Harvey said that physically, it was a “huge step in the right direction” regarding his delivery, as he didn’t have to think about that and could instead focus on attacking the strike zone and executing pitches. He said using his sinker on the hands to right-handed hitters opened up his slider away and led to some strikeouts, a plan they’d been working on all week.
He said it was “definitely better than the first start,” one in which the Toronto Blue Jays waited on his fastball and hit him around a bit as Harvey’s secondary pitches didn’t get them off the barrel or really fool anyone. (via Baltimore Sun)
That’s all well and good, but it appears to me that manager Brandon Hyde is clueless or a spinmeister. Nobody has paid more attention to post-Mets Matt Harvey than I have. I probably have seen more of his innings than his family or Boras, and definitely more than Hyde.
This start, manager Brandon Hyde said, was “a really good outing.” He thought Harvey “threw the ball great.”
On the Orioles’ radio broadcast, the only transmission of the game to those not present, analyst Brian Roberts noted that Harvey’s sinker was effective early but that he was struggling to get Pirates hitters to chase his secondary pitches. The broadcast booth, using the typically accurate scoreboard velocity readings for Harvey, had him consistently in the 92-94 mph range with his fastballs.
Hyde, though, said both Monday and Tuesday that Harvey was 94-95 mph with “a lot of 95s” and was up to 96 mph. There’s a difference between operating in those velocity bands, but without the ability to see it or verify otherwise, it’s a challenge to know for sure. (via the Baltimore Sun)
Look, I hope Matt is their Opening Day starter because these posts do really well. But the Orioles have to realize his starts aren’t going to be groovy 4 innings of 2 run ball. They are going to look like this in Camden Yards.
