It was definitely location. The count was 2-1, and the pitch was slightly down and in, but it caught part of the center square. It was a hanging slider right in a LH hitter’s happy zone. Pressly had hung a curveball right down the center two pitches earlier that Mullins fouled, but he got all of this one.
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Ok, I trust your and David’s judgment. I did not see it. Sounds like it was not down and in enough. Disastrous loss, imo.
He started the at bat with a breaking ball way down and in that almost hit Mullins. He hung the curveball, got away with it then threw a non-competitive fastball up. The next pitch he tried to go back in and didn’t get it there. I don’t have an issue with the pitch selection, per se, it was just horrible location, IMO. And it wasn’t just the pitches to Mullins. The at bat to O’Hearn, who singled to start the rally, was a series of hanging curveballs, right down the middle. The pitch to Hays, who followed, was a hanging slider right down the middle. It was like Pressly had no control over his breaking stuff, yet kept throwing it, all extremely hittable.
Let’s see if I can do this:
As you can see, Pressly’s location of the breaking ball was simply atrocious.
Shudder.
Yeah, that simply comes down to location, location, location. In that order.
Well yesterday’s gone, as they say.
There is no doubt that the pitching cost them this game but I wish Dusty would simply show some consistency.
3 weeks ago he PH for Chas with Singleton and yesterday he lets Chas hit.
I have been clamoring for Chas to be an everyday player, but IMO that was a perfect situation for Brantley.
Looking at the situation: High K RHRP on the mound with 2 outs and tying run on 3rd base. I think Chas Ks too much for that spot if Brantley is available (actually Diaz may have been a better option also).
As for Pressly, I’m only worried about him because of the bullpen management. He is the same pitcher he was 3 months ago, but he needs to pitch more than once every 5 days to stay sharp.
Definitely agree now LOCATION was the issue on all three hits.
Speaking of breaking balls, I thought JV’s were a sharp as they’ve been since his return.
As to Dusty:
By all accounts, he is as good a person as you could meet. He does a great job of managing personalities and communication in the clubhouse. He did an admirable job guiding the team through a rough time in 2020-21.
And he should not be allowed anywhere near the dugout on game day.
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I couldn’t see the exact pitch location live from our seats, either. The pitch ended up in the bottom third of the strike zone, down and in. Sorry for not being a bit more specific about the location in my earlier post. It wasn’t down enough, nor in enough. Here’s a link to a video of it:
https://x.com/talkinbaseball_/status/1703971326241669469?s=46&t=J8i7q0F51Y4-d7E78YpG0Q
Verlander looked good last night. O’Hearn and Henderson did all the damage against him.
I’d much rather focus on Baker bringing in Montero to face Henderson, Rutschman and O’Hearn in the seventh after the Astros’ offense had just scored four runs to take the lead. He’s not trustworthy enough for that situation with the way he’s pitched this year. Either go to Neris to start the inning, let Verlander at 89 pitches start the inning and have Neris ready if he gets in trouble, or summon Graveman or Maton. The result was sadly predictable and let the Orioles right back in the game.
Also, I realize there have not been many save situations lately, but Baker needs to get Pressly work if he’s gone more than two days without pitching in game action. He’s pitched a total of four times in September.
4 innings in just under 3 weeks. Unless he’s hurt, that’s utter and complete managerial incompetence. Back-end relief pitchers pitch more than that in a spring training littered with split squad games getting ready for the season.
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Look at those exit velocities. 104, 105, 103mph…
I’m with you. I think part of Pressly’s recent woes is that he’s not pitching enough.
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Well if the hitters could only provide him more save situations
Hasn’t Montero been quite good recently and Maton not?
He still has to pitch. To wit: Since he blew that save in Detroit on August 25th, his first bad outing in a long time, here’s how many appearances:
Maton: 10
Montero:9
Graveman: 8
Neris: 8
Abreu 6
Kuhnel: 5
Pressly: 4
Hell, Ryne Stanek is on the IL and has pitched more than Pressly. You can’t expect him to be sharp pitching that little.
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