{"id":2464,"date":"2011-09-15T11:16:29","date_gmt":"2011-09-15T15:16:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/?p=2464"},"modified":"2011-09-25T01:13:40","modified_gmt":"2011-09-25T05:13:40","slug":"thoughts-on-brad-peacocks-debut-start","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/?p=2464","title":{"rendered":"Thoughts on Brad Peacock’s debut start"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Brad Peacock fires in another fastball during his debut start last night. (Photo by Christopher Pasatieri\/Getty Images via sbnation.com)<\/p><\/div>\n

As a fan of the team, its always neat to see shots of the parents of an up and coming rookie and to listen to the in-game interviews done by Masn’s Debbie Taylor<\/strong>.\u00a0 Collin Balester<\/strong>‘s dad was wearing a big hawaiian shirt and was clearly telling his entire section “that’s my son” while pointing at the field.\u00a0 Craig Stammen<\/strong>‘s parents were a bit more reserved and mentioned their faith while praising their son’s performance.\u00a0 Last night, Brad Peacock<\/strong>‘s dad (a retired cop) was jubilant (if ill-dressed for the occasion) but gave a great mid-inning interview while holding Brad’s son on his lap.\u00a0 That kind of stuff reminds you about something you often forget about when following a team of highly-paid athletes; these guys are people too.\u00a0 They have families, they have priorities, hopes and dreams, and their parents root for them just like your own parents rooted for you when you were a kid.\u00a0 Anyway…<\/p>\n

Last night 9\/14, Brad Peacock got his first major league start against the Mets, in New York (box\/gamer<\/a>).\u00a0 Though I posted some thoughts on his MLB debut a week ago<\/a>, it was clearly not the most optimal debut for a rookie starter (brought in with runners on base and pitching from the stretch against an MVP candidate).\u00a0 Last night is a much better indication of what kind of pitcher Peacock may be and what his capabilities are setting up hitters multiple times and working deeper into games.<\/p>\n

Game Summary<\/strong>: On the night Peacock’s line was great: 5ip, 0 runs on 2 hits and 3 walks.\u00a0 He had a wild pitch that *maybe* should have been caught by Jesus Flores <\/strong>but which didn’t hurt him.<\/p>\n

Early on in the game, Peacock was clearly not getting calls when he missed his spots.\u00a0 He had more than a few calls that were clearly in the “K zone” graphic that MASN uses, but he had missed the target that Flores set up for him.\u00a0 One of the two hits he gave up was to\u00a0 Reyes<\/strong>, who he clearly had struck out but didn’t get the call at the knees.\u00a0 When he did give up harder-hit balls it was usually on pitches that he missed his location.\u00a0 On more than a few occasions he missed out over the plate badly, but the velocity and\/or movement on the pitch usually bailed him out, getting popups for foul balls.<\/p>\n

After cruising through 3 no-hit innings (only blemish was a 2-out walk to the opposing pitcher), he gave up a decently struck single and then suddenly struggled to find the plate.\u00a0 He had two walks and a wild pitch in the 4th to load the bases before getting a harmless popout.\u00a0 He was more in control in the 5th, getting a nifty play out of Desmond <\/strong>and a one-pitch out from the opposing pitcher before having Reyes struck out (as mentioned before) but giving up the single before retiring Tejada <\/strong>on a liner to Werth<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Velocity<\/strong>: His fastball peaked at 95.1mph early, then he seemed to settle into a pattern of low-90s heat.\u00a0 On the night he averaged 92.77mph on the 4-seamer.\u00a0\u00a0 This average MPH was a bit lower than during his MLB debut last week (pitch f\/x for his debut here<\/a>, where he averaged 94.15 and peaked at 95.8) and the commentators noted that Peacock’s velocity will average lower in starts than in relief efforts.\u00a0 I’m not sure I believe that necessarily.\u00a0 This team’s approach with its harder throwing starters has clearly been pitching to contact and working deeper into games at the expense of a couple MPH and a few strikeouts.\u00a0 Was that what we saw last night?\u00a0 Or was Peacock just tired from the adrenaline rush of his first start?\u00a0 Or was an average of 94 versus 92 what we should expect during starts?\u00a0 Everything we’ve heard from his stellar minor league season mentions a 95mph fastball, and you would have to think that implies a 95 average, not one 95mph heater every now and again while sitting consistently 92.\u00a0 Yes, relievers can generally throw harder, since they go max-effort for an inning as opposed to having to protect their arm for 100 pitches over 6 innings, but it would be nice to know what to expect out of a starter.<\/p>\n

Whatever the speed is on his fastball, the delta between it and his change-up is fantastic.\u00a0 He threw a ton of change-ups (21 out of 94 pitches) and relied on it heavily.\u00a0 His curve more often than not either bounced or started outside and kept on moving outside.\u00a0 I’m not sure I ever saw an inside curve-ball attempt.<\/p>\n

Pitch Counts<\/strong>: Through 5 complete innings\u00a0 he was sitting at 94 pitches, needing 31 just to get through the fourth, and clearly his night was over.\u00a0 94 pitches on the night, 61 for strikes for a pretty good strike\/ball ratio.\u00a0\u00a0 However, 94 pitches to complete 5 innings is rather inefficient, especially for someone who only got two Ks on the night.\u00a0 Lots of these strikes were foul balls, raising his pitch count and driving him from the game early.\u00a0 He will need to find a way to avoid 30-pitch innings and 10-pitch at bats, and will need to work on getting through 6 or 7 innings on that same number of pitches.<\/p>\n

GO\/AO Ratios<\/strong>: More concerning was the very high ratio of air-outs versus ground-ball outs.\u00a0 Of the 15 outs he recorded:<\/p>\n