The Kazmir Conundrum

[bigh0rt]

Many have posited that the problem is Kazmir’s strikeout rate. Yes, it’s great for a pitcher to strike out more than a batter per inning, but at what cost? It takes at least three pitches to strike out a batter, whereas an out on a ball in-play might take just one. Some have posited that it might be better for Kazmir to hold back a little bit, that all his strikeouts result in high pitch counts and fewer innings.

But to every argument there is a counter-argument. On the one hand, yes, the average strikeout requires more pitches than the average ball in-play. But on the other, a strikeout is a guaranteed out; a ball in-play is not. So first we need to ask, do all those balls in-play actually lower pitch counts?

Hardball Times | FULL STORY

[Yoda]

Did we really need THT to do an in depth analysis of Kazmir's struggles? Walks are killing him. Period. He is going through a similar period as Ollie Perez did after his big season. Hitters are being patient and he isn't getting ahead of the count to get swings/misses on his slider. Even when he does get ahead, he can't locate his slider to finish them off.

[jake_harv88]

I believe the piece was more about whether or not reducing a pitchers strike out rate would reduce their overall pitch count. The answer was clearly no.

The fact that kazmir was used in the article was simply for an example. Kazmir is at the extreme of this notion. He strikes a ton of guys out yet he never goes far in ball games and has high pitch counts. Would reducing his strike out rate reduce his pitch count? No, so clearly the problem is his walks...

[deerayfan072]

Kaz's problem is he tries to nibble at the corners all game and gets into deep counts. He is not getting th utside calls so he needs to go right after pitchers and stop nibbling at the corners

[AdvRider]

clearly the problem is his walks...

No doubt. And it just seems to be getting worse all around for Scottie.

Season 4.28 1.56
Last month 4.98 1.81

1.81? That almost makes me do a Kobayashi "reversal."