Jenks lost velocity?

[AbeFroman]

Midway down in this article, it mentions that Jenks has lost 10 mph on his fastball. I can't speak to the validity of this... (actually I haven't seen him pitch this season.)

 

Can anyone comment?

 

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/spor...4548769,00.html

 

 

Chicago pitcher Kerry Wood throws a ball to a fan before the Cubs' spring training game Tuesday against the Seattle Mariners in Mesa, Ariz. Wood, who is sidelined because of an injured right shoulder, isn't expected to be throwing against major-league opponents until at least mid-April.STORY TOOLS

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TUCSON - Spring things:

• Former Cubs manager Jim Riggleman can sympathize with current manager Dusty Baker. With Kerry Wood already sidelined and now Mark Prior's right shoulder having flared up, questions have been raised about the workloads Wood and Prior carried in helping the Cubs claim the National League Central title in 2003.

 

Wood led major-league pitchers by throwing 4,007 pitches that season and threw 120 or more pitches in 14 of 36 starts. Prior, meanwhile, averaged a major league-leading 114.2 pitches per nine innings that season and threw 120 or more pitches in 10 of 33 starts.

 

Both have battled injuries ever since.

 

Baker doesn't buy it.

 

Neither does Riggleman, who managed the Cubs to the wild card in 1998, when he allowed Wood to throw 120 or more pitches in nine of 26 starts, including a 135-pitch effort just before he was shut down because of an injury that required reconstructive right elbow surgery.

 

Riggleman was then questioned about how he used Wood. It is a classic case of a second-guess.

 

"It's fair to ask about how many pitches I let Woody throw that year and what effect it might have had on him," Riggleman, now a top assistant in the St. Louis Cardinals' farm system, told the Chicago Tribune. "But the only time people seemed to be upset was when I took him out of the game. That's when I heard it from the fans and when I got asked questions by reporters. Nobody seemed to care when I left him in."

 

• The Dodgers are counting on the return of closer Eric Gagne, who underwent right elbow surgery last season. And the White Sox are expecting Bobby Jenks to regain his ninth-inning mastery that in October helped them claim their first championship since 1917.

 

Don't count on it.

 

Gagne appeared in only two of the Dodgers' first 14 spring training games. He didn't allow a run, but scouts say his fastball was only in the upper 80s.

 

Jenks was a postseason folk hero in Chicago. Fans are fickle, however, and Jenks has lost up to 10 mph off his fastball. Scouts say he doesn't look as free and easy in his throwing.

 

The White Sox will, however, have plenty of fans this season. The club says it has "sold out" its 21,500 season tickets and already has surpassed 2.2 million in ticket sales, which assures the White Sox of only the eighth 2 million attendance season in franchise history.

 

The White Sox sold 2.34 million tickets last year, fourth best in franchise history. The first three years in U.S. Cellular Field (1991 to 1993) rank 1-2-3.

 

Playing the hunches

 

• San Francisco outfielder Barry Bonds is going to have a big year. Bonds thrives on controversy. Since he was a kid, he's had a "me-against- the-world" chip on his shoulder, and the more he feels everybody is against him, the more he has been able to turn that negative environment into positive results.

 

• Breakout pitcher of the year will be Rockies right-hander Aaron Cook. After being sidelined for a year because of blood clots in his lungs, he returned for the final two months last year, went 7-2 in 13 starts - he left with a lead in the four no decisions - and his confidence grew because he had the success when his sinker was in the 90- to 92-mph range instead of his normal 92 to 97 mph.

 

Shop talk

 

• Boston is willing to listen to offers for left-hander David Wells and right-handers Bronson Arroyo and Matt Clement in hopes it can fill needs at first base and the outfield. Wells has rescinded his off-season trade demand, but he would like to pitch on the West Coast.

 

San Diego has interest, but it doesn't have the position-player depth. The Red Sox would like to reacquire catcher Doug Mirabelli from the Padres, though. San Diego acquired Mirabelli for second baseman Mark Loretta during that off-season stretch when Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein was checking out the real world before deciding to return to baseball.

 

• Eric Hinske, declared the foundation of the Toronto rebuilding as a third baseman when he was American League Rookie of the Year in 2002, was moved to first base last year when the Blue Jays signed free agent Corey Koskie.

