Dirty Dick Harden

[Andy]

I'm impressed with what Harden has been able to do so far this season. Even in his "bad" outing, he was unhittable. Considering that he's still only throwing in the low-90's and almost 90% fastballs, I'll be interested to see what he can do when the weather warms up and his arm loosens up.

I'm guessing we'll see him back to his 95 mph stuff and using his change up far more. His fastball has so much movement on it, no one is hitting it.

[sleepyhead]

<!--quoteo(post=32245:date=Apr 22 2009, 09:41 AM:name=Andy)-->QUOTE (Andy @ Apr 22 2009, 09:41 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->I'm impressed with what Harden has been able to do so far this season. Even in his "bad" outing, he was unhittable. Considering that he's still only throwing in the low-90's and almost 90% fastballs, I'll be interested to see what he can do when the weather warms up and his arm loosens up.

I'm guessing we'll see him back to his 95 mph stuff and using his change up far more. His fastball has so much movement on it, no one is hitting it.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

He was hitting 94 last night and 96 in Milwaukee. I think his velocity is there and he purposely goes between 91 and 96 on his fastball.

[Fella]

Yeah he keeps saying over and over he has learned not to have to pitch so hard, and still get results. He got up to 97, at least on the TV gun, against the Rockies.

[sleepyhead]

<!--quoteo(post=32255:date=Apr 22 2009, 10:32 AM:name=Fella)-->QUOTE (Fella @ Apr 22 2009, 10:32 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->Yeah he keeps saying over and over he has learned not to have to pitch so hard, and still get results. He got up to 97, at least on the TV gun, against the Rockies.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

It certainly appears that is the case, and it's great. It will be better for his health and his effectiveness. If he can spot his fastball at that wide a range of speeds and throw that changeup, he needs no other pitch.

[Coach]

<!--quoteo(post=32256:date=Apr 22 2009, 11:42 AM:name=sleepyhead)-->QUOTE (sleepyhead @ Apr 22 2009, 11:42 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec--><!--quoteo(post=32255:date=Apr 22 2009, 10:32 AM:name=Fella)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Fella @ Apr 22 2009, 10:32 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->Yeah he keeps saying over and over he has learned not to have to pitch so hard, and still get results. He got up to 97, at least on the TV gun, against the Rockies.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

It certainly appears that is the case, and it's great. It will be better for his health and his effectiveness. If he can spot his fastball at that wide a range of speeds and throw that changeup, he needs no other pitch.
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Absolutely

[rok]

I'm certainly encouraged, but I'd like to see him do this in consecutive starts and maybe put together a nice 5-6 game win streak or something like that. The Reds aren't that great an offensive club, though he contained Votto pretty well, but if Harden can handle some of the better hitting teams (good job vs Milwaukee, bad vs Colorado) and can keep his pitch count around 100 by the 6th inning, I'll be ecstatic, especially in a #4 SP.

[sleepyhead]

HARDEN POSTS HISTORIC STRIKEOUT RATE IN LIGHT WORKLOAD
Rich Harden struck out eight batters in six innings in the Cubs' 7-2 win over the Reds. Harden's three-game totals this season26 strikeouts in 15 inningsare utterly unique. No other pitcher since 1900 recorded that many strikeouts in as few innings as Harden over a span of three starts in one season.
Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati Reds

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/elias

[Quinn]

http://www.fangraphs.com/pitchfx.aspx?play...&position=P

He's throwing even less fast balls so far this year and more changeups.

[Andy]

I guess what I was trying to get at is that he's throwing almost no breaking pitches. He's going straight fastball - change up. Obviously there's nothing wrong with that, just an observation and that he's pitching well with a ton of movement on his pitches.

Even in the Colorado game, his stuff was good, he just couldn't hit his mark at all and the Rockies were taking a pitch.

[kbwsb]

I think the key for Dirty Dick is to not try to throw 96 all the time. He seems to have enough movement on his regular low-90's heater to get MLB hitters out. In fact, it'd be good for his pitch-counts if he mixed in a few more ground-outs with all those K's.

[Dirk]

Kind of makes you think, Harden would probably make a badass closer if all he had to do was pitch an inning and not worry about conserving energy. Not that I'm advocating that...

[Andy]

<!--quoteo(post=32299:date=Apr 22 2009, 02:14 PM:name=KBwsb)-->QUOTE (KBwsb @ Apr 22 2009, 02:14 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->I think the key for Dirty Dick is to not try to throw 96 all the time. He seems to have enough movement on his regular low-90's heater to get MLB hitters out. In fact, it'd be good for his pitch-counts if he mixed in a few more ground-outs with all those K's.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

He used to be a ground ball pitcher, but that seemed to flip since his injuries in 2005/06. Now he has more fly balls than grounders. He seems to throw the ball a little higher than he used to and uses his slider far less. I'd love to see him get ground balls, especially at Wrigley where the grass cuts them down. But I'm not sure that's the type of pitcher he's become.

[kbwsb]

<!--quoteo(post=32310:date=Apr 22 2009, 03:08 PM:name=Andy)-->QUOTE (Andy @ Apr 22 2009, 03:08 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec--><!--quoteo(post=32299:date=Apr 22 2009, 02:14 PM:name=KBwsb)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (KBwsb @ Apr 22 2009, 02:14 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->I think the key for Dirty Dick is to not try to throw 96 all the time. He seems to have enough movement on his regular low-90's heater to get MLB hitters out. In fact, it'd be good for his pitch-counts if he mixed in a few more ground-outs with all those K's.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

He used to be a ground ball pitcher, but that seemed to flip since his injuries in 2005/06. Now he has more fly balls than grounders. He seems to throw the ball a little higher than he used to and uses his slider far less. I'd love to see him get ground balls, especially at Wrigley where the grass cuts them down. But I'm not sure that's the type of pitcher he's become.
<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Yeah, as long as he starts 25+ games, I don't care if he dominates. I just want him to pitch well enough to win. A slider can be real hard on a pitcher's arm, so if he can breeze through a lineup without throwing it too much(like he's been doing), that seems like the smartest plan of action.

And Dirk, I've thought about that too. He'd be a shutdown closer. But closers have to pitch a lot of games (sometimes 3-4 times a week), and who knows if he could handle it.
(maybe it's something to keep in mind for the post-season, when we'll have trouble finding enough work for the starters. Assuming we get there.)

[Clapp]

<!--quoteo(post=32295:date=Apr 22 2009, 12:45 PM:name=Andy)-->QUOTE (Andy @ Apr 22 2009, 12:45 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->I guess what I was trying to get at is that he's throwing almost no breaking pitches. He's going straight fastball - change up. Obviously there's nothing wrong with that, just an observation and that he's pitching well with a ton of movement on his pitches.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
He's not throwing any breaking pitches. He's only been throwing 2 pitches since we got him. He has variations of his fastball and change up and it makes them look like a slider or something sometimes, but it's his change. That's what he was saying a lot last year anyway and it looked that way last night.

[kbwsb]

Andy, did you just make up that "Dirty Dick" moniker, or have you heard it around?
Either way, i think that should be his official name from now on. His stuff is nasty. I like "Nasty Dick" too, but Dirty Dick is better.