[新聞] Wang, 28, Will Only Improve
這篇文章有些論點蠻有趣的，貼上來給大家看看。
重點：
1. 其實小王的大聯盟資歷不深，即使在小聯盟，也直到2003年才經歷第一個完整
球季，才125局。因此，跟其他隊的王牌不同，小王並不是個完成品，他在還發展中。
2. 最大弱點─左打：sinker跟slider拿來對付右打很好，但對上左打會掉進甜蜜點。
因此小王對左打就多投changeups，但投得不夠好。於是今年的左打策略改變了：
多投fastball、splitter，少投slider、changeups，目前看來有改善。
4. 第二弱點─打線對他的適應力：第一次碰上會很慘，第二次好好準備就能打得不差。
例子：紅襪兩場、印第安人兩場。作者認為去年季後賽也是這個原因 (有備而來)
5. 要活過今年，持續進化是必要的。小王這幾年跌破專家眼鏡存活下來，
能繼續進步對洋基會是天大的好消息，但現在也不錯了。
http://www.nysun.com/news/wang-28-will-only-improve
By TIM MARCHMAN tmarchman@nysun.com
Staff Reporter of the Sun | May 7, 2008
It’s easy to forget how young Chien-Ming Wang is in baseball years. Most
28-year-olds who have enjoyed anything like the kind of success he has — he
won 19 games in each of his first two full seasons with the Yankees, and goes
into tonight’s start against Cleveland tied for the league lead with six —
are basically finished pitchers. Wang isn’t.
He is, for one thing, from Taiwan, which may be a strong baseball nation, but
couldn’t offer the teenage Wang the kind of competition he would have faced
in Texas or the Dominican Republic. Also, because of an arm injury that cost
him the entire 2001 season and from which he was still recovering in 2002, he
didn’t pitch a full season in the American minors until he was 23, and even
then, he pitched only 125 innings. This has its advantages — Wang didn’t
endure the kind of stress that peers such as Carlos Zambrano and C.C.
Sabathia did while he was developing — but he also just has less experience
working and reading hitters than you’d expect from a 28-year-old ace.
Given this, one might have expected some modest but real growth in his game
coming into this year. He has, so far, showed it. Most important has been the
improvement in his strikeout rate; at 6.4 per nine innings, he’s more than
doubling his 2006 mark. But there are other signs that Wang is only now truly
coming into his own.
For most of his time in the majors, Wang’s biggest weakness has been against
left-handed hitters. Last year, for instance, he struck out 7.9% of those he
faced, as against 17.8% of right-handers. There’s no mystery as to why. His
nasty sinking fastball, which he routinely throws at 94 mph and can throw
much harder, breaks down but also tilts — out and away from right-handers
but right into the sweet spot where most left-handers like the ball. The same
is true of his slider, his second-best pitch. Wang has usually tried to
neutralize left-handers with a changeup that he rarely throws to
right-handers, but it isn’t an especially effective pitch.
This year, he has slightly but noticeably changed his approach, throwing the
fastball more often against left-handers and the changeup and slider less
often, while mixing in the odd split-finger or cutter. So far, his strikeout
rate against them is up to 12.2%, which isn’t fantastic, but represents an
improvement of half over what he did last year. If he can keep doing as well
while continuing to suppress left-handed power (he’s given up just one home
run to left-handers in 82 plate appearances), he’ll have gone a long way
toward plugging the biggest hole in his game. Against right-handers, Wang has
been throwing a cut fastball a bit more often. It isn’t a great pitch, but
it does give hitters something else to look for, and further shows his
evolving style.
Tonight’s game, though, will especially bear watching because it will give
some insight into how Wang will deal with his second main weakness — his
susceptibility to lineups that have his fastball well scouted.
My theory on Wang’s playoff struggles (he’s 0–3 with a 7.58 ERA in four
starts) has always been that because he’s so reliant on one pitch, he’s
just more vulnerable to teams that are better prepared for it than the
average team playing a routine game in the middle of the season might be.
Boston, for instance, managed just two hits and no walks against him in his
complete game, a one-run masterpiece on April 11, but thrashed him five days
later, racking up nine hits, three walks, and eight runs in four innings.
Cleveland, which has a strong lineup with some true star hitters like Grady
Sizemore and Victor Martinez, makes another good test for this theory. They
faced him April 27, when he struck out nine — one short of his career high —
in seven innings, and picked up a win in a 1–0 contest. A hammering tonight
might be put down to the mysterious fingernail problems that surfaced in his
last start, against Seattle. (Then again, he cracked a fingernail last year
around this time, and then carried a perfect game into the eighth in his next
game.) It also, though, might be a sign that even his recent advances haven’
t quite given him the tools to handle a lineup that’s ready for what he has
to show them.