 

That didn't work out, but instead of moving Hinske back to third base, the Blue Jays now are trying to fit him into a left-field platoon with Reed Johnson, having acquired Troy Glaus from Arizona to play third this year.

 

• The Yankees, Mets and Dodgers have expressed interest in Oakland left-hander Barry Zito, but if they want the Athletics to listen seriously, the teams are going to have to overpay. The Athletics have reason to believe they can win the division, and while Zito can be a free agent after the season, he also is the key to a developing rotation.

 

Pitching is not everything

 

• Pitching is supposed to be the key to success, but not with the New York Yankees. They won the American League East last year despite a rotation with the eighth-best earned-run average in the AL. Baltimore was the only AL East team with a higher ERA for its starters. AL rotation ERAs in 2005:

 

Team ERA

 

Los Angeles Angels 3.75

 

Chicago White Sox 3.75

 

Oakland Athletics 3.82

 

Minnesota Twins 3.93

 

Cleveland Indians 3.96

 

Toronto Blue Jays 4.20

 

Boston Red Sox 4.56

 

New York Yankees 4.59

 

Baltimore Orioles 4.82

 

Detroit Tigers 4.85

 

Seattle Mariners 4.91

 

Texas Rangers 5.04

 

Tampa Bay Devil Rays 5.62

 

Kansas City Royals 6.00

 

 

 

Listen to Tracy Ringolsby at 5:12 p.m. Fridays with Dave and Lois on KOA-AM (850)'s The Ride Home and watch him on the pregame show when FSN Rocky Mountain televises Rockies games.

[jphat007]

Both he and Coop, (was it cooP? Somebody) said at the beginning of the spring that his velocity doesn't come around until the end of ST. I remember last year he wasn't getting anywhere near where he did during the season. Said the fastball builds up.

[Flash Tizzle]

Jenks did appear to labor on the mound in his last appearance, Wednesday. I noticed his motion wasn't exactly fluid, but didn't think much of it. Nor do I now. Either it's his weight--which can be fixed--or his rustiness. If by Opening Day he isn't throwing atleast 96-97, then I'll be worried.

 

Anyways, unless Jenks was throwing 104-105 mph on the side last year, he didn't lose 'up to 10mph.'

[Milkman delivers]

Oh, fantastic. Another thing to worry me.

[fathom]

Oh, fantastic.  Another thing to worry me.

 

Jose Contreras and Joe Borchard for Brad Lidge and a big time pitching prospect.

[GoSox05]

everyone stop freaking out. Don't worry, be Happy.

[Milkman delivers]

everyone stop freaking out.  Don't worry, be Happy.

 

Thanks, Bobby McFerrin.

[NorthSideSox72]

RMN is a trash paper. If you read down in the article, it tries to say that the old adage that pitching is is key to success is wrong, and they use the Yankees to prove it. Its a ridiculous point to make, and their list proves it. All playoff teams were in the top 8, the ALCS teams were 1 and 2, and the other teams in the top 6 all had winning records.

 

Denver lacks a good newspaper. The Post is, at least in the sports section, almost as bad as RMN.

[Drew]

TUCSON - Spring things:

• Former Cubs manager Jim Riggleman can sympathize with current manager Dusty Baker. With Kerry Wood already sidelined and now Mark Prior's right shoulder having flared up, questions have been raised about the workloads Wood and Prior carried in helping the Cubs claim the National League Central title in 2003.

 

Wood led major-league pitchers by throwing 4,007 pitches that season and threw 120 or more pitches in 14 of 36 starts. Prior, meanwhile, averaged a major league-leading 114.2 pitches per nine innings that season and threw 120 or more pitches in 10 of 33 starts.

 

Both have battled injuries ever since.

 

Baker doesn't buy it.

 

Neither does Riggleman, who managed the Cubs to the wild card in 1998, when he allowed Wood to throw 120 or more pitches in nine of 26 starts, including a 135-pitch effort just before he was shut down because of an injury that required reconstructive right elbow surgery.

 

Riggleman was then questioned about how he used Wood. It is a classic case of a second-guess.

 

"It's fair to ask about how many pitches I let Woody throw that year and what effect it might have had on him," Riggleman, now a top assistant in the St. Louis Cardinals' farm system, told the Chicago Tribune. "But the only time people seemed to be upset was when I took him out of the game. That's when I heard it from the fans and when I got asked questions by reporters. Nobody seemed to care when I left him in."

