OaklandReggae wrote:Anyhow, basing anyone's stats this year off last year is folly... #s are rarely an accurate backstory or provide an accurate description of who a pitcher is... I do think Haren is a dominant pitcher, but he has been getting a bit lucky this year. Often leaves the ball high in the zone and the hitter doesnt crush it... eventually it will catch up with him and he'll have to adjust.
Haren's splitter is tabbed as a 79 according to scouts... a dominant pitch, mixed in with a mid 90s fastball (73) with good movement, a great slider (68), and a changeup (A's dont have a listing) thats gotten much better the past two seasons...
Your response makes me wonder if your familiar with the scouts rating system (20-80).... Haren has 1 pitch thats labeled as dominant and nearly a perfect rating, a 4seamer with good movement thats in the top 10 percentile, and a slider that has incredible break, which is now breaking later and later into the pitch.
Its no wonder that most scouts had him tabbed as a breakout player this year, since by the end of the season last year and spring training this year, he learned how to locate his higher pitches, although still does leave some 4 seamers in the middle of the plate... but with enough movement to still fool batters this year.
Your argument of his stats last year is no more relevant than me pointing to his stats this year... especially when such a major revelation happened in his pitching style. It certainly isn't a stroke of luck that he's had 7/8 quality starts, and it defenitely doesnt support your theory of a middle rotation innings eater with the potential to dominate, which is usually a few dominant performances with some awful games spliced in (Javier Vazquez is a nice example, Jeff Suppan, Freddy Garcia from 04-06). Haren is clearly head and shoulders above them.
