Quote:
Originally Posted by ShaolinFlame
Tommy
John
Surgery
High eighties will be his peak. If he wants to improve his FB he needs get more life or learn how to throw that Cutter Roy left hanging around... Not that his FB wasn't looking hard to hit yesterday (On MLB Gameday...  ) |
He has always used his FB to set up his change.
I doubt you're going to find more than 10 pitchers with better change ups than Marcum in the bigs - it is THAT good. Problem is with Marcum is that his FB isn't hard to hit (he can disguise it sometimes with his slider and the cutter). The problem with him is that he can't hit his spots perfectly as the game wears on / hitters seeing the ball better. His cutter by inning #6 can flatten out.
The best games Marcum had in 2008 were ones that he mixed his curveball in. It is a C+ curve at the best of times, but it keeps hitters really off balance and changes their overall approach. He'd throw it maybe once per AB, but that was enough to screw with them. If he could develop his curve even more, maybe to the point where he can throw it 2-3x per AB if needed, he'd be an ace.