Jim Palmer

What happens when pitchers struggle

by Jim Palmer

When you're trying to figure out what's wrong with a pitcher, the most important thing is who the pitcher is - what kind of experience he has, what kind of stuff he has, what kind of windup he has, emotionally what he's made out of. There are so many things that go into pitching that it's just hard to really look at somebody, unless you really know them, and know what's wrong.

This is the fifth year Jeremy Guthrie has pitched here. He struggled against Tampa Bay the last time out against them. I think sometimes you get caught up in the game and you forget what you do best. For Jeremy, he's smart enough to know that. He didn't get the result he wanted last Saturday, when he pitched against Tampa Bay and Hellickson, and now he gets to pitch against him today.

Everybody says the hardest thing to do is to pitch back-to-back starts against the same team. But I think that premise is based on the fact that you did well. To me, I think you always learn whether you win or lose. For him, I think his lesson is to make better pitches, he's got to stay down in the zone and very judiciously pitch to Evan Longoria and not let him be the guy that beats him.

When I look at Jeremy, he just gets around some of his pitches and the radar gun, for him, doesn't always tell the story because he was throwing 93 to 95 mph; it's just that his stuff was flat. He was just under everything and around everything. When the ball stays on the same plane, the ball doesn't have that extra sink or that extra life and it's just that much more hittable.

Brad Bergesen allowed a run, maybe more than a run per inning, against Tampa Bay because Rays manager Joe Maddon threw in seven lefties in the lineup and Bergesen doesn't get lefties out. He doesn't have the experience Jeremy has, but this guy competes. He holds runners well.

When Terry Crowley was the hitting instructor here, they'd go over the game plan, do all the drills and then from the on-deck circle to home plate, it was like there was a fog bank and you were in San Francisco and the fog's just come in. Some guys can walk through the fog and when they get up into the batter's box, they can clear the fog. Visibility is good and their thinking is good. The same thing applies to pitchers. Some guys get caught up in the moment and they speed up the game when they should really try to slow it down. They panic, they get afraid of contact.

A perfect example for a young pitcher is Zach Britton. He's off to a good start, but there have been some situations where, even in wins, he's gotten hit not for any long duration, but hit pretty hard. It doesn't deter him from making some adjustments and moving on. Other guys might be very tentative and walking guys.

I played for a manager, Earl Weaver, whose biggest complain about pitchers was bases on balls. A lot of guys say you can't defense home runs; well, you can't defense walks, either.