December 06, 2008
Doctor in the House
Ian Kennedy received some House work from a former pitching coach.
The former USC star went home and worked with pitching guru Tom House, who has been the Trojans' pitching coach the past two years.
"I got some tips and started applying those and it made the break of my curveball better and the command of it extremely better," Kennedy said from Puerto Rico. "Now I know what I have to do. Before I was just throwing it to throw it and try to throw it for a strike and not have any idea."
Essentially, Kennedy is holding onto the baseball longer, and that makes a difference in break and command. As a result, he can make in-game adjustments to get the results he needs.
Good for Kennedy. He's getting good results in winter ball, but he also looked like a star in AAA in 2008. Whenever I read stories like this, I wonder why the major league coaches don't pick up on these things.
Posted by David Pinto at
09:06 AM
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Well, sometimes it takes an outsider to spot a subtle flaw. On the other hand, we read a whole lot of these kinds of stories in the offseason -- found a flaw, tipping his pitches, rededication to conditioning, etc., etc. -- and the vast majority of the time, there's not much actual improvement in the player's performance.
Also, perhaps Tom House is a fount of wisdom at this point, but I remember him as the "genius" pitching coach of the Texas Rangers in the 1980s. He had all sorts of new ideas about pitching. And all his pitchers flamed out. So I'd take his advice with at least a small grain of salt.
Sometimes, it's just about confidence. By changing the grip on the ball, if he feels he has more control over it, then that might be all he needs to be able to throw it better -- even if it really didn't change anything. A guy who had a year like he did needs a reason to have confidence.
Sometimes things work when you're not pitching against major leaguers. Ask the next Charlie Zink.
