Bob Howry Appreciation Thread

[weatherdood]

Since the night when he and Eyre imploded against Colorado in the 9th, things have been completely different for Howry. The 2nd half stats back that up tremendously. He's certainly one of our most valuable commodities right now.

 

That said, I just don't have a ton of trust in him in a tie or 1 run game...based solely on his propensity to give up the long ball. The solo shot to Stephen Drew that was the game winner for AZ...the 2 run HR for Josh Hamilton that broke a 9-9 tie against Cincy...the solo shot by Kemp that brought the Dodgers to within 1 in the Dempster meltdown game...I know pitchers give up homers in critical spots..but I always get the feeling whenever Howry's on the mound that we're just one pitch away from losing the game.

[TruffleShuffle]

I"m amazed that Howry is so successful as basically a one pitch pitcher. He must get some amazing movement on his Fastball.

 

That's what I don't get. It seems like he's throwing FB down the middle of the plate and batters just miss it.

 

He doesn't throw it down the middle often though. He's good at hitting the corners, and he usually just throws lots of pitches on the outside corner at the knees.

 

truth. His ability to the locate the fastball is excellent. But yeah, it puzzles me that major league hitters struggle so much against a fastball that's pretty much always the same speed (94 mph) and is pretty straight. I guess the fact that he's tall and lanky makes the speed of the pitch deceptive, and maybe he hides it well through his delivery.

 

I'm glad I stuck up for Bob when he was struggling earlier this year. He's a reliable reliever and once his luck on balls in play evened out, he turned into the pitcher he was all of last year.

[baseball7897]

I"m amazed that Howry is so successful as basically a one pitch pitcher. He must get some amazing movement on his Fastball.

 

That's what I don't get. It seems like he's throwing FB down the middle of the plate and batters just miss it.

 

He doesn't throw it down the middle often though. He's good at hitting the corners, and he usually just throws lots of pitches on the outside corner at the knees.

 

He has some kind of breaking pitch -- a slider, I think, but he hardly ever uses it. It doesn't seem as effective as his fastball.

 

It is really easy to pick up too. His mechanics change so differently when he throws that slider. It's not really effective, but it keeps the hitters thinking that he has that pitch in the tank and he could throw it at any time.

[soccer10k]

I was stunned at his early season performance, I know relievers are inconsistent year to year, but Howry had a nice long track record. I expected Eyre's numbers, but Howry's poor performance had me baffled. Great to see him turned around.

 

Agreed.

 

While Eyre's numbers were worse than I thought they were going to be, he wasn't going to keep up his ERA from last year based on his peripherals. Plus he really

 

Howry's been solid for a few year's now and I was shocked with how poorly he pitched early in the year. I have a ton of faith in him now. Not as much as Marmol but I don't get a feeling of impending doom whenever he comes in the game.