Brownie19

To me - this article came across like Ianetta decided to watch a lot of video this offseason specifically looking to improve his pitch framing and with some minor tweaks, he's gone from one of the worst to one of the best in baseball in one offseason. This didn't come off like he's been working on this for a decade and it finally all just magically came together. Again, to me, I would equate this to an amateur golfer who's been playing for 15 years. He's always "trying" to get better by playing a lot and maybe reading a book or two, maybe got a live lesson a few times.....and then suddenly he discovers a golf lab, which provides video feedback so he can actually see what he's doing wrong and what good golfers do right......he takes 15-20 lessons over the winter and next spring he's shaved 5 strokes off his handicap. I think there's a point here...yes...why did it take Iannetta so long to realise some video analysis and hard work might make him a drastically better catcher? And when is Navarro going to try it? (although Navarro's fat ass likely is the reason he's so awful at framing...doesn't matter which way he puts it - it's in the way).

Insert JP Arencibia joke here. If this is true, then why are there still so many brutal receivers out there? Just a skill they can't teach themselves? I'm not sure I buy that seeing as Ianetta has shown drastic change/improvement in 1 season. Christ he just learned to set up and catch the ball with his ass to the right and now he's one of the best framers in the game. Are you saying he's been trying to make that minor change for 15 years and it just clicked in?

It's kind of embarrassing if every catcher in baseball isn't trying to get better at this. To be honest, it's kind of embarrassing they haven't been trying to improve on this for the past 20 years. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to think that as a catcher, you should try and do whatever you can to frame better and/or give the ump a better view. You're getting paid millions of dollars - I expect they'd be going the extra mile to get better at their jobs.

Why is West in AA?

Good - we should have seen them last night too.

I hope that's televised...It would be awesome to see.

I'd be happy with all of those suggests (although Castro likely should go to AA?) except giving up Hoffman for Papelbon......that's just not a good idea at all. I really like what I've seen out of Hendriks. Either give him a spot in the rotation or get him into some higher leverage situations.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_police_officers_killed_in_the_line_of_duty That's the # of police officers killed in the line of duty.

This kind of analysis reminds me of when we dealt a couple to 5 prospects for the NL Cy Young winner...

amazing. thanks.

Seriously - how do I block posts from certain people? I don't need an accountant, I used Simple Tax.

Has Martin ever gone to his knees to block a ball? seriously.

FUUUUUKKK GIBBY cf

How do I set the ignore thing so I don't see posts from certain people again? I need to know.

C'mon bats - bail the bullpen out.

Why don't Buck and Tabby even acknowledge how awful Martin's form is trying to block that change up? Pathetic effort. Get Hendrik in there.....Gibby I hate you.

+1. Plus Devon Travis. He's very good.

ban.

Agreed - you have to give credit where credit is due.

Whoa.....Sanchez gets through 5 with 7K and only 2 walks at 100 pitches and Gibby sends him out for the 6th? To face HanRam? questionable at best (although it worked). Tabby says "it's a cold night - you're not going to wear down"...

So does Keith Foulke. What in-depth insight by Pedro...

Isn't Headley phenomenal defensively? I would have thought Headley, Didi, Drew and Tex would be well above average defensively. Headley's a stud, Didi's a glove first SS, Drew was always really good defensively at SS and Tex used to be a GG'er...

Who the heck said "suddenly"? Nobody expects a drastic change, but moderate gains over the course of the season isn't too difficult of grasp. To suggest he's made no improvement since 2010 is short sighted as he was trying to develop his 2nd and 3rd pitches in the minors. I'm not saying it's a guarantee to happen - but to shoot it down like it's some crazy concept is dumn. There are plenty of big prospects who came up with control issues who made adjustments and improvements as they grew, matured and gained experience.

You assume every big league player is a study of the game who knows everything there is to know about mechanics. I highly doubt that's the case as many players get there based on god given talent (which is why we have huge coaching staffs these days). Finally, Pedro may understand his own mechanics - I fully expect he did.....but every pitcher has different mechanics. Castro is like 7 inches taller than him....does he know and understand the mechanics for all the different types of pitchers in baseball? Reality is - he's likely see a couple of videos on the kid, sees a tall, projectable body, a 97 MPH fastball with movement and a good change up and says "that kid looks special" - just like you and I do. Good news for Pedro is in 2 years if Castro flops - nobody will remember or call him out for being completely wrong about him.

Remind me again what longstanding record Pedro has as a ML scout? I'm not sure why people give him credibility (as a scout) simply because he was good at the game himself. Was Trouble with the Curve based on Pedro's life as a scout? I didn't know his eyes were going on him...