Question for Fletcher or any other Baseball coach

[Snake Plissken]

There is a lot of buzz here in NY about Hideki Matsui in the Papers. A lot of people don't think he is going to do that well because the talent in Japan can't compare to here. I look at Ichiro and he had no problem adjusting if you ask me if you can hit a baseball you can hit no matter where you play.
My question to you is: How do you think he will do will it be a difficult switch from Japan to the US. Is there really that big a difference?

 

[gman2]

the thing that makes ichiro so dynamic and such a great player is that he is just a great contact hitter, with great speed. he hits balls that damn near bounce off home plate. and he legs out so many infield singles, he puts a huge strain on the defense. hes clearly one of the best hitters in baseball right now- probably in the top 3 or 4 in terms of pure hitting.

but pitchers made adjustments on him. i dont crunch numbers, and am not a stat guy- but i believe he had a very big 2nd half drop off this past season, with a couple of prolonged slumps. he made pitchers look silly his rookie year. then this past year, pitchers started to learn tendencies and they "somewhat" figured him out.

its hard to say how matsui will do, because you cant use ichiro as a measuring stick- simply because they are polar opposites. ichiro wants to slap the ball on the ground and use his amazing speed, whereas matsui is a power hitter.

i doubt this guy will see many fastballs, even in the american league. im sure hes seen good breaking balls over in japan, but has he seen a barry zito-type curveball?

im still really looking forward to seeing this guy play. im sure its gonna be a cat and mouse game with the pitchers and matsui feeling each other out and then making the necessary adjustments.

 

[He Hate Me]

He will have NO promblem, not to many good curveballs in the big leauges. The Pitching in Japan is just as good, batting avrages our higher over there because the parks are smaller.

The main promblem with MLB is the pitching coaches are a complete joke.

 

[wondo]

How are pitching coaches a joke in the major leagues?

 

[wondo]

I doubt he's seen the arm strength and depth of pitching that he will see over here. Obviously a good hitter can get past that, but I imagine it to be challenging facing every pitcher who is 89-91 with a split or slider.

 

[fletcher]

HHM in away you are right the point about cb i will not say there are not good offspeed pithcers out there with great stuff because there are many and a far east team could not take teams from mlb, The top team there could come here and would fair worse the det or brewers. But the avg fb pitcher in japen is in the mid 80's 85-87 most college d1 top teams are faster then taht and top juco's blow that away. They see about 75% breaking balls and off speed pitchs in the far east leagues. So if he is not over powered by the fb and caught on his heals trying to cheat i think he will do ok but he is not going to come in and hit 45-50 homeruns and bat 300 a good point was made about ichiro he hits like a fast pitch softball player lets the bat glide to make contact that is what makes him the hitter he is and his speed. And to do what he does is very hard moving out of the box one way and letting your bat adjust to the ball and slap its almost like he catches the ball with the bat.

You will not see Matsui do this it will take him a little time to adjust he will need a few years then you will see if he can make it here or not as a power player. He is a whole different make up then ichiro and the fences are not 300 down the lines 360 power allays and 385 to center so we will see, but i will say the yanks and others scouted him very good so he has the skills can he carry them over only time will tell. That's the scouting game projection and that's all you can do is project with the tools he has and what you think you can do with those tools.

To call mlb pitching and their coaching a joke has to be the top 5 dumbest statements i have seen at madjacks and have seen a few.

 

[wondo]

that last sentence was funny as shit eric... you better watch what you say, or scott atlanta will take you as his signature and people will forever associate you with him!

i agree with you 100% on the baseball stuff, but what else is new? lmfao. HHM must not be a fan of your WV boy Mazzone.

 

[djv]

There has to be a period of adjustment. There used to be that just when players here were traded from one league or the other. National pitchng was always a little differant then the American. They seem closer now them they were for a while.

 

[He Hate Me]

Wondo,

Mazzonne is a drunk and knows next to nothing about pitching. I know Ryan Klesko personally and he said he was very thankfull to get away from Cox and MAzzone and how those 2 were so hard to be around, they had everyone on pins and needles, Ryan dreaded coming to the park after ahwile, and was like getting released from prision when he was traded to the Padres.

