Friar Watch

Apparently some Dodger fans are commenting(#45) that Broxton’s last pitch last night looked like a strike. Funny, it didn’t even look particularly close to me and I’m not just saying that because I’m a Padre fan. I don’t put a whole lot of stock in how pitches look on tv, the angle just doesn’t give you an accurate picture. You’re compressing 60 feet of travel through a telephoto lens placed about 400 feet away.

I just watched it again on mlb.com and you can see Martin set up on the outside corner, he has to move his glove a good 8-10 inches outside to catch the ball. It’s possible, though unlikely, that Broxoton’s ball tailed away but it’s not going to tail that much in the 18-24 inches between the front of the plate and Martin’s glove, not when he’s throwing the ball at 99 mph. In general, if a catcher sets up outside and has to move farther outside to catch the ball, it’s not a strike.

Here’s the pitch chart for Branyan’s AB:

Pitch 1: Called strike on the outer edge. Pretty good location when you consider it was timed at 99.4 mph out of his hand.

Pitch 2: Another fastball, clearly a ball. 1-1

Pitch 3: A perfectly placed fastball, swing and miss. 1-2

Pitch 4: OK, this is the pitch Dodger fans can bitch about. This was taken for a ball but it’s clearly strike three. Now it’s 2-2

Pitch 5: No Gameday data for this one. Ball 3, 3-2

Pitch 6: The disputed pitch is not even really close to a strike. Even Trevor Hoffman wouldn’t get this call on his 500th save.

A hell of a sequence by Broxton but you can’t just keep pumping fastballs in there, even if you can throw it 100 mph.