jmsalgado

QUOTE (Bruce_Blixton @ Apr 13, 2015 -> 04:46 PM) Thank you for such a lengthy and informative reply, I am absolutely impressed with your understanding and involvement in Brad's progression. He's lucky to have such a great father around! It sounds like he has a great gameplan on the mound and having watched Mark Buehrle all those years I completely agree with your philosophy on working efficiently and keeping your fielders involved in the game. The numbers that you shared with us, especially the situational strike %s, lead me to believe that Brad could make the leap to starter. I would love to read a first-hand account on his transition from SS to P, I've always had a lot of respect for players that can do that. Thanks Bruce. I really appreciate the positive comments. As far as the starter/reliever situation.... Brad did get 1 start in spring training & did just fine. I think he would like to do that, but at the same time, he's always been very coachable & will do whatever the Sox want him to do. The transition from SS to pitcher wasn't necessarily a tough one. As it's been said, hitting is the hardest thing to do in all of sports. He was a very good defensive SS, but the bat was simply too inconsistent. Hitting in the .180s in the low minors doesn't bode well for any future MLB aspirations, so the Sox proposed the switch & he was in full agreement with it, and has been 100% committed to it ever since. He did pitch up untill his senior year in high school. That being said, before the conversion, he hadn't been on the mound for about 4 4 years, so yes, he had a very fresh arm. He spent all of 2013 in Great Falls re-learning how to pitch. He only pitched in 3 games (1 inning each) at the very end of that season, so that's why I said last year 2014 was his first full year actually pitching in games. He's a very hard worker. He has the right attitude & the dedication & will to succeed. So as his dad, all I can do is listen to the games. I do keep a pitching chart & have for every games he's pitched in since 2013. That's how I know the numbers so well. We discuss the good & bad after every game. Fortunately, he has the desire to be good, so I don't have to worry about motivating him. He does that on his own. We'll just keep our fingers crossed that he continues to do what he's been doing & let things play out as they will.

QUOTE (Bruce_Blixton @ Apr 12, 2015 -> 03:00 PM) Brad Salgado with an old-school 3 innings save for Kanny too, I wonder what the Sox long-term plan with him is. Grooming him for the bullpen is the obvious choice, but I wonder if he's shown them enough flashes and potential to convince them to give him a shot as a starter. He doesn't have a lot of mileage on his arm being a converted position player and his results so far have been pretty impressive, seems to have a good command of the strike zone. Bruce Blixton, thanks for the kind words about Brad. (my son) I wouldn't normally have responded, but I wanted to build on your comment about "not having a lot of mileage on his arm". I know we are very early into the season, but since he was converted into a pitcher, we have always emphasized about being efficient, as it relates to the pitch count. Strikeouts are fine, but over-rated. (even Greg Maddux would say so) The main goal is to pitch to contact & get the ball in play within 4 pitches. There's 8 other defenders to help make outs & it saves the arm. Having been a former shortstop, he knows what it's like to have pitchers throwing 5, 6 or 7+ pitches to every batter & he doesn't want to be that guy. Last year was his 1st full year as a pitcher & his pitches/inning were a pretty good 15.8 with a 63.2% strike rate. We set goals before spring training of getting the P/Inn to 14 or less & strike % rate to 70%. As I said, it is still early, but the P/Inn is currently at 11 & the strike % is at 67.3%. He's got 5 total innings in 2 games with only 55 pitches. I think the thing I'm most proud of is getting the ball in play in 4 pitches or less. So far he has faced 19 hitters & balls in play in less than 4 pitches is 14! (73.7%) (10 of those batters were 2 pitches or less) That saves the arm & keeps the fielders on their toes & into the game, cause the ball will be put in play. There are so many numbers as it relates to Sabermetrics these days, and admittedly, I sure don't understand them all. I try to stick with the few basics: First-pitch strikes - 11-19 (58%) - needs to improve a little there. Granted, it's only a 2 pitch difference, but the goal is 67% (13-19 would be 68%, but it's still a goal) Strike % on a 1-1 count - 4-5 (80%) - very happy with that - a strike thrown on a 1-1 count favors the pitcher by a difference of roughly .200 points in batting avg. than if you throw a 1-1 pitch for a ball Getting the first batter of the inning out - 5-5 (100%) - very happy with that Pitches per batter - (2.9) - very happy with that. So far, so good. Just need to keep focused & working hard.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jul 30, 2014 -> 11:52 AM) Again, thanks for the info, and don't be shy about giving your general insights and thoughts, especially the behind the scenes stuff that none of us will ever see. It is priceless. Thanks. I will when it's called for. I listen to every game regardless of where I am or what I'm doing. Josh Feldman does a great job doing play by play. He's knowledgeable & funny. Makes for a fun broadcast.