Fletcher,

Nomo was not a superstar in Japan, he came here and has done very well, and there is many pitchers there that throw hard. But throwing hard is not what pitching is all about. This Jap hitter doesnt need to take roids like 70% of the leauge is on, he is a natural power hitter, not some phony druggy like Bret boone or Bonds. I cant wait for Cansecos book comes out and exposes all these cheaters.

Big leauge pitching is so far down from 15 yrs ago its a joke. this is due partly to expansion.

 

[gman2]

he hate me:

not really a braves fan, nor do i really have a stand one way or the other, but

whats klesko's lifetime ERA? obviously he has some credibility having been "around" him (mazzone) but thats like asking what tom glavine thinks about ted williams' approach to hitting. point simply being- he (mazzone) may be a jerk personally, or not friendly, but it has nothing to do with his job.

call me crazy, but i think theres a correlation between the braves pitching success and mazzone's teaching. theyve only had the leagues best pitching and ERA for like the last freakin decade. and it wasnt all maddux and glavine. they developed their young farm guys, as well as revived the careers of some journeymen

 

[THE KOD]

Wondo,

I cant wait for Cansecos book comes out and exposes all these cheaters.

Canseco was recently arrested for breaking his probation in Florida. He was ordered jailed until a hearing on march 21.

He was not supposed to leave the state without notify. And he thought he had 3 years to complete his community service and it was only three months.

The arrest came over a bar fight he and his brother got into a year ago. Seems like a nice guy other than that.

Scott King of Dogs

 

[hellah10]

:hail :hail :hail Valdimer Guerrero <--- I`ll take him over anybody in the league (including Bonds)

 

[He Hate Me]

GMON,

Ryan Klesko threw 94 mph in high school, probably could have made it as a pitcher, but was such a good hitter. Looking to what happend to Darren Dreifort it looks like he made the right decision.

 

[wondo]

HHM,

There are two sides to everystreet. I'm sure one coach is good for a player, while for another he is poor.

Who do you consider to be a good pitching coach? Tom House, Dick Mills? You must have someone in mind if you plan to replace the current stock of big league coaches.

Wondo

 

[fletcher]

not even goning to respond but i have a great feeling that i know leo much better then you and i am sure wondo knows the team better then you every will.

and as for drunks saw klesko many of times hammered in palm beach when they sharied spring training with expos and he did not throw 94 in hs. If you know him ask him about the days at the zoo in palm beach. tell him shimer and wockenfus said hi.

matt now you have me lmao dick mills i can add 7-10 mph to your fast ball by reading my little fold out flyer send me 12 bucks and i will let you know the secret on how i turned my stick child ryan into a 98 mph power pitcher.

now lay off my man th i like some of his stuff but most of it you need a phd just to understand.

 

[wondo]

Yeah I have no more comments for this thread, either.

House is ok. He works hard and keeps himself on top of things. I think it is easy to misintrepret some of his teachings because at times it gets complex.

HHM, we'll agree to disagree on this one....

Peace. Off to some games.

 

[fletcher]

and if you want to know why i say he did not throw 94 saw him in 89 with us jr team and in a tourny in fl with westminster ca he played 8 games i saw and never one him on the mound.

and i am sure he did not call leo a drunk nor am well yes i am sure he would not of passed the juice test from 92-96 years

ask him why the big cat slamed him one day? he is a good guy who gave a lot to the city of atlanta and am sure he still does good works with the sdp for city but he was no saint nor is he the type of guy to say something about a former coach and burn a bridge.


wondo
get my boy a look cards have had him throw twice last time cross checker was out. but he is still home. would not be spooney but i would project him just has a bad body. Tight slider though and he will be 91-92 just like i said mp would and he was on mine that day and with in 2 days your buddy was going to take him and they did. still very raw mp will do better this year hell was just 18 when he walked through the doors at dodger town. give my other guy a shot damnit quit chasing the navy kid

 

[He Hate Me]

Rhino hurt his arm his junior year, did indeed PITCH and throw 90's fastball , guy was a beast. Ryans mom would actually catch him when he was in 8th grade becasue he threw to hard for kids. I know personally his high school coach Whitley, I played against Rhino in the Sunset leauge he was a Wetminter Lion and I was a Fountain Valley Baron. but Ryan wasnt the toughest out in the leauge that would be Jeff Kent at Edison hs.