Brian Sweeney
Dave · June 26, 2010 at 4:40 pm · Filed Under Mariners
I didn’t see the game, so I don’t have much to add about how he looked, but here’s the thing that stands out from the statline during Sweeney’s impressive season debut – he threw 44 pitches and twelve of them were fastballs. He basically lived off his change-up, throwing 18 of them, and mixed in some sliders and a few curves for good measure. Here’s his Pitch F/x plot:
No one will ever confuse him for a stuff guy, as his velocity never got over 90, but he showed that he can keep hitters off balance with a variety of off-speed pitches. I’ll have to go back and watch the archive, but from a first glance, I’m already impressed with his pitching smarts.
If smarts they were, you can be damn sure they didn’t come from the catcher.
Lee was out there in the congratulation line, and had a big grin for Brian, and was pounding Rob J. Seems like he’s a cheerleader for the pitching/catching staff.
Sure going to miss him.
Nice to know one of our bargain bin items is working out.
When you view the archive, you will like what you see Dave. He had great arm action and was hitting his spots … with very few signs of rust – even after a long layoff. You were right a couple weeks ago when you mentioned that he “pounds the strike zone.” Definitely not a “stuff” guy … but he knows how to pitch. Poised, but at the age of 36 we should expect that.
I was going to do a post before he debuted about his similarities to Trevor Hoffman – so-so or worse FB, good change, that’s about it.
I thought we’d get the Hoffman of 2010, but today’s appearance looked like vintage Hoffman. Not saying it’s going to last, because it’s really hard to pitch this way consistently, but just as Dave said, this is a guy (or a team) who knows what his strengths and weaknesses are, and maximized the former and minimized the latter. That was a pitching clinic. The K of Fielder was great, considering what he’d done to Fister, but also understandable. The K of Braun (in his 2nd AB, right?) was intriguing. Righty on righty with a change?
Well done, Brian.