Pitching is really all about deception, Jamie Moyer said the other day, sitting in front of his locker in Clearwater, Fla. He cited an example from the Phillies' exhibition game the day before: Edwin Jackson, the Tampa Bay starter, was throwing a fastball clocked in the mid-90s -- the kind of fastball that obliterates bat handles and pops a catcher's mitt.
But Jackson spent the better part of his outing mixing in a breaking ball to create doubt in the minds of the hitters, to make them adapt to the velocity of his fastball while worrying about his other pitch, a spinning baseball veering away from them at diminished speed. "Really, it doesn't matter how hard you throw," said Moyer. "The hitter really dictates what kind of stuff you have, with his reactions."
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Buster Olney
