizing the pitch. Some pitchers, like Chris Young, really throw the glove hand up and out. This might be enough of a distraction to cause the hitter to take his eye off the release point just for a split second, giving him less time to react. I also think Chris Young releases the ball closer to the hitter than most pitchers, perhaps as much as two feet closer, but that’s a subject for another day.

By the way, if you’re interested in pitching you should be reading Curt Schilling’s blog, 38 Pitches. Schilling takes some heat for being so vocal but he really provides some insight into a pitcher’s thought process and inside baseball in general.