Z: No more cutter, back to sinker

[UMFan83]

I think this is pretty interesting news. Z says that he wants to primarily stick with the sinker, and stop throwing his cutter, which he has always had control issues with. Obviously the sinker was always apart of Z's repertoire, but he relied on it much more back in 2003-2004, when he got a lot of ground ball outs and was obviously a much more effective pitcher. I don't recall hearing why he went away from using it primarily, or why he didn't consider this earlier, but it will be interesting to see what happens because of it. Obviously relying on his sinker isn't going to bring back 2004 Zambrano, but it might help him control his walks and lower his pitch count, making him a more effective pitcher.

 

To go with his new attitude, Zambrano said he plans to ditch the cut fastball from his repertoire. He hasn't displayed enough control of it to keep throwing it regularly so he decided to go back to what made him successful in the past.

 

"The sinker was what made me good earlier in my career," he said. "I want to stay with the sinker. No more cutter. Just sinker, slider, split and high fastball."

 

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/ct-spt-0219-cubs-chicago-spring-training-20100218,0,2502657.story

[Clem Fandango]

I never understood the difference between a splitter and a sinker, don't they both essentially achieve the same result while maintaining similar velocities? Does one typically break more than the other?

[cubsfan]

Splitter is generally slower and harder to control. Movement depends on the pitcher. A good sinker is something you can't teach.

[woodchip2153]

analysis from THT

[UMFan83]

analysis from THT

 

Hmm...that's interesting. For anyone too lazy to read, this concludes that his cutter is actually his most effective pitch. It speculates that possibly this pitch could cause Z more arm strain, or that it's possible this pitch is hit the hardest when he makes a mistake, but the numbers undeniably suggest that the cutter is his best pitch.

[Lefty]

Ah, the Spring. Every pedestrian pitcher has a new pitch, every underachieving hitter a new approach.

[illiniguy]

Ah, the Spring. Every pedestrian pitcher has a new pitch, every underachieving hitter a new approach.

Zambrano is a pedestrian now? :thumbsup:

[jersey cubs fan]

Ah, the Spring. Every pedestrian pitcher has a new pitch, every underachieving hitter a new approach.

 

some guys worked out extra hard and showed up in the best shape of their life, other guys showed up fat.

[UMFan83]

Ah, the Spring. Every pedestrian pitcher has a new pitch, every underachieving hitter a new approach.

Zambrano is a pedestrian now? :thumbsup:

 

I don't think he's implying that seeing as how Zambrano doesn't have a new pitch, he's just relying more on a pitch he thinks he was more successful with in the past.

[Bull]

Ah, the Spring. Every pedestrian pitcher has a new pitch, every underachieving hitter a new approach.

and some of them work. better than sticking with something that wasn't

[Sammy Sofa]

Ah, the Spring. Every pedestrian pitcher has a new pitch, every underachieving hitter a new approach.

and some of them work. better than sticking with something that wasn't

 

Though in this case Zambrano is dropping a pitch that has arguably worked very well for him.

[Deder]

The cutter is a pitch he would use to help neutralize left handed hitters more than anything because it doesn't really have a platoon split like most pitches. Looking at Zambrano's platoon splits in general he walks a lot of lefties and doesn't give up a lot of HR to lefties and the two combine for a relatively small platoon split for him. The only time he had a lot of troubles with lefties was 05/06 which I'm guessing is when he was learning the cutter in the first place.