 

 

If you're Dusty Baker, you shouldn't buy Wood's case.

 

I don't know about Prior, but ever since Kerry Wood threw that 20-strikeout game at the beginning of '98 (iirc), anyone who knew anything about baseball gave the warning that if he didn't work on his mechanics, he'd blow his arm off at the elbow.

 

It's been the warning throughout his whole career, and what have the Cubs ever done about it?

[Jordan4life_2007]

So Jenks' fastball is topping out at 90 now? lol. That article is full of s***. Bobby will be just fine.

[LVSoxFan]

I've been saying this to my super-Cubs-fan co-worker for years. What the hell is with the pitching coach over there, if these guys keep getting hurt? You would think that, since the entire franchise is built around them, there'd be an outcry, but no: year in, year out, it's the same sad story.

 

Thank God for Don Cooper.

[fathom]

I've been saying this to my super-Cubs-fan co-worker for years.  What the hell is with the pitching coach over there, if these guys keep getting hurt?  You would think that, since the entire franchise is built around them, there'd be an outcry, but no: year in, year out, it's the same sad story.

 

Thank God for Don Cooper.

 

I think a lot of it has to do with the Cubs devloping pitchers who have big time stuff. All of their guys seem to have 95 mph fastballs and biting sliders. Those are high-risk pitchers, and it can create a lot of injuries. Meanwhile, the Sox don't seem to have as many of those types of pitchers, and they've had less injuries as of late.

[DBAHO]

Oh, fantastic.  Another thing to worry me.

THE SKY IS FALLING!!!! OUR SEASON IS OVER BECAUSE OF THIS DAMNIT!!!!

 

It's the freakin Rocky Mountain News.

[beck72]

Right now Jenks, like most bullpen guys, is just throwing to get loose, to shake off the offseason rust. No worry here.

[Bubba Philips]

Right now Jenks, like most bullpen guys, is just throwing to get loose, to shake off the offseason rust. No worry here.

who knows why perhaps it is gaining momentum and he'll come into his own after spring training or just maybe they want Bobby to work on location "do more with less" some time in a pitcher's career they have to become pitchers and not just throwers.............

[WHarris1]

I think if Jenks was topping out at 88-90 it would be noted by more than the Rocky Mountain News...

[Balta1701]

I believe he was in the 95-96 range today.

[SSH2005]

I believe he was in the 95-96 range today.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yep, the report was a bunch of bulls***.

[southsider2k5]

I believe he was in the 95-96 range today.

 

Yeah, he looked pretty solid today. Well pitchingwise anyway...

[SSH2005]

http://chicago.whitesox.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb...t=.jsp&c_id=cws

Notes: Jenks gets back on track

Reliever rebounds from difficult outing last Wednesday

 

By Scott Merkin / MLB.com

 

TUCSON, Ariz. -- Standard operating procedure for a pitcher during the early stages of Spring Training is to expect the velocity on his fastball to be a few miles slower. It's even true for a hard thrower such as Bobby Jenks, whose fastball topped out at 101 mph at Kauffman Stadium on July 27 of last season.

 

But Jenks was a bit surprised to learn that he has lost up to 10 mph off his fastball and wasn't throwing free and easy, according to some scouts. This piece of analysis came from an article published in The Rocky Mountain News on March 17, to which Jenks had a quick reply on Saturday morning.

 

"I'm not sure where that claim came from because I was at 95 to 97 [mph] during my first outing out," said Jenks with a smile. "My arm feels great. I'm starting to play much more long toss, and it's starting to build up a little more.

 

"Other than that, I don't know what to say to that one," added Jenks of the published report. "It's not even close."

 

Jenks produced his worst outing of the spring this past Wednesday at Hi Corbett Field, allowing three runs in one inning of work against the Rockies. The White Sox chief concern with the burly right-hander, though, isn't so much about his velocity as it is location, with Jenks walking three in that contest.

 

There was a much more upbeat outlook in regard to Jenks on Saturday, though, as he closed out the team's 9-3 victory with a scoreless ninth inning. After the win, manager Ozzie Guillen made it clear that while Jenks is his closer, he wants him to stay hungry and continue working hard.

 

"The hardest thing is not to be in the big leagues but to stay in the big leagues," Guillen said. "Don't think because you are there, we are handing it to you."

