[外電] Man cannot live by changeup alone(馬可
原標題
Man cannot live by changeup alone: Marco Gonzales is expanding his repertoire
By Corey Brock Apr 4, 2018
When Marco Gonzales was eight years old, his father Frank, a longtime coach
in the Rockies’ system, had the wherewithal to teach his son how to throw a
changeup.
This is important for a lot of reasons, especially since the Gonzales family
lived in high-altitude Fort Collins, Colorado, where breaking balls, thrown
by Little Leaguers and big leaguers alike, just don’t bend like they do
elsewhere due to the elevation.
This is how the changeup became such a bread-and-butter pitch for Gonzales;
he rode it all the way to the big leagues, making his debut with the
Cardinals less than four years after he was drafted.
“It was just something that came so naturally to me,” Gonzales said. “…I
think the main thing my dad wanted was for me to have this pitch I could
throw when I was ahead or behind in the count, and throw it for strikes.
“That’s why it’s been such a huge pitch for me. And once I become
competitive, it became a passion of mine.”
The pitch continues to serve Gonzales well, and his outing on Tuesday against
the Giants was proof of that. He threw 26 changeups in a start that saw him
limit the Giants to three runs in 6 1/3 innings, getting 10 ground-ball outs,
as Seattle edged San Francisco, 6-4.
Gonzales got five swinging-strikes from the changeup, and three called
strikes. It was, at times, a devastating pitch that the Giants flailed at,
failing to solve when the left-hander was able to keep it away from harm.
But don’t get the wrong idea here. Gonzales isn’t a one-trick pony. At this
level, a pitcher can’t be, which is why the changeup — on this day — wasn’
t the only pitch manager Scott Servais and catcher David Freitas raved about.
“After we got through their lineup for the first time today, I thought guys
were sitting slow … looking for the off-speed (pitch) and changeup,”
Servais said. “… That’s when he was able to get the ball in on those
bigger right-handed hitters.
“You get [the hitters] out there leaning, and then you can bust them inside.
”
That’s precisely what Gonzales did at a critical juncture of the game. In
the fourth inning, staked to a 4-0 lead, Joe Panik turned on a 2-1 changeup
inside, hitting it into McCovey Cove. Gonzales then allowed a hard single to
Andrew McCutchen, stirring the sold-out crowd at AT&T Park.
That brought Buster Posey to the plate. Posey immediately fouled off a
fastball that was up in the zone. Next, Gonzales, who doesn’t rely on
velocity to get his outs, went inside to the five-time All-Star with another
fastball. This one sawed Posey’s bat into splinters, as he grounded into a
double play.
Crisis adverted.
“I felt like I threw a lot of good changeups today… but to be able to have
those second, third, fourth pitches behind it are vital,” Gonzales said. “
Having a solid mix of pitches in the zone today, other than the changeup, was
helpful.
“Confidence-wise and conviction-wise, I feel like I can throw anything in
the zone at any time. That’s huge for a pitcher like me. I’ve got to be
able to throw a lot of strikes, get early outs. So the ability to command the
inner half for me today was huge.”
Gonzales, who lost the entire 2016 season after having Tommy John, showed the
Mariners glimpses of his old form at times last summer after he was traded to
Seattle. But with that surgery nearly two years in the past, Gonzales is now
able to string together more quality pitches than he could a year ago —
pitches that aren’t always his plus pitch.
He showed a two-seamer inside on left-handed hitters, and wasn’t afraid —
like in the Posey at-bat — to run a four-seamer in the hands of
right-handers, which can often be a tricky proposition for a left-handed
pitcher without plus velocity.
And once Gonzales showed he could do that, the changeup — a pitch the
Mariners used early in Tuesday’s game — became an even bigger weapon later
on.
“It’s what I like to call a pullback changeup. You see it, but you can’t
stay back on it,” Freitas said. He did a really good job of using that
changeup in hitter’s counts and in pitcher’s counts.”
Said Panik: “[The changeup] was a pitch he could throw in any count. He was
able to keep us off the heater. He throws it well. He locates it well. He's
got good arm action on it. That's what pretty much made him effective.”
Aside from the Panik home run, Gonzales allowed a two-run homer in the
seventh to Evan Longoria, the last pitch he would throw before Servais
brought in reliever Nick Vincent. But that home run, for Servais, wasn’t
enough to take the shine off a strong outing by a pitcher the Mariners are
counting heavily on.
“Awesome start to the season, [I’m] really happy for him. He’s been
working his tail off,” Servais said. “… He’s a different guy. He had a
really good spring and he carried it out into today. Now he’s fully healthy,
it’s nice to see the confidence come fully back.”
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