My thoughts on Clippard

Post #1 » by **nykgeneralmanager** » Mon May 21, 2007 4:19 am

First of all, what impressed me more than any curveball he threw was his confidence. From the first pitch he was walking around with his head high and great body language, he didn't look overwhelmed for one second. He has great poise on the mound which you don't see in young pitchers, which is what also separates Hughes from most young pitchers.

He was true to form with his impeccable control. Whether it was a fastball on the corner or a curveball in the dirt, he put the ball exactly where he wanted to. He missed badly with only two pitches, one being the home run to Wright and the other being a hanging curve that Beltran popped up.

The knock on Clippard is that he doesn't throw very hard, but that is an overrated part of the game. You only need to throw hard if you can't locate your fastball or if you have no secondary stuff...guys such as Glavine and Moose have proven that for years. Scouts get so caught up in how hard prospects throw, but they overlook the other things sometimes. When you are throwing such sharp breaking balls and a great change, the 90 mph fastball ends up looking like 95. He blew a 90 mph fastball by Delgado up in the zone, which was preceeded by a curveball in the dirt. If you change the hitter's eye level and pitch speed, as well as arm angles, you will succeed.

As everybody knew before tonight, his secondary stuff is filthy. His curve is extremely sharp and breaks late, which forces hitters to take weak swings which we saw all night. There were about 10 check swings on his curve.

I hope he can be in our rotation for a while, if not now then in the future. He is going to be a very good pitcher in this league and I can see him becoming a #2 pitcher one day if all goes well.

earthmansurfer · Post #2 » by **earthmansurfer** » Mon May 21, 2007 4:25 am

Thanks for the info. Yeah, two good young presences in him and Hughes means a bright Yankees future...

cmaff051 · Post #3 » by **cmaff051** » Mon May 21, 2007 4:29 am

Clippard has some nice stuff and great command but it's his fastball that is going to hurt him the most.

That being said, I think he can be a very good middle of the rotation pitcher for us who can be a horse and take us deep into games. That is very valuable to this team.

NYKnSTILL! · Post #4 » by **NYKnSTILL!** » Mon May 21, 2007 4:42 am

great analysis NYKGM, I rate Clippard over Moose and for some reason I don't know why but does this kid remind anyone of Greg Maddux ?and NYKGM don't forget his changeup he put that pitch to use a few times.

KnickTerp12 · Post #5 » by **KnickTerp12** » Mon May 21, 2007 6:04 am

get the kid some Pro-Activ or Clearasil or something and I'm on his band wagon!

Post #6 » by **nykgeneralmanager** » Mon May 21, 2007 6:43 am

NYKnSTILL! wrote:great analysis NYKGM, I rate Clippard over Moose and for some reason I don't know why but does this kid remind anyone of Greg Maddux ?and NYKGM don't forget his changeup he put that pitch to use a few times.

I dunno if I'd rate him ahead of Moose right this moment, but in a year or two that will definitely be the case. Although he looked great, it was one start. Mussina is a pitcher that will win close to 300 games, so you can't just drop him like that. Lets not forget he has only made a few starts since coming off the DL without any rehab starts, he really should only be on his second start or so coming up had he made rehab starts. Moose will be fine this season.

ReggieFULLeffect · Post #7 » by **ReggieFULLeffect** » Mon May 21, 2007 1:41 pm

He does give up the gopher ball though when he leaves that 89-90 FB up, That'll be his achilles heel over his career. I loved his confidence and the way that he went after Reyes when it was bases loaded in the second. He never changed his approach regarding to the situation. He also has a great curve that made a couple of those guys look silly,

Overall -- I say this kid is a number 2/3 starter who is going to help this team a lot.

Also, for some reason having a rookie go out and pitch like that adds some fire. Let's hope the fire is still burning.

Post #8 » by **moocow007** » Mon May 21, 2007 3:58 pm

Yeah that's really the most refreshing aspect of Clippards game, he didn't have that deer-in-the-headlights look in his eyes like way too many Yankee neophytes have had. Let's hope it continues in his next outing...and the one after that, and the one after that...

VinnyTheMick · Post #9 » by **VinnyTheMick** » Mon May 21, 2007 5:06 pm

he did great for a 14 year old :rofl:

but seriously I've been a fan of TyClip for awhile now :clap:

Pharmcat · Post #10 » by **Pharmcat** » Mon May 21, 2007 7:40 pm

Clips fastball is like wangs sinker, if it gets left up in the zone, its gonna get clobbered out of the bronx

but his secondary stuff rules

Post #11 » by **Manhattan Project** » Mon May 21, 2007 9:37 pm

He has a odd delivery to the plate, one of the first things I noticed. Also I was impressed with his changeup, he used it a couple of times on 3-2 I believe. Once to get Reyes striking out if im not mistaken...

TKF · Post #12 » by **TKF** » Wed May 23, 2007 3:55 am

good analysis. I used to be impressed with the hard throwers, but as we can see, if you can't control it, those fastballs get hit. AJ burnett can throw a ball through a brick wall, but his control kills him at times and when he can't locate his fastball he usually gets in a lot of trouble.. Clippard has 3 pitches he can throw for strikes, that is what makes a pitcher dangerous, the ability to throw different pitches for strikes because players can't look at a curve and think it may dip out of the strike zone, it keeps them on their toes, always...

VinnyTheMick · Post #13 » by **VinnyTheMick** » Thu May 24, 2007 1:25 am

he looks like the lead singer of radiohead