Baker Location

Well it worked a couple weeks ago when I called Francisco Liriano’s career over, so why not.

When you glance at his FanGraphs page, Scott Baker hasn’t been much worse than he was last year. He’s giving up more homers than usual, his location has been worse but opponents aren’t totally taking advantage, and opposing hitters have taken advantage of Gardy’s inability to fill out a lineup card. But for a flyball pitcher who relies on control, Baker’s location plot last night wasn’t too encouraging:

Those are a ton of pitches towards the top of the zone. There are at least ten pitches that pass over pretty much the heart of the plate. His pitches had virtually no side-to-side movement and he left it up far too many times.

Also in the game, Carlos Gomez robbed A-Rod of a grand slam. While acknowledging the dangers of being too influenced by one-time and rare events, that’s a play only he makes. And yet Gardy insists on playing Delmon Young in left and Denard Span in center. Enough of that Gardy.