Saturday, May 9, 2009

The waaaaaaaavvvvvvveeeee of the future? SWITCH pitching??


And the whole time I thought it was the famous "Gyro-Ball"! That's right your read the title correctly my friends, and the answer is NO, I haven't started pounding Zima's too early on a Saturday night. ESPN's Rick Reilly gives us an awesome article about Yankee prospect and current Charleston River Dog reliever Pat Ventitte.
Being a "switchie" involves a specially made six finger mizuno glove so changing pitching hands can be done quickly. Warming up he pitches 4 righty and throws down 4 lefty. What kind of repitore does this consist of?? Right handed he is tossing a 90 mph fastball, a curve, and a nice change. Left handed he throws sidearm and has a "murderous" slider and a change. Is it effective?? "At one point in April, the closer's ERA was 0.00 in 6 1/3 innings, and he hadn't blown a save in five games." "Last season, he had 23 saves for the Staten Island Yankees, with a 0.83 ERA. And best of all, the kid can relieve himself!".
Reilly reports it will be 2 or 3 years before we can possibly see him in pinstripes, but hey, with the way the bullpen looks.......why not??

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