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FanGraphs’ David Laurila talks with pitchers about learning and developing new pitches, and in this installment Danny Duffy is one of them:
“My changeup used to be a two-seam circle. It was a really good pitch in the minor leagues because of the difference in velocity — I could get away with lack of movement — but, up here, it was starting to get ineffective.
“I watched Edinson Volquez in a super slo-mo , how he gripped his, and I was like, ‘That looks pretty good.’ He was gripping it four-seam. He had the pinky on the equator of the ball — right between the two seams that are closest together — and he turned it over a little bit. I don’t pronate, but I gripped it like that and made sure that my pinky was the last finger to touch it. I kind of buried it in my palm.
“It had that dead-fish action where it’s kind of diving off, arm side and down. It worked for me, so I ran with it. This was two years ago, in midseason. My changeup had been garbage and now it’s my best pitch, so a shout out to Volky.”
Jeffrey Flanagan reports that Danny Duffy wasn’t super pumped about serving up those dongs yesterday:
Duffy clearly was frustrated by his own performance. Asked if it was one of those days to simply tip his cap to Betts, Duffy said, “Yeah, I suppose.
”He’s a good hitter, a great hitter. He’s been doing what he’s been doing for a long time for a reason. [But] I’m searching for outs. That’s all I’m searching for. My stuff has been great. I’ve been busting my [butt] every freaking game. I’m tired of going out there and getting my [butt] kicked with great stuff.
Rustin Dodd wrote about it too, but you’ve gotta have one of them subs to read it:
Here’s a story from Fenway Park on Wednesday, where the Red Sox made Danny Duffy pay for his mistakes: https://t.co/CN7nC5dQ6Z pic.twitter.com/J8Tka1ywL7
— Rustin Dodd (@rustindodd) May 3, 2018
He also was on 810-WHB talking about how he hopes people will pay for journalism because why wouldn’t he?
I was on @810BorderPatrol this morning with @nate_bukaty and @SSJWHB and we veered into a conversation about why I hope people will pay for journalism they find valuable, whatever the publication is. I don't know if I articulated my point well. But here: https://t.co/UsQuutHdhk
— Rustin Dodd (@rustindodd) May 2, 2018
That Lee Judge guy gets down to brass tacks with MITCH! to talk shifts and the cards that the outfielders are using for positioning.
The Red Sox couldn’t hit lefty pitchers. But they unraveled Royals ace Danny Duffy https://t.co/ZBajylClbf
— The Kansas City Star (@KCStar) May 2, 2018
KC Kingdom’s Leigh Oleszczak weighs in on the Clay Buchholz opt-out.
Clint Scoles runs down what happened in the minors on Tuesday at BPKC.
At the Hardball Times, Alexis Brudnicki writes about her time at Scout School.
At FanGraphs:
- Jay Jaffe takes us through the spring in Tommy John surgeries.
- Sheryl Ring notes that the potential return of Jung Ho Kang to the Pirates isn’t necessarily all wine and roses.
- Travis Sawchik looks at how Adam Ottavino rebuilt himself in a vacant store space between a Chuck E. Cheese’s and a Dollar Tree in Manhattan.
Seems like Marvel is being super thorough in its search for the right female director for their Black Widow movie.
Tesla had a rough quarter.
This artist is repurposing aquatic trash into tapestries.
The Catcher was a Spy starring Royals fan Paul Rudd as major-league catcher Moe Berg (a story RR-reader Lance Feyh wrote about for the Hardball Times Annual) finally has a trailer.
Arrested Development‘s is fourth season is getting recut to a chronological format in advance of the upcoming fifth season.
The song of the day is “Cripple Creek” by Leo Kottke: