Bobby Jenks

[YASNY]

Thomas injury was more severa and he is a larger man putting more weight on his ankle.  Schilling will be a lights out closer, you can bookmark this page if you like.

 

I'm not saying he won't be. I'm saying he might not be. Pitchers put a lot of stress on their legs as well.

[Harry Chappas]

Schilling is a closer because he can't start at this point. If Schilling were the old Schilling he would be the starter. Arroyo or Clement would close if really needed before Schilling. Schilling's ankle strength is more important then Thomas, he pushes off, Thomas can still hit using one leg and two huge arms without risking injury, unlike Schilling who if he has to use all arm is done.

 

Now on to the real story. I sat behind the bullpen and Bobby Jenks is HUGE. He makes Cliff look like a wee little thing. He almost looks like a cartoon character. I wouldn't say he is fat though he is just big. I would like to see him next to thomas.

 

The guy has electric stuff and that is reason to be excited. His motion is effortless with big time explosion. If he was on Boston there would have been a story on him on the Sox....

 

Two years ago he (or a guy like him) would've come in given up three hits a walk and need to be bailed out and never heard from again. There is something in the air. A starter is rolling and Ozzie pulls him for no other reason than to get the bull pen work. Contrearas only threw 85 pitches. Nuts but oh so much fun.

 

The Scott P announcement was incredible, team unity, Hermie runs out before the 4th to give him a huge, as did Rowand and Everett on the way to their positions. A RF plays really good 1B.

 

Awesome.

 

Captain Jenks.......he is no phony phone call

[DukeNukeEm]

Jenks wont be the Setup man, Politte is pitching better than any reliever in baseball if you look at the Stats (barring Cordero, that dudes a f***ing beast).

[RockRaines]

Jenks wont be the Setup man, Politte is pitching better than any reliever in baseball if you look at the Stats (barring Cordero, that dudes a f***ing beast).

I think he is the closer of the future however, he has closer stuff that people drool over. He has a nasty curve, a GREAT fastball, and we havent even seen his plus change yet. The guy is hard to hit hard, and he can close games for us. Imagine him coming in after 6 innings of El Duque, the ball will look like its going 200, or after shingo like yesterday. Those guys couldnt even see the ball. Awesome.

[Rowand44]

I think he is the closer of the future however, he has closer stuff that people drool over.  He has a nasty curve, a GREAT fastball, and we havent even seen his plus change yet.  The guy is hard to hit hard, and he can close games for us.  Imagine him coming in after 6 innings of El Duque, the ball will look like its going 200, or after shingo like yesterday.  Those guys couldnt even see the ball.  Awesome.

We haven't seen his plus change because he doesn't have a change.

[BlackBetsy]

Yes, Jenks does have 99 mph fastball. But the only thing you need to do to hit a 99 mph fastball is to time it. Ask Paul Konerko. He took turned a Matt Anderson 100 mph fastball around real quick in the 10th inning one game.

 

But that curve is filthy. The last pitch he threw was redickurous - it nearly made a 90-degree angle into the ground five feet in front of the plate and the batter swung at it!

 

If Jenks is going to be dominant, it'll be because of that yakker.

[YASNY]

redickurous

 

Great word!

[daa84]

We haven't seen his plus change because he doesn't have a change.

i havent seen him pitch personally besides last night, but his scouting report from baseball america says that he flashes a change up from time to time, that is inconsistent but at times is a plus pitch.

[RockRaines]

We haven't seen his plus change because he doesn't have a change.

uh, yeah he does, he has a plus change.

[Rowand44]

uh, yeah he does, he has a plus change.

I'm pretty sure he got rid of that once he became a reliever. From what I know he's mostly been throwing fastballs, curveballs and working on a sinker.

[Chisoxfn]

Right...come on-its not like it was Tommy-john or anything.  He is throwing the ball fine in his rehab, and is gaining velocity.  You dont think he has the ability to close games?  All it takes it two fastballs and a splitter.

The ankle is just as important to a pitcher as the arm is. Without a healthy ankle Curt will never be a semblance of his old self. It would be like pitching on a bum shoulder. Its just too difficult to plant and get all the power if the ankle isn't what it once was.

