With over 40 years as a major league player, manager and broadcaster, Buck Martinez has experienced baseball from all angles. Now in his role as the Toronto Blue Jays play-by-play announcer, Buck is taking your questions in his weekly blog for sportsnet.ca, Ask Buck Martinez.
Grace asks…
Hi Buck, I’m curious about Travis Snider’s situation. It seems to me that he wasn’t around very long before he was sent down to triple-A. Now I’ve read that Anthopoulos says that although Travis’ swing is improving, he still needs more work on it before he is ready to return.
Isn’t the problem with the swing something that would have been picked up in spring training? I also wonder why he isn’t working with Dwayne Murphy, who has been so successful with other hitters.
Thanks for your time.
Buck: Grace you are right, the decision was made quickly to send Travis back to the minors but he was having so much trouble it looked like he was really starting to press at the plate.
You will remember Snider got off to a similar start last year and it wasn’t until early May that things began to turn around for him, then unfortunately he suffered the wrist injury that keep out much longer than anyone expected. Travis is very talented but he may have been rushed to the big leagues without the proper foundation being put down in the minors.
If you look at his minor league numbers he didn’t tear up any league to the point of outplaying his competition, which would have warranted a promotion to the next level. This year he never got the timing down on the breaking balls and chased a lot of bad pitches in the dirt.
Many people around the club think he needs to change his approach at the plate eliminating the big shoulder turn which causes him to commit before he identifies the pitch.
He is 23-years-old and has all the talent in the world, but he has to get a shorter stoke in order to have consistent success at triple-A before the club can even consider bringing back to Toronto.
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Fred asks…
Hi Buck, I see there’s been talk about a rule change when it comes to running into a catcher with the intent to dislodge the ball. What would make this any different than a player trying to dislodge the ball from someone’s glove, much like A-Rod did a few years back, when he was called out on that play.
Isn’t it the same idea?
Buck: Fred, the Buster Posey play certainly has created a lot of discussion. The plays at the plate for the catcher have always been physical and once in a while someone will get hurt and I am speaking from experience.
You make a great point about the A-Rod play and his being called out for slapping to ball out of Bronson Arroyo’s hand. But if a runner coming home made the same kind of play he too would have been called out. As for breaking up the double plays at second, the rule has changed over the years because of guys like Hal McRae, Don Baylor and Carlos May wreaking havoc on middle infielders throwing rolling blocks with no intent other than hammering the guy to make sure he doesn’t throw the ball to first for the double play.
As for changing the rule, I think there are too many variables at the plate. The runners don’t have to maintain contact with the plate as once they touch it, they are safe so they are allowed to run into the catcher to jar the ball loose. Of course home is where the "points," are scored so protecting the plate is the catcher’s responsibility, especially with the game on the line.
Johnny Bench, the Hall of Famer, said the runner didn’t cause the broken leg, Posey’s poor position on the play put him in a weak position and when contact was made something had to give. I don’t think anything should change with the rules regarding the plays at the plate with catcher’s safety in mind.
The position comes with some risks.
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Matt asks…
Hi Buck. Love your telecasts, and the whole Sportsnet team is fantastic. I have been hearing a lot of talk about how Jose Bautista affects the batters immediately in front of and behind him.
Recently, this has been Corey Patterson and Juan Rivera respectively – both of whom have been on fire. I’m curious what are Patterson and Rivera benefiting from specifically? Are the pitchers throwing more strikes at them, fewer off-speed pitches?
Thanks and all the best.
Buck: Matt, the pitchers now understand how good Jose Bautista has become—just look at where he ranks on the offensive leader boards.
When he is hot like he has been for most of the year, guys around him are going to benefit and here’s why. First, let’s consider Corey Patterson who hits in front of Jose. Pitchers are going to be aggressive using the fastball since that’s the pitch they have the most control of and they want to get Corey out to keep him off of first so they can work "around" Bautista. Patterson is a good fastball hitter and he is having a fine season hitting ahead of the best hitter in baseball.
