Friar Watch

During the 2004 and 2005 seasons Scott Linebrink was one of the most dominant relievers in baseball. Averaging nearly a strikeout an inning and holding opposing hitters below .200 he seemed to be Trevor Hoffman’s heir apparent. Then last year we started to see some weaknesses in Scott’s game. He seemed to have fewer 1-2-3 innings and gave up twice as many home runs as the previous season. Would he be able to bounce back in ‘07?

Scott lost some weight in the off season and looked great in the early going. Throwing just as hard as ever with some nice movement on his pitches he seemed posed to regain his elite status. Unfortunately the results have been inconsistent. His vulnerability to the home run has only gotten worse and his strikeout rate has plummeted.

What’s puzzling about this is his stuff usually looks good. He’s throwing as hard as ever and seems to have good movement. There was some speculation that he’s been “pitching to contact”, something that I never like to hear about a power pitcher. I mean it’s great for Justin Germano or Greg Maddux but guys like Peavy and Linebrink have the stuff to blow guys away and they should be trying to do it.

Generally I associate strikeouts with good movement and home runs with mistakes up in the zone. Following that logic, Linebrink has lost movement and command. Arm trouble perhaps? Over reliance on the fastball? Poor pitch selection by his catchers? I’m afraid I don’t have the answer. There’s no Enhanced Gameday data for 2004 or 2005 so it’s hard to make comparisons. Any other ideas?

Linebrink should no longer be the automatic 8th inning guy. Heath Bell has been much more reliable and should assume that role. Linebrink’s tendency to give up home runs should also make him the last option in extra inning games on the road.