Quote:
Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins
Wacha doesn't throw 96 consistently and you know it. That's hyperbole. He sits at 92-3.
I've always believed that pitchers need to be able to move the ball in both directions. That means a pitch that bores in on the hands of batters on both sides of the ball.
Wainwright's repertoire is nearly perfect. He throws a two seamer to get in on the hands of RHB, and a cutter to get in on the LHB. Both can still induce weak contact in batters of the opposite hand, and he obviously still has the curve as an incredibly effective out pitch and the fastball as a dependable "get ahead" pitch without being a melon.
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A four-seamer coming from directly over the top, as Wacha does, can easily get inside to lefties if it's in the 92 mph range. And Wacha will live or die with fastball command anyway (his breaking stuff is unlikely to ever rate as plus offerings). If he can establish his fastball command, lefties will have to respect the change and he'll be able to jam them to hell and gone by simply reaching back a little more and coming inside at 94. No, he doesn't cruise at that speed, but he won't have to.
If I believed that utilizing a cutter doesn't take away from the effectiveness of a pitchers other pitches, I'd get on board with it. However, I've seen way way too many pitchers that start to lose the feel for their fastball and end up using that cutter as a primary pitch. It does more harm than good for most pitchers, IMO.