Guthrie has the right pedigree

June 11, 2009 11:52 AM by Rick Dempsey

Right now I guess it would be easy to jump on the bandwagon and say Jeremy Guthrie isn't doing very well.

But dont throw him under the bus quite yet.

Usually it is pretty easy for me to watch a pitcher and see what he is doing right or wrong. A lot of times all you have to do is watch the flight and spin of the ball, and it can tell you exactly what you want to know.

For this one, you;re going to have to look even closer than MASN's X-MO camera can show because it's hard to figure out.

From what I've seen, its not just one thing. There's a lot going on right now that nobody can figure out except Jeremy.

I've had a chance to catch some the best pitchers this game has ever seen, and every one of them at one time or another has been where Jeremy is right now.

One day it's "throw a little harder."

The next day it's "take a little more off."

Arm up. Arm down. Over the top. The front leg. The back leg. - There are a million things going on in their minds.

And that's the PROBLEM right now.

Thinking about all those little things going on takes away from the concentration that it takes to make a good pitch. Hitters are the same way--when you start thinking about where your hands are or when to stride or whatever else, it slows the reaction time.

So in fact, there's really nothing wrong with Guthrie at all. Guys like Jeremy take responsibility for how they pitch and make no excuses about the outcome. And those guys have always been the ones that figure it out on their own without relying on anyone else to take the blame.

It's what made them good from the very beginning. He has a great work ethic; he's smart; he won't quit on himself or the team; and eventually he'll he get himself back on track.

The best thing we and the rest of the team can do to help him is our own jobs. He has the right pedigree, and you have to trust in that. Then score him some more runs, and he'll have a good start.