 

Now I'm sure Curt is still regaining strenght in the ankle, but there is zero guarantee that his ankle will ever be what it was and that could have a big time impact on the Curt Schilling Boston gets this year. At the same time Curt could very well get stronger and stronger (his ankle) and eventually be the same old guy.

[DukeNukeEm]

The ankle is just as important to a pitcher as the arm is.  Without a healthy ankle Curt will never be a semblance of his old self.  It would be like pitching on a bum shoulder.  Its just too difficult to plant and get all the power if the ankle isn't what it once was.

 

Now I'm sure Curt is still regaining strenght in the ankle, but there is zero guarantee that his ankle will ever be what it was and that could have a big time impact on the Curt Schilling Boston gets this year.  At the same time Curt could very well get stronger and stronger (his ankle) and eventually be the same old guy.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

That Ankle won them a series. In retrospect it was a good decision, and Curt probably thinks it was too, but a major risk considering if they didnt win theyd lose Schilling.

 

I think Schilling will retire in the pen, which is perfectly fine.

[Chisoxfn]

We haven't seen his plus change because he doesn't have a change.

Jenks has a change or at least he did back in the Angel organization. He also used to dab with a slider. The funny thing about Jenks was he almost had what you'd call 4 plus pitches as a starter and thats why so many guys really liked him.

 

IIRC the Angels organization wanted him to take some pressure of his arm and he kind of stopped using the slider. I'm not sure if he throws it much at all anymore. As far as the change goes, its still an inconsistent pitch but I know it was something he worked on a lot in the Angels system.

 

Once again can't speak too much about how often he used it in Bham, but I don't think it was near as much as he did in Anaheim. I'm assuming since he's in the pen he realized you just go with your couple very best pitches. However, this guy could be the next Gagne, especially if he mixed in a decent change every once in a while.

 

Of course the key to him will be command and health.

[Chisoxfn]

Yes, Jenks does have  99 mph fastball.  But the only thing you need to do to hit a 99 mph fastball is to time it.  Ask Paul Konerko.  He took turned a Matt Anderson 100 mph fastball around real quick in the 10th inning one game.

 

But that curve is filthy.  The last pitch he threw was redickurous - it nearly made a 90-degree angle into the ground five feet in front of the plate and the batter swung at it!

 

If Jenks is going to be dominant, it'll be because of that yakker.

The other nice thing is that it looks like Jenks fastball has some pretty good movement, where Andersons was a lot more straight.

 

Of course your dead on BB, if Jenks can't get anything else over for a strike, than hitters would be able to hit his FB. However as long as he snaps off a few curves and gets ahead of batters, he will be unhittable. Now we get to see whether that will happen

[DukeNukeEm]

However, this guy could be the next Gagne

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

[Rowand44]

Jenks has a change or at least he did back in the Angel organization.  He also used to dab with a slider.  The funny thing about Jenks was he almost had what you'd call 4 plus pitches as a starter and thats why so many guys really liked him.

 

IIRC the Angels organization wanted him to take some pressure of his arm and he kind of stopped using the slider.  I'm not sure if he throws it much at all anymore.  As far as the change goes, its still an inconsistent pitch but I know it was something he worked on a lot in the Angels system. 

 

Once again can't speak too much about how often he used it in Bham, but I don't think it was near as much as he did in Anaheim.  I'm assuming since he's in the pen he realized you just go with your couple very best pitches.  However, this guy could be the next Gagne, especially if he mixed in a decent change every once in a while.

 

Of course the key to him will be command and health.

I was just going off of what bham said since he's seen him pitch the most and he never mentioned the change but maybe since all of his other pitches were so impressive he jsut didn't feel need to mention it.

[Chisoxfn]

I was just going off of what bham said since he's seen him pitch the most and he never mentioned the change but maybe since all of his other pitches were so impressive he jsut didn't feel need to mention it.

Well I also think your onto something in terms of him giving up or rarely using certain pitches since moving to the bullpen. His main arsenal would be the FB, Yacker, and Sinker.

 

If he pitches well I think you'll see the Sox slowly start working with him on refining his change and getting it out there as well, however, the Sox philosphy is typically to not really mess with a guy when he first comes up. They'd like a guy to be able to get comfortable and than work a bit with him during that offseason as well as spring training.

