Classic Maddux year???

[badger1679666666]

Weren't people cheering against his option vesting last year (i.e hoping he had bad outings)? A fickle crowd I see.

[UBlink]

Weren't people cheering against his option vesting last year (i.e hoping he had bad outings)? A fickle crowd I see.

 

There were plenty of people last year saying that Maddux's option vesting was way down on the list of Cubs problems. They were probably a little quieter last year, just like the critics are quieter this year.

[WrigleyinEngland]

Bob's Keeper, can you get a split between his first start and weds start on that graph. I would like to see the difference between the 2 starts. I wonder if weds start was more precise due to the conditions favouring hitters.

[TrueBlueCubFan]

Maddux has had good results in his first two games, but I still worry that his control isn't what it used to be. Check out his pitch locations in his first two games:

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v384/bobskeeper/MadduxPL4-13-2006.png

 

He seems to be leaving an inordinate number of balls out over the middle of the plate. If he keeps doing that I don't think his hearly success will continue.

According to M.Barrett, Maddux's FB has more movement than in previous years catching him. You can stay in the zone as a pitcher if you continually change speeds & have good movement on your FB. A pitch location chart doesn't always tell the whole story.

[Guest]

Bob's Keeper, can you get a split between his first start and weds start on that graph. I would like to see the difference between the 2 starts. I wonder if weds start was more precise due to the conditions favouring hitters.

No problem. Give me 15 minutes or so and I'll have them up.

 

According to M.Barrett, Maddux's FB has more movement than in previous years catching him. You can stay in the zone as a pitcher if you continually change speeds & have good movement on your FB. A pitch location chart doesn't always tell the whole story.

Certainly true; there's a big difference between a straight-as-an-arrow pitch left up in the zone and a pitch with a lot of movement left up in the zone. Still, given two pitchers with a lot of movement, I'd rather have one who keeps the ball down than a pitcher who leaves a bunch of balls up.

[Guest]

Pitch locations for his start on 4/07:

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v384/bobskeeper/MadduxPL4-07.png

 

Pitch locations for his start on 4/12:

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v384/bobskeeper/MadduxPL4-12.png

[badgercub]

Weren't people cheering against his option vesting last year (i.e hoping he had bad outings)? A fickle crowd I see.

 

I think it was mainly over the fact of what he was getting paid. I think most believed he was a good #4 or #5 starter, just not at 9 million a year or whatever it is.

[KatJ]

Weren't people cheering against his option vesting last year (i.e hoping he had bad outings)? A fickle crowd I see.

 

There were plenty of people last year saying that Maddux's option vesting was way down on the list of Cubs problems. They were probably a little quieter last year, just like the critics are quieter this year.

 

*waving* I would have been one of those. Especially since Maddux did a fairly good job the first part of last season as well. Yes, he did give up some HRs, but he did get the job done while Wood and Prior spent time on the DL (kind of like now).

 

Like I've said on at least one other occasion, yes, $9 mil is a lot of money for an aging pitcher who isn't as great as he once was, but he's the ONLY person on the staff who eats up innings and more often than not keeps the team in the ballgame. If anyone "saved" the Cubs last year, it was Maddux (and Z) - keeping the team in the race - but only long enough to get Wood in the bullpen.

 

As for the HOF speculation, there is no way Maddux goes in with a non-Braves cap unless he gets three more Cy's and two or more WS wins with one other team before his playing career is done.

 

EDIT: when I first saw this thread, there were 31 replies. :D

[Chocolate Milk]

Weren't people cheering against his option vesting last year (i.e hoping he had bad outings)? A fickle crowd I see.

 

There were plenty of people last year saying that Maddux's option vesting was way down on the list of Cubs problems. They were probably a little quieter last year, just like the critics are quieter this year.

 

*waving* I would have been one of those. Especially since Maddux did a fairly good job the first part of last season as well. Yes, he did give up some HRs, but he did get the job done while Wood and Prior spent time on the DL (kind of like now).

 

Like I've said on at least one other occasion, yes, $9 mil is a lot of money for an aging pitcher who isn't as great as he once was, but he's the ONLY person on the staff who eats up innings and more often than not keeps the team in the ballgame. If anyone "saved" the Cubs last year, it was Maddux (and Z) - keeping the team in the race - but only long enough to get Wood in the bullpen.

 

As for the HOF speculation, there is no way Maddux goes in with a non-Braves cap unless he gets three more Cy's and two or more WS wins with one other team before his playing career is done.

 

EDIT: when I first saw this thread, there were 31 replies. :D

 

I also said that all the Maddux for 9 million freakout, was much ado about nothing. Yes, he's overpaid. But the few million he is overpaid, for one year, wasn't going to have a big impact on the Cubs '06 campaign. It hasn't and won't.

[YearofDaCubs]

I was one of the people who wasn't so happy about the 3rd year on the contract but so far he has pitched very well and proving me wrong. That being said that 9mil could have been used to put that money towards another SP. Maddux is reliable and with Z pitching bad and the annual injuries to Wood and Prior you won't hear me complain about this contract anymore.

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

According to this article on Cubs.com, Maddux also has been offering some tuteledge to young Sean Marshall.

 

Maddux also gave Marshall some advice after the lefty's first big-league start.

 

"He noticed a couple mistakes I made out there," Marshall said Thursday. "There was one in the first inning to Scott Rolen [who homered], and he said it was a good pitch but he told me another way I could've gone around it. I could've thrown a changeup instead of a fastball.

 

"He was also talking about when [so] Taguchi hit the double and they moved him over," Marshall said. "[Maddux] said, 'Get an out. Let him hit the ball to the right side and move the runner over and you'll have one out and the pitcher is up.' I didn't think about it when I was pitching, but it made good sense."

 

It helps to have a 300-game winner as your guide.

 

"He's a good guy to pick his brain a little bit," Marshall said of Maddux. "It's great to be by his side and talk to him and learn from him and watch his work habits."