 

Chris Widger, who has been behind the plate for one of Jenks' six appearances this spring, does not remember a dip in his fastball. But even if there has been a slight drop off, more along the lines of 3-4 mph, it wouldn't become a true issue for another couple of weeks.

 

"If he's throwing 90 when the season starts, we will worry about it then," Widger said. "Right now, everything is fine. I think he was 93 or 95 the one time I caught him, and that's still pretty firm.

 

"We aren't worried about his velocity. We want to make sure he's in the strike zone and that his stuff is good enough to get people out if he's in the zone."

 

Jenks understands the scrutiny of his every little move, especially with his profile increasing as the closer for the defending World Series champion. Jenks has no problem handling the critiques, as long as he can answer on the mound.

 

"I've always been myself on the field," Jenks said. "What I learned from the past will make it easier for me to be able to handle the scrutiny that might come this year. I'll just roll with the punches and prove them wrong with my pitching."

 

Mound of work: Pitching coach Don Cooper's original pessimism regarding Dustin Hermanson's balky back turned to extreme optimism on Saturday. Hermanson felt good after his 42-pitch bullpen session Friday and will throw another sideline on Sunday. Hermanson will have a third sideline on Tuesday, and then if all goes well, Cooper hopes to have the right-hander in a game Thursday against Texas in Surprise.

 

"We are on Level 6 in terms of intensity, with Level 10 being the best," said Cooper of Hermanson. "Tomorrow we will try to climb from there.

 

"Absolutely, the game will be the test, but I was pleasantly surprised at what he did the other day. If we can climb from there and get him in the game and he does well, it's looking like everything is going to be OK."

 

Cooper has the same positive outlook where Jose Contreras is concerned. The big right-hander reported no pain during a long-toss session on Saturday and will play catch again Sunday. Contreras will throw sidelines on Monday and Wednesday, and the plan is to have him start Saturday against the Giants in Scottsdale.

 

"I go in optimistically," Cooper said. "If it doesn't work out, we do what we have to do and figure it out."

 

Relief effort: Boone Logan took another step toward completing his improbable rise from Great Falls to a spot on the White Sox staff with a perfect inning against the Cubs, including a strikeout. Guillen said Logan would be one of the main topics during his staff's morning meeting on Sunday, and that Logan looked even stronger than his last time out.

 

"His velocity was up, and he was around the plate," said Guillen of Logan. "It's too early to say if he's in or out, but I like what I see."

 

The more crucial outing for Guillen was Brandon McCarthy's first appearance in relief this spring. Taking 20 pitches before entering to loosen up in the bullpen, McCarthy came into the game with a runner on first and two outs in the fifth. He induced Michael Restovich's inning-ending double play and struck out two in a perfect sixth.

 

With Contreras' minor setback, McCarthy is scheduled to start Monday against the Royals in Surprise. But he will work as a reliever, from the stretch, at the beginning of the contest.

 

"That's probably the most nervous I've been on a baseball field. My knees were knocking a little bit getting out there," McCarthy said. "I had no idea what I was doing out there.

 

"Throwing from the stretch, everything was different. But I felt good and I felt like I settled in. It was easier to focus for some reason on what I had to do mechanically. I got enough time in the bullpen to warm up and my arm responded pretty quickly."

 

Take it easy: Although Javier Vazquez was scheduled to throw in the neighborhood of 80 pitches on Saturday, Guillen pulled him after 4 1/3 innings and 70 pitches.

 

"With the way he traveled and then come back here, I see enough from him," said Guillen of Vazquez. "He threw the ball outstanding."

 

Vazquez laughed when asked about getting pumped up for a Cactus League game, albeit against the Cubs, after pitching in the World Baseball Classic. But working the high-pressure situations for Team Puerto Rico has helped Vazquez's Spring Training development.

 

"It helped me just because you push yourself to do better," said Vazquez, who struck out six on Saturday and didn't walk a batter. "When you are in Spring Training, you want to get ready for the season and results don't matter as much. In the World Classic, the results did matter."

 

Third to first: Scott Podsednik will test his sore left shoulder on Monday in a Minor League game. Podsednik last played in a game on March 6. ... Widger expressed great pride over George Mason's first NCAA Tournament victory on Friday night, upending Michigan State in the first round. Widger, who coaches high school basketball during the offseason, played baseball at George Mason.

[Jordan4life_2007]

Nice to see the "drop in velocity" bulls*** defused. Bobby will save 40-45 games in '06.