Jose Contreras is inexplicably hard to read...

[warrick95]

Pitching well thus far...@ Texas...a definite hitter's ballpark. You start him next time out against a bad team, trust me, he'll pitch poorly. That's what drove me to do bad outings from him thus far...

[slomo007]

He is still tipping his pitches....even I can see it. He's going in with that split grip, and you can see the glove move when he changes to something else. It's only a matter of time till managers realize this and he'll get lit up again.

[bleach168]

He is still tipping his pitches....even I can see it. He's going in with that split grip, and you can see the glove move when he changes to something else. It's only a matter of time till managers realize this and he'll get lit up again.

Yes and it's only a matter of time before he corrects that. So he's tipping his pitches and he's still shutting down the Rangers? Hmmmm...

[slomo007]

Keep starting him, I dare you.

[Members Only Jackets]

Keep starting him, I dare you.

I will....thanks

[fantasyfiend]

He is still tipping his pitches....even I can see it. He's going in with that split grip, and you can see the glove move when he changes to something else. It's only a matter of time till managers realize this and he'll get lit up again.

you dont know what your talking about.

he go's in with that same split finger grip, and still throws a fastball. batters dont have an angle view on his hands and glove like we do.

and i guess only managers from opposing teams make adjustments?

[slomo007]

LOL he ALWAYS goes in with that splitter grip though.......and then the camera changes to the front/angle view of Contreras and I could see the glove move when he wasn't throwing a splitter. I couldn't tell if a fastball or change-up was being thrown, but you know it has to be one of the two, b/c it's not going to be the splitter.

Maybe YOU don't know what you're talking about.

[EK711]

That forkball or whatever you want to call it was just plain filthy today. At times he looked like he was off with his control, but he still made a good lineup look silly at times. The guy just needs to stay calm and learn to pitch a little more consistently out of the stretch. Looked pretty damn good to me today though.

[sosafan]

LOL he ALWAYS goes in with that splitter grip though.......and then the camera changes to the front/angle view of Contreras and I could see the glove move when he wasn't throwing a splitter. I couldn't tell if a fastball or change-up was being thrown, but you know it has to be one of the two, b/c it's not going to be the splitter.

Maybe YOU don't know what you're talking about.

SLOMO
I did not see the game, but what do you mean tipping pitches?
what do I need to look for, next time?
certain mannerisms that jose does, or is the way he holds his glove?

[slomo007]

Next time you watch him......when he first steps on the rubber before every pitch, before he looks at the sign from the catcher he puts his hand on the ball in his glove in a very strange position (split finger). Then, if the catcher calls for the splitter, nothing else happens and he pitches.

But if the catcher calls for another pitch (fast or change are his two others I believe), then he has to maneuver his hand behind his glove, and it shakes his whole glove when he does this. You don't have to be at a side-angle to see it.

So that means that hitters should be able to know if a splitter is coming....and they should know if either a fastball or changeup is coming.

Until he fixes this, I don't think he'll be consistent. I assumed that this was the reason he was sent to the minors, as the Red Sox figured out how to read what was coming....but apparently they didn't even work on this?