Wainwright commanding plate, and attention

Thursday, September 10, 2009 | Feedback | Print Entry

There aren't many pitchers who can consistently command a breaking ball on both sides of home plate, a longtime talent evaluator said Wednesday afternoon. Most pitchers can command a fastball on what pitchers and pitching coaches refer to as their "arm side" -- for right-handed pitchers, that's inside to right-handed batters and away from left-handed batters -- and they can command their breaking ball to what they refer to as their "glove side." For a right-handed pitcher, that means outside to right-handed hitters.

"But that's what makes Adam Wainwright so special," said the evaluator, in the midst of Wainwright's 18th victory on Wednesday. "He can command his breaking ball on both sides of the plate, to both right-handed and left-handed batters. You just don't see someone who has control in all four of the quadrants like that."

And remember, Wainwright's curveball -- which typically runs in the 73-75 mph range -- is set up by a fastball that runs 90-92 mph, on most days. As Felipe Lopez batted against Wainwright on Wednesday, Wainwright threw a curveball over the inner half of the plate for a strike, and Lopez just nodded approvingly, respectfully, as if to say Yep, he's got a great curveball today, and I'm just going to have to go to work from here with that in mind.

But, of course, the Brewers really didn't do much against Wainwright at all. Most hitters haven't this season. "Chris Carpenter has better stuff than he has," said the evaluator. "Carpenter's got a fastball that sings. But Wainwright is much more aggressive than Carpenter, and because he can command all parts of the strike with all of his pitches, he presents an incredible challenge to hitters. You usually can find a pattern with pitchers, and the typical trend is fastball in, soft stuff away. With Wainwright, there is no pattern. He's great with all of his pitches in any location, and you cannot get zoned in if you are a hitter."

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  • Buster Olney Buster Olney

    Buster Olney is a senior writer at ESPN The Magazine. He began covering baseball in 1989, as the Nashville Banner's beat reporter assigned to the Triple-A Nashville Sounds. Later, he covered the San Diego Padres (1993-94), the Baltimore Orioles ('95-96), the New York Mets ('97) and the Yankees ('98-2001). Olney joined ESPN The Magazine in 2003, after six years at The New York Times, and he's the author of the Times' best-seller "The Last Night of the Yankee Dynasty," a book about the Paul O'Neill-Tino Martinez Yankees dynasty of 1996-01.

    He grew up in central Vermont collecting baseball cards and listening to Red Sox, Expos, Phillies and Pirates radio broadcasts, and was a rabid fan of the Los Angeles Dodgers. He graduated from Vanderbilt University the same year as hoops legend Will Perdue, and ranks among the all-time leading scorers in pickup basketball at Memorial Gym. He claims to have witnessed the Commodores' winning football season in 1982 (although anthropologists have not yet confirmed this).

    Olney also contributes to ESPN.com, ESPN Radio, ESPNEWS, "SportsCenter" and "Baseball Tonight."

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