Monday, March 3, 2008

Breaking Down Santana

The NY Times has an original piece which examines Johan Santana's changeup. The photo above shows the difference in grip which batters must identify in order to decipher a 90+ mph fastball from an ugly swing at an 80mph changeup. Good luck with that.

Another Times article discusses the risk and reward of signing a high-priced ace such as Santana. At one point, the analysis of Baseball Prospectus' Nate Silver concludes Santana will miss one entire season due to injury during the life of his new record breaking contract. Silver also believes Santana will spend at least one season pitching at a well-diminished level of performance. Even with these predictions, employing Santana's dominance for three to four seasons seems worth the risk. And if any pitcher is armed with the ability to age gracefully, it is Johan with his consistent changeup.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

good luck trying to hit that changeup Yankees hitters, johan is going to tear up the subway series this year