Memphis @ Omaha, 7:05pm – Shelby Miller
Springfield @ Tulsa, 7:05pm – Seth Maness
Palm Beach vs. Jupiter, 6:35pm – Chris Corrigan
Quad Cities @ Peoria, 7:00pm – Sam Gaviglio
Batavia vs. Jamestown, 7:05pm – Ben O’Shea
Johnson City @ Bluefield, 7:05pm – Stalyn Lopez
Entries (RSS)
I’m guessing I’m not the only one praying that Shelby turns it around tonight?…….
I think we are ALL hoping for a big game from Shelby. You have to think that he’s close to having a real breakout game. I don’t need a shutout from Shelby, but I’d like to see a line like 6 innings, 1 run, 1 walk, 8 Ks, 0 HRs.
You should see an improvement in Shelby tonight. It’s been reported that he worked with pitching coordinator Brent Strom to work with Miller on his mechanics and review video of his starts from lower levels. In his last start he was sitting 92-94 topping 96 again also they will force Shelby follow the pitches called by the catcher so he can’t shake him off. This means more off speed pitches.
RotoWorld was reporting Shelby is on a “no shake rule”, where he can’t shake off what the catcher is calling for. It’s to get him to use his secondary pitches a little bit more. I think it might be a few rough outings before it gets better.
Derrick Goold of the Post Dispatch was the one reporting that. RotoWorld may have aggregated it.
Your just going to drive yourself crazy if you worry about Miller game to game. There’s a reason he’s getting beaten around so bad. He advanced without developing sufficent secondary stuff. Now he’s at a level where he can’t hide behind his FB. He’s on a strict no shake policy and last game threw 37 percent curveballs. The reason of his season isn’t about stats it’s about developing as a pitcher.
Exactly. As soon as he started to get “lit up” by opposing hitters, it was abundantly clear the coaching staff there was forcing him to use his offspeed stuff. They’re not going to get better or consistent without repetition. I wouldn’t be surprised if they forced him to throw a bunch of change ups or a bunch of curve balls, probably the latter.
I’m expecting that within a month or two we will start getting stories and articles about how the Cardinals are pleased with Millers progress with his curveball and how they are ironning out his mechanics. They have throughly broken him down through the media and soon it will be time to build him back up. I also expect to see him taken out of games before things get too ugly. I think they have told him from now on this year don’t worry about your stats because they won’t be great. You had your stats throughout your time in the system until this year. Worry about the curveball and fastball location.
I agree. Part of Shelby’s issues have been the quality and consistency of his curveball and changeup. However, we should not overlook FB location/command. A pitcher can survive on a 90 mph FB if it is located with good movement. Shelby has hit the center of the plate, up, way too often this year. If he keeps the ball down in the zone, he will become tougher to hit. Fine line between success and failure. He’ll be fine.
This season Shelby didn’t have that same life and velocity as he did in 2011 because the shape he came into in ST and he didn’t get his swings and misses like he did in the past they were getting fouled back. Now he has too locate and command his Fastball in a certain spot now mixing it up with his secondary pitches change-up and breaking ball.
Here’s the link to an interview with Miller posted on Memphis’ website the other day. A lot of it is about the struggles he’s been having in AAA. Sounds like he’s got a good head on his shoulders and doesn’t seem too discouraged. When he says “I’m pitching well”, it may sound a little bit like he is resisting pitching more off speed stuff but maybe i’m over analyzing.
The Post-Dispatch is reporting that Miller will skip this start and work on fundamentals. Save your prayers.
I’ve got it. Shelby is getting hit because he is:
throwing to many fastballs.
throwing off speed stuff he hasn’t mastered yet
he is leaving the ball up in the zone
has lost velocity
Is bored
Is there any possibility someone hasn’t covered? It sounds to me like we are just a bunch of uninformed second guessers.
Haha. You forgot to add that he came to spring training out of shape and has never been right since then.
It’s not that he was “out of shape.” He was actually in better “shape” with regards to health. His body fat percentage had dropped.
That isn’t exactly better “pitcher” shape, though. There was a misunderstanding going into the offseason. Shelby worked hard on losing fat by getting into better cardiovascular shape. The Cardinals just wanted him to get bigger and gain weight so that he becomes more durable and able to handle a workload of 150+ innings.
He lost a little strength so the Cardinals worked on regaining that strength as soon as they realized this. He’ll be fine. It’s not like he went into the offseason and didn’t work out or do anything. He actually worked very hard to get into better shape. The problem was that it wasn’t the kind of shape the Cardinals wanted him in.
I don’t understand how that could happen. If I were the cardinals all of my top youngsters would have a very clear workout/diet plan. Their goals for off season conditioning would all be planned and this type of issue would never happen.
My understanding of the situation is that during the offseason the Cardinals checked in on him and realized that he was losing fat but not necessarily turning it to muscle. So when they found out he was losing the weight, they corrected his workout regimen but by then he had already lost more weight than they had wanted.
It got misinterpreted right away. When he reported to camp, people were reporting that the Cardinals were upset with him and this and that. That wasn’t the case. I think the Cardinals even took the blame for it by saying they should have been more clear with their instructions.
There was no confusion. He was given a specific plan, he choose not to use it and do his own thing.
Who told you he was given a specific plan for diet and workout? Or is this something you assume to be happening?
It was a story where they explained everything, there were groups of workouts based on the players need. They were all given their specific workout before the end of the year. If a player didn’t follow the GM, Owner and Matheny would be notifed. They assumed he understood and whe someone checked on him mid winter they saw he had lost a ton of fat. Instead of his program.
I’ll settle for 1, 2, 3, and 4, I’ve never thought “bored” had anything to do with it… :)
Pricelss post. You are right, just a bunch of uninformed second guessers. LOL
I
I think that Broderick has issues. They should just shut him down.
If shut down you mean released. Yes.
Place him on the dl.
Do you know amything.about broderick and health issues?
I know he hasn’t been good in awhile despite being around forever. Not sure specific what is going on with him now. But Washington didn’t keep him last year and he doesn’t have the stuff to warrant a spot in the Memphis rotation despite that being a horrendous team.
Oops. I forgot to include the link. It’s a good watch though. http://www.milb.com/multimedia/vpp.jsp?sid=t235