 

I also think you'll see Brandon sporting a cutter this spring. The Sox didn't want to do much this spring cause it was kind of the first time around, but now I think they'll agressively work on him because they feel he has a very bright future (rightfully so) and now he's had some time up.

[Rowand44]

Yacker

 

 

I'm so happy you used the word yacker

[BlackBetsy]

I also think you'll see Brandon sporting a cutter this spring.  The Sox didn't want to do much this spring cause it was kind of the first time around, but now I think they'll agressively work on him because they feel he has a very bright future (rightfully so) and now he's had some time up.

 

This seems important to me. I think you can get up and running a lot quicker on a cutter than you can a change. After all, the change is a pitch you throw slower than your fastball and relies only on deception to be effective (if someone knows a change is coming, and sits on it, it's batting practice).

 

Mentally, I think a pitcher might tend to throw a change out of the zone for that reason - fearing contact. A cutter, however, is only slightly off the fastball speed, has a fastball-like motion, and probably creates less of a mental block. Note how quickly Loaiza picked it up in 2003 and how effective he was with it - he had great confidence from the gitgo in his cutter.

 

I still think Brandon needs a changeup - cutters can be fickle and come and go - but adding a cutter to give him FB / CB / Change / Cutter should give him enough ammo to make the leap.

 

By the way, remember how long it took Garland to get comfortable with his change...now that he is, look what he's doing. (I also think Garland has a + CB that he doesn't use nearly enough as an out pitch).

[VAfan]

Wow, one major league inning and it's the second coming of Goose Gossage. I like it.

 

One of the things teams get at the trade deadline is some new blood. It livens up even the best of teams. But that new blood doesn't have to come via trade if there is a secret weapon getting prepped in the minors.

 

It sounds like Bobby Jenks could move the Sox bullpen from deep to unhittable.

[Balance]

Jenks didn't look bad last night. Lightning arm. I was a little concerned with his control, but I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. After all, it was his Major League debut, and he had to have some nerves going on.

 

I think the D-Rays hitters helped him out by chasing stuff up out of the strike zone, but when you're throwing that hard, some batters will do that.

 

Jenks definitely has potential. I hope he stays healthy and develops.

[Wedge]

Jenks has a lot of big league potential, that's for sure. I'd really like to see him in a few more outings to make a good comparison for him, but the first impression that came to my mind due to his high heat and big size was Kyle Farnsworth with a curve ball.

[SpringfieldFan]

As far as whether control will be a problem or whether he had MLB debut jitters, I would think the best thing you can really do is look at the Birmingham stats. I believe he averaged about a walk every 2+ innings. I don't know if you consider that good or bad, but its probably the best guess on what to expect...

 

BTW: my nickname for him: HOSS!

 

SFF

Edited July 7, 2005 by SpringfieldFan

[Balta1701]

Jenks could average 1 walk every 2 innings and I would be more than happy with him.

 

Why? Because walks are the only thing that will beat him on a regular basis. The only thing.

 

When you are a hitter, if you're going up against a triple digit thrower...you have 2 strategies. You can either go up there and try to foul off a couple pitches and draw a walk, or you can go up there swinging and hope for luck.

 

Every so often, every pitcher who throws 100 will be beat by a ball landing 400 feet away just because the batter made contact. It's impossible to avoid. Someone will swing and hit the ball, and the ball will leave.

 

But that will only happen like 1 time out of 30 or 40 at bats, if that. And that number gets even higher if the guy can occasionally toss in a changeup or a curve ball outside the strike zone.

 

If you go up to face a guy who throws 100...you have a couple options...you can say "Screw the curve ball" and start your swing at the moment the pitcher releases the ball...thereby making it so that you're probably going to swing at some bad pitches, but where you hope for luck...

 

You can sit there and sit on an offspeed pitch and hope he throws it to you...

 

Or you can try to draw a walk.

 

If Jenks walks 1 guy every 2 innings...he will have a WHIP of 1 or less, simply because no one will be able to hit him if they don't have the option of doing the latter two because he's getting his fastball over.

 

That 100 mph fastball is an incredible weapon, because if its thrown for strikes, the hitter has almost no option except getting a lucky swing. That is all.

[RockRaines]

great post, this is why I think jenks is a stud and should stay up. Not too many teams have a weapon like this.