Deiontrez Mount Jersey This is footage of Houston right-hander Bud Norriss second overall pitch against Alejandro De Aza in the Astros Tuesday night exhibition game from the White Sox. Said footage captures Norris throwing a pitch (a) that, because of the speed (91 mph) and arm-side run (about 5.8 inches, based on the game data) looks very much like a two-seam fastball and (b) that the Astros broadcast team referred as a two-seam fastball. Why thats (potentially) notable is because, according to the PITCHf/x data to begin, Norris had no pitches cla sified as two-seamers this year. Brooks Baseball has
Terrance West Jersey 7% of Norriss pitches from 2011 cla sified as sinkers i.e. a close relative from the two-seamer but only four of the 207 (1.9%) he was recorded as throwing induced a swing and mi s. The presence of a dependable two-seamer would probably be of some help to Norris, who, despite having posted an entirely respectable 98 xFIP- through his first 395.1 career innings, has been very reliant on his slider throwing that pitch 35.4% of times, according to PITCHf/x. 3 other from the leagues 90 qualified starters threw their sliders as often as Norriss 38.1% this year: Edwin Jackson (42.8%) and Ervin Santana (38.2%). In addition to potentially handicapping his performance against left-handed
Quinton Spain Jersey batters, Norriss reliance on the slider could also theoretically put him at greater risk for injury, because of the stre s the pitch puts on the arm. Norris makes multiple references to his two-seamer this offseason, citing it as
Tim Semisch Jersey being a pitch on which hes working in comparison, for instance, to his fastball or slider, which hes thrown with great frequency during the last 3 years. This, obviously, isnt particularly unusual: spring training allows time for pitchers especially established ones to grow their repertoires. Still, it
Marc Mariani Jersey lends credibility to the concept that what were seeing here is, actually, a two-seamer. Its po sible likely, even that Norris wont be throwing a two-seamer/sinker with any greater frequency this year than previously three. Even when that is the situation, this informative article isnt usele s: it captures a celebration (i.e. Norris inducing a whiff together with his two-seamer) thats unlikely to happen even five more times between now and October!