Cain and the Unit
Baggs report on how Matty is learning from the Big Guy. Dunno about you guys, but this strikes me as an excellent development. In fact, I was going to call the post "why didn't I think of that", but I figured it might be a bit obscure. I don't know if there are any statistical analyses out there about it, but it's seemed to me in the last couple of years that a lot of the damage against Cain comes as a result of his lack of the "out" pitch. Sure, he can break off a curve, and his slider may occasionally do the trick, but mostly the dude lives and dies with the fastball. Now, it's a healthy fastball, yes, and he should trust it like a blood brother. But, guys tend to keep fouling that bugger off until he eventually misses location with it, or misses the plate entirely with something else. What a boon it would be to have a pitch that looks like some fat cheese, only to tumble out of the zone at the last second. Easier said than done, of course, but I shoooore do like the idea. p.s. I looked briefly here and on xanthan's site to find an overall pitch analysis for Cain, so that I could base some of my rant on reality, but to no avail. Didn't somebody systematically pick apart his repertoire at some point?