...Another great article from Mets.com:
For as long as he has been a big league pitcher, and while he was pitching in Cuba as well, Orlando Hernandez has been all about deception -- the exaggerated leg kick, hiding his pitches, the occasional sidearm sling and the rare Bugs Bunny changeup. And most folks in the game believe numerical information on El Duque's birth certificate to be fictional.
It is with that record of deception in mind that the latest episode of Hernandez's second Mets spring outing must be viewed. Caution and at least a dozen grains of salt must be used if a conclusion is to be drawn on what the "Duke of Deke" demonstrated on Tuesday morning in a game that wasn't even real, but simulated.
Hernandez threw like a man testing his arm, hardly like a pitcher scheduled to appear in an authentic exhibition game on Sunday, or a pitcher seeking a spot in a rotation that turns for the first time in 14 days.
Instead, he threw as if he were auditioning for the lead in the "Stu Miller Story." Miller, the one-time Orioles reliever, was said to have have thrown his pitches at three speeds -- slow, slower and slowest. Some of El Duque's 80 pitches may have done Miller one better -- slower yet.
CLICK HERE FOR THE ARTICLE
0 comments:
Post a Comment