QUOTE (Chilihead90 @ Jul 30, 2014 -> 09:22 AM) I hope your son takes the same cerebral approach to pitching as you seem to. I think baseball is a perfect sport for the athletic nerds out there. Maybe Bradley and Brian Bannister could be friends! He does. We talk about this stuff after every game. Ok, I am going to back out of this discussion for now. Brad doesn't usually like me talking about him with stats & stuff too much. I probably divulged more than he would have liked. He just takes it one ptich at a time & one batter at a time. Thanks again for all your positive comments. I'll go back to being an "observer" of the discussions. Great day to you all.

QUOTE (Feeky Magee @ Jul 29, 2014 -> 10:54 AM) The thing that impresses me most about Brad is his control. Usually that's the big thing that players switching to the mound struggle with. Santos was walking well over 10% of batters until his breakout year in Toronto. Blanke is walking nearly 20% in his first go at rookie-ball. Brad is walking 1.6%. I really feel that has been the key to Brad's success so far is that he is simply not giving up free passes. He's only had 10 - 3-ball counts in 62 plate appearances. (16%) He exclusively throws from the stretch, so there's no adjustments needed going from a windup to the stretch. Less moving parts means less chance for a mechanical error & less things to think about since it's just a repeat of the throwing motion just like the previous pitch. He is throwing strikes at 66% rate & first pitch strikes at 68%. When you get ahead of hitters basically 2/3 of the time, advantage goes to the pitcher every time. I keep track of his 1-1 count pitches as well & since that's the 2nd most important pitch. (after the FPS) There's about a .200 point swing in batting avg. if that 1-1 pitch is a strike vs. a ball, he is at 67% throwing a 1-1 strike. He's still got a long way to go, but he is very focused & dedicated & I'm very proud of him for that.

QUOTE (SoxAce @ Jul 29, 2014 -> 10:33 AM) Welcome to soxtalk! And as I previously stated earlier, definitely rooting for your son. I was actually a fan of his as a position prospect (same with Blanke) so I hope he continues to progress. Thanks Sox Ace. I really appreciate that comment. He loved playing shortstop & was a pretty solid defensive player. The bat just didn't quite have enough. I am very thankful the Sox didn't give up on him & have been fantastic about giving him every opportunity to succeed. Hopefully he's found his purpose on the mound. Very glad he at least had a decent background on the mound in his early years of travel-ball & high school. He has worked his butt off to get to this spot. Keeping my fingers crossed that he continues to improve.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Jul 29, 2014 -> 08:14 AM) Welcome to the forum! We've had a number of parents/siblings/friends/girlfriends of prospects post back here, and we always welcome it. It is also a nice reminder to look beyond the numbers. I've seen reports in the velocity range you mention, and certainly as a guy new to pitching, it will take some time for Brad to build up the specific strength needed for it. The movement is key, because if he can add some velocity, that could play very well. The Sox organization has a history of these conversions, and in one semi-recent case (Sergio Santos) the player even reached the majors. So we're always curious to hear more about them. I saw he struck out the side in the ninth last night. Best of luck to your son! And in a totally shameless plug, you can check out the FutureSox blog (www.futuresox.com), and/or our twitter (@FutureSox) or Facebook for updates. We do daily recaps and a bunch of other stuff. Thank you. Yes, he did strike out the side for the save. The good news was that after the game, he told me his "stuff" was not even close to where he wanted it to be. He just grinded his way through & got the job done. I have followed this message board for quite a while. (4 years) I had intended to stay out of it altogether, but I know everybody here would not be wasting their time if they weren't diehard Sox fans. I love the passion you all share & although I consider myself a very knowledgeable baseball guy, I have learned a lot from the insights many of you have contributed. Although I do believe velocity certainly has its advantages, I also do believe you can throw TOO hard & as you stated, movement is the key. 97-98 does you no good if it's as straight as an arrow. Ok, gotta go. Kanny plays an early game today & I will be tuned in. Have a great day everyone.

QUOTE (Bruce_Blixton @ Jul 28, 2014 -> 11:39 PM) That's very interesting to hear, following his progression this season I always assumed that he was one of those SS that had a rocket for an arm and was just blowing away hitters with an upper 90s fastball. Hearing that he has nasty movement on his offspeed stuff is very encouraging since I'm sure he'll be able to add some velocity as he irons out his mechanics. I've been rooting for him this year and am really happy to see his continued success. Hello everybody. I am Brad's father. I will try to keep the emotion out of the discussion since I am obviously biased. I am only responding to this to provide some additional information. I certainly appreciate all of your positive comments & I hope Brad continues to improve & perform. Regarding the "velocity" concern. I was actually very happy to hear about all the movement of his offspeed pitches. I wonder if the person who wrote that was at the game? Anyway, regardling velocity, Brad typically sits around the 90-91 range, but on a few occasions this year, both at Great Falls & Kannapolis, he has been able to top out at 94. As you stated, more velocity will come as he continues to re-learn how to pitch. He hasn't pitched since his junior year of high school in 2009 & has only been a "pitcher" for about a year now. It was about this time last season at Great Falls that he actually got to pitch in games. Hope that info helps.