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May 23, 2013
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The real deal? ... R.A. Dickeyby Mike SilverJune 21, 2012 Returning from a brief hiatus, Mike is excited to be back at THT. Mike's former writing homes include FireBrandAL.com and StatSpeak.net, while his content has appeared on Fangraphs.com, ESPN.com, and others. A lifelong Red Sox fan native to New York, Mike loves to blend baseball and statistical analysis. Feel free to email him at mjasilver AT gmail DOT com. Comments
Brian said...
Yup. What Ed said. Dickey has at least two, possibly three, distinct knuckleballs. A slow speed one, a mid-speed and a “hard” knuckler that comes in at around 80 mph. I’m not sure these differences in velocity with a randomly moving pitch are accurately captured in standard pitch metrics. Dickey seems to be a rule onto himself. Posted 06/21 at 11:00 AM
Mark Himmelstein said...
Yeah, the philosophy behind the knuckleball has, in the past, been that you throw it slower to get more movement. But recent research has largely debunked this as a myth, and in fact Dickey’s performance provides some interesting evidence that higher velocities may actually be desirable from a knuckleball. He gets more ground balls and late swings than anyone has ever reasonably expected from a knuckleball pitcher, and there has been quite a bit of discussion about how he does throw three different pitches with it, and you can almost categorize them as “fast,” “changeup,” and “eephus,” variations on the single pitch. What I’m really curious about, that I haven’t seen much on anywhere, is how he’s able to change speeds on a pitch with a knuckle-grip without drastically altering his armspeed. As important as the velocity change is, maintaining armspeed while changing velocity is also important. Usually this is done by gripping a ball completely differently or placing it “deeper” in the hand. How might this even be done with a knuckleball? Posted 06/21 at 11:15 AM
Brian said...
“how he’s able to change speeds on a pitch with a knuckle-grip without drastically altering his armspeed.” Why don’t you ask him? Supposedly, he’s not shy about sharing his secrets. See: Posted 06/21 at 12:43 PM
Bobby said...
He was pitching with a foot injury, plantar fasciitis, last year. Perhaps thats a factor. Posted 06/21 at 04:48 PM
Kortez said...
One of the best ways to stop Wakefield was to simply take his pitches because so many were out of the strike zone. Eventually, Wake would come in with a weak fastball and then he would be in trouble. Apparently, this is not true with Dickey because so far he’s throwing his knuckleball for strikes. This Sunday, he faces the Yankees at Citi Field at 8:00 pm, EDT, and he face CC Sabathia. That is one game I plan on watching. I’ll be rooting for both pitchers to be on their game from the start. Has any pitcher in history ever thrown three one hitters in a row? Posted 06/22 at 07:57 AM
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He’s throwing the hard knucker (+80 mph) more often.