Friar Watch

Greg Maddux: Maddux just wasn’t able to locate and when he can’t locate it’s like batting practice for the opposition. The first two innings were especially bad, pitches that normally catch the outer edge of the plate were drifting into the heart of the plate and not sinking, pretty much the worst possible place.

Recent sabermetric doctrine tells us that the pitcher doesn’t have much control over what happens when a ball is hit, assuming it stays in the yard. The numbers bear this out over the course of a season, a pitcher’s BABIP is relatively stable year to year. However, it’s easy to see where this doesn’t hold true on an individual game basis. For instance, Maddux had a .435 BABIP for the night. That wasn’t “luck”, that was what happens when you throw an 83 mph fastball right in the heart of the plate. Take a look at the pitches that resulted in base hits:

It really is as simple as that. Maddux just couldn’t keep his pitches out of the strike zone. In addition, his velocity was down a little compared to his last start:

These things happen to everyone, even a first ballot Hall of Famer like Maddux.

Justin Hampson: Nice job by Justin in long relief, 2.1 IP, 1 BB, 0 H, 0 K.

Cla Meredith: Cla last worked on May 9th so he came in even though the Padres were behind. Why let one of your best relief pitchers stagnate for 10 days? Cla had struggled in 3 of his last 4 outings, he may have been fatigued and fortunately the Padres bullpen is strong enough that Bud Black could give him some time off. When Cla is right he’ll keep the ball low and throw a lot of sweeping sliders way off the plate. Take a look at what he did tonight:

The Claw is back.