Either way, though, Wang is an excellent pitcher, and a joy to watch closely.
If he’s maturing a bit, that’s wonderful news for the Yankees; if he’s
just enjoyed an especially good first six starts this year, that’s fine,
too. For years, he’s been pitching with a style that simply shouldn’t work,
and yet it has. Whether or not he can put some final touches on it and take a
step forward that he can sustain through the year, he’ll remain a pitcher no
one should ever take for granted.
--
※ 發信站: 批踢踢實業坊(ptt.cc)
◆ From: 69.137.224.122
推
05/08 16:21, , 1F
05/08 16:21, 1F
推
05/08 16:55, , 2F
05/08 16:55, 2F
→
05/08 17:02, , 3F
05/08 17:02, 3F
推
05/08 17:04, , 4F
05/08 17:04, 4F
推
05/08 17:05, , 5F
05/08 17:05, 5F
推
05/08 17:07, , 6F
05/08 17:07, 6F
推
05/08 17:10, , 7F
05/08 17:10, 7F
推
05/08 17:10, , 8F
05/08 17:10, 8F
推
05/08 17:11, , 9F
05/08 17:11, 9F
推
05/08 17:11, , 10F
05/08 17:11, 10F
推
05/08 17:12, , 11F
05/08 17:12, 11F
推
05/08 17:13, , 12F
05/08 17:13, 12F
推
05/08 17:17, , 13F
05/08 17:17, 13F
推
05/08 17:18, , 14F
05/08 17:18, 14F
推
05/08 17:19, , 15F
05/08 17:19, 15F
→
05/08 17:20, , 16F
05/08 17:20, 16F
推
05/08 17:28, , 17F
05/08 17:28, 17F
→
05/08 17:30, , 18F
05/08 17:30, 18F
→
05/08 17:31, , 19F
05/08 17:31, 19F
→
05/08 17:33, , 20F
05/08 17:33, 20F
→
05/08 17:41, , 21F
05/08 17:41, 21F
→
05/08 17:45, , 22F
05/08 17:45, 22F
推
05/08 18:00, , 23F
05/08 18:00, 23F
推
05/08 18:04, , 24F
05/08 18:04, 24F
推
05/08 18:07, , 25F
05/08 18:07, 25F
推
05/08 18:11, , 26F
05/08 18:11, 26F
推
05/08 18:12, , 27F
05/08 18:12, 27F
推
05/08 18:14, , 28F
05/08 18:14, 28F
推
05/08 18:19, , 29F
05/08 18:19, 29F
→
05/08 18:24, , 30F
05/08 18:24, 30F
→
05/08 18:25, , 31F
05/08 18:25, 31F
推
05/08 18:35, , 32F
05/08 18:35, 32F
推
05/08 18:39, , 33F
05/08 18:39, 33F
→
05/08 18:40, , 34F
05/08 18:40, 34F
→
05/08 18:40, , 35F
05/08 18:40, 35F
→
05/08 18:41, , 36F
05/08 18:41, 36F
推
05/08 19:06, , 37F
05/08 19:06, 37F
推
05/08 19:28, , 38F
05/08 19:28, 38F
推
05/08 20:07, , 39F
05/08 20:07, 39F
→
05/08 20:08, , 40F
05/08 20:08, 40F
→
05/08 20:09, , 41F
05/08 20:09, 41F
推
05/08 20:11, , 42F
05/08 20:11, 42F
推
05/08 20:13, , 43F
05/08 20:13, 43F
→
05/08 20:13, , 44F
05/08 20:13, 44F
推
05/08 20:16, , 45F
05/08 20:16, 45F
→
05/08 20:16, , 46F
05/08 20:16, 46F
推
05/08 20:18, , 47F
05/08 20:18, 47F
推
05/08 20:23, , 48F
05/08 20:23, 48F
→
05/08 20:24, , 49F
05/08 20:24, 49F
推
05/08 20:25, , 50F
05/08 20:25, 50F
推
05/08 20:36, , 51F
05/08 20:36, 51F
→
05/08 20:59, , 52F
05/08 20:59, 52F
→
05/08 21:00, , 53F
05/08 21:00, 53F
推
05/08 21:58, , 54F
05/08 21:58, 54F
→
05/08 22:13, , 55F
05/08 22:13, 55F
推
05/08 23:13, , 56F
05/08 23:13, 56F