BP on Harden - Tired vs Hurt

[Transmogrified Tiger]

http://www.anothercubsblog.net/index.php/site/rich-hardens-velocity1/#When:14:01:31Z

 

What made KG’s piece even worse than it already was, is that he ignored the previous start in which Harden’s velocity was 94.5 mph the final 3 innings of the start. He was essentially implying that Rich Harden was injured, healthy and injured. Never mind the ignorance that goes along with declaring someone injured simply because of their velocity. This is just awful writing on a site that you have to pay to read. This was on the BP blog, but it’s still terrible work.

 

Harden’s velocity last night was 92.54 mph. That was the 2nd best average fastball velocity that Harden has had this year. in his first start he averaged 92.71 mph. He’s also averaged 92.48 mph as well. He’s had one start just below 90 and one start barely above 90. This is nothing new. Harden’s velocity is not consistent from start to start. We saw that last year and it’s true this year as well.

 

It was no surprise at all that KG added nothing about Harden’s start last night. I have a feeling he’ll write more if his next start is around 90 mph.

[nolanwood]

http://www.anothercubsblog.net/index.php/site/rich-hardens-velocity1/#When:14:01:31Z

 

What made KG’s piece even worse than it already was, is that he ignored the previous start in which Harden’s velocity was 94.5 mph the final 3 innings of the start. He was essentially implying that Rich Harden was injured, healthy and injured. Never mind the ignorance that goes along with declaring someone injured simply because of their velocity. This is just awful writing on a site that you have to pay to read. This was on the BP blog, but it’s still terrible work.

 

Harden’s velocity last night was 92.54 mph. That was the 2nd best average fastball velocity that Harden has had this year. in his first start he averaged 92.71 mph. He’s also averaged 92.48 mph as well. He’s had one start just below 90 and one start barely above 90. This is nothing new. Harden’s velocity is not consistent from start to start. We saw that last year and it’s true this year as well.

 

It was no surprise at all that KG added nothing about Harden’s start last night. I have a feeling he’ll write more if his next start is around 90 mph.

 

Love it. :thumbsup:

[Cubbie Swagger]

Harden's repertoire is such that both the data collected and the way they present it is misleading. Harden throws essentially the same pitch at varying speeds. Considering His first start was against the Brewers, a team with several disciplined hitters, it's not surprising for him to throw comparatively more "off speed" stuff against the Marlins, a team whose best hitters are younger and more free swingers. Furthermore, the lumping together of percentages of pitches at a certain velocity, especially bands as tight as a few mph, is misleading. It would not take very many pitches to influence those percentages in a large way, whether they were intentionally thrown with less on them, Milwaukee's Pitch f/x gun is slightly different than Chicago's, or if he were actually hiding an injury. It's a lazily thrown together piece, like someone went looking for data to support a conclusion.

^^^ Best answer yet. The BP data would apply more to other pitchers, and pitchers throw differently from game to game depending on alot of things. It's not necessarily bad, though.