Now the guy behind Bautista in the four-hole also benefits from his success simply because Jose gets a lot of hits and takes a lot of walks, so the cleanup hitters are always hitting with runners on. Lately we have seen what it means to the Jays lineup to have Adam Lind back in the cleanup spot as the opposing managers have to think twice about putting Jose on first with the intentional pass.
Royals manager Ned Yost loaded the bases last Wednesday night intentionally walking Bautista and he was burned when Lind hit his second career grand slam. Any team is better when good hitters are surrounded with other good hitters.
No one can be pitched around and the Jays are enjoying the depth of their lineup right now.
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Gord asks…
Buck what are your thoughts of John Farrell so far this year. I think he has done a great job with what he has been faced with from injuries to an inconsistent bullpen.
What do you think he has to do as a manager to make this team into a contender this year?
Buck: Gord, I don’t think there is a better man for the job than John Farrell. His background as a player, a college pitching coach, a college recruiter, director of minor league operations for the Indians and finally, pitching coach for the Red Sox has prepared him well for this role.
The Jays are in a rebuilding stage no matter how you slice it, and Farrell’s understands how patient you have to be to develop front-line starting pitchers like he did in Boston.
The fact that the Jays have been around the .500 mark is quite an accomplishment with so many players in new roles for the first time. Lind at first, J.P. Arencibia behind the plate as a rookie, Kyle Drabek in the rotation at 23, Bautista now playing with a big bulls eye on his chest as the reigning Home Run King, and they are all producing as everyday players.
The one area that will improve is the starting pitching, which has been more inconsistent than we expected. Brett Cecil has taken a step back after a 15-win season, having trouble getting hitters out in triple-A Las Vegas.
Jesse Litsch is dealing with more injuries, past Tommy John surgery, hip and now shoulder problems. Can he ever stay healthy? As Morrow and Drabek develop and some of the double-A pitchers pan out, Farrell will be the man to take this team back to contention in the AL East.
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Todd asks…
What is the first sign from a catcher’s point of view that your pitcher has peaked and now gamecalling suddenly becomes more important
(is it different for every pitcher, and the better the catcher, the quicker the peak is detected)?
Buck: Todd, naturally every pitcher is different and they have different red flags when they are coming to the end of their outing. Most of the time even before the velocity drops a bit, command in the zone will suffer. Fastballs will move up in more hittable locations and the breaking balls will begin to "roll" and not break.
A pitcher really drives through his delivery with his legs, which helps him keep the ball down. When the legs begin to go, the drive is less intense and the arm alone can’t keep the ball at the knees. That is the most telling aspect for me, the location and crispness of the movements of his pitches.
Question No. 2 from Todd…
At what age would you care to comment on whether a kid has what it takes to become a major league pitcher?
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Buck:
If teams knew the answer to this question they wouldn’t have to have a small army of scouts.
The reality is that every athlete physically matures at a different time. Larry Bowa and Mark Buehrle were both cut from their high school teams. "Too small," they were told. Obviously they grew and became big leaguers with long careers.
Jamie Moyer was a journeyman pitcher until he got to Seattle and became a true finesse pitcher extending his productivity into his 40s. Mike Maddux, according to his father was a great worker, bigger and older than Greg, but Greg had the touch and feel to become a future Hall of Famer and Mike didn’t.
I think it is harder now, more than ever, for the Greg Maddux’s and Jamie Moyer’s of the next generation to get a chance because every club drafts big, strong guys that light up the radar guns and the high school or college finesse pitcher my never get a second look.
My advice to a young aspiring pitcher is to pitch as much as possible against the best possible competition and if you continue to dominate, someone will take notice, be it a college program with a scholarship, or an open-minded pro scout with an imagination and a spot to give a kid a chance.
Who knows who might be the next Mark Buehrle, Greg Maddux or Jamie Moyer?
