tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-592615130369356022.post7782758339014562269..comments2024-03-28T12:17:12.934-04:00Comments on Mack's Mets: Tom Brennan - PROJECTIONS: METS RELIEF PITCHING 2015 VS. 2014Mack Adehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09730548449011685243noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-592615130369356022.post-35257985279589348172015-02-26T13:37:16.112-05:002015-02-26T13:37:16.112-05:00Just to continue the Leathersich discourse, I thou...Just to continue the Leathersich discourse, I thought these excerpts from an Adam Rubin article last Saturday will show that he is thought of highly by Viola - IF he can fix his control, and that Jack knows it is priority 1 for him:<br /><br />“You remember Sid Fernandez? He’s very much like Sid,” Viola said Saturday. “The ball comes out of his hand, it looks like it’s coming 100 mph. And you look at the radar gun, it’s 92. But it just sneaks up on you because of the angle of the arm slot.” <br /><br />Leathersich....has K’d 334 batters in 197 1/3 professional innings. That’s a 15.2 strikeouts-per-nine-innings rate. <br /><br />The area for improvement, though, is control....Backman recently compared Leathersich to former reliever Mitch Williams, whose nickname happened to be “Wild Thing.” Leathersich has walked 36 in 37 1/3 career Triple-A innings. <br /><br />“All he’s got to do is slow down, take a deep breath and slow the pace of the game down, he’s going to be fine,” Viola said. <br /><br />Said Leathersich: “My No. 1 thing this year is just to throw more strikes -- throw more offspeed for strikes. I’m not really worried about the strikeouts. I’m worried about getting the walks down, getting ahead of batters. I’ve seen in the past when I’ve struggled a little bit in Vegas, it’s getting behind guys and walking guys. So this year my motivation is to keep my same spice on the mound with definitely throwing more strikes.” <br /><br />Viola agreed that getting ahead of hitters is the key. The best way to tempt batters to chase fastballs up and out of the strike zone for Ks is to have them defensive because they are behind in the count. <br /><br />“Hitters aren’t going to chase balls when they’re 1-0, 2-0 all the time,” Viola said. “If he’s able to do that, his strikeout totals might not be as drastic as they are. But they will still stay [up] there.”Tom Brennanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01032383157195393857noreply@blogger.com