When Les is More
Jon Lester has suddenly - and by suddenly, I mean after a period of long Major League development - become a very good pitcher.
I think the hardest hit ball all night was a double by A-Rod that was barely fair, and that's it. Otherwise, and especially early in the game, his fastball was pure dominance, clocking in the mid 90s with a top of 95.7, which is harder than he's thrown all season.
Again, his cutter - circled above in blue - was very strong tonight. A number of swinging and called strikes and weak outs are quickly making this look like one of Jon Lester's better pitches after he really struggled to control it early in the season. His 4 Seamer - circled above in green - was also an incredibly effective pitch. The curve was sharp, and he picked up two Ks with it, but it also got hit for two singles and a double.
After being his go-to pitch in his 7/3 CGSO at the Stadium, his 2seamer - circled above in purple next to the 4seamer - wasn't well controlled and didn't seem to do much for him tonight. Two ground outs off of it, but lots of balls. And even though Orel Hershiser lauded Lester for "using all 5 pitches", he threw a grand total of ONE changeup the entire game (circled in pink).
Last but not least, since I would feel guilty about not using my newest toy, here's what it looks like to face Jon Lester as either a RHH or a LHH hitter.
As a RHH, you get a very apparent, sweeping breaking pitch and the tailing/cutting action of his different fastballs. All three of the hits on the curve were by RHH.
As a LHH, the curveball really vanishes into the rest of the pitch trajectories and it becomes much more difficult for hitters to quickly identify, especially when thrown low in the zone.
On average, I think this top-down view really gives you a good idea of how much his pitches are moving on their way to the plate, and how subtle and late the movement on the cutter (in orange) really is.
Lester has developed into a "suddenly" developed into a dominating pitcher that's very fun to watch, especially compared to early in the season where he couldn't buy a strike.
I think the hardest hit ball all night was a double by A-Rod that was barely fair, and that's it. Otherwise, and especially early in the game, his fastball was pure dominance, clocking in the mid 90s with a top of 95.7, which is harder than he's thrown all season.
Again, his cutter - circled above in blue - was very strong tonight. A number of swinging and called strikes and weak outs are quickly making this look like one of Jon Lester's better pitches after he really struggled to control it early in the season. His 4 Seamer - circled above in green - was also an incredibly effective pitch. The curve was sharp, and he picked up two Ks with it, but it also got hit for two singles and a double.
After being his go-to pitch in his 7/3 CGSO at the Stadium, his 2seamer - circled above in purple next to the 4seamer - wasn't well controlled and didn't seem to do much for him tonight. Two ground outs off of it, but lots of balls. And even though Orel Hershiser lauded Lester for "using all 5 pitches", he threw a grand total of ONE changeup the entire game (circled in pink).
Last but not least, since I would feel guilty about not using my newest toy, here's what it looks like to face Jon Lester as either a RHH or a LHH hitter.
As a RHH, you get a very apparent, sweeping breaking pitch and the tailing/cutting action of his different fastballs. All three of the hits on the curve were by RHH.
As a LHH, the curveball really vanishes into the rest of the pitch trajectories and it becomes much more difficult for hitters to quickly identify, especially when thrown low in the zone.
On average, I think this top-down view really gives you a good idea of how much his pitches are moving on their way to the plate, and how subtle and late the movement on the cutter (in orange) really is.
Lester has developed into a "suddenly" developed into a dominating pitcher that's very fun to watch, especially compared to early in the season where he couldn't buy a strike.
1 Comments:
Great post. Really fascinating to see the difference in perspective between a LHB and RHB.
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