This is the second of five posts where Trenton Thunder pitching coach Scott Aldred breaks down the starting rotation, pitcher-by-pitcher.
Scott isn’t the easiest guy to track down, but he took a break from looking at video of his pitchers just to give me a few minutes. So this won’t be as in-depth as I think some of you might want, but hopefully this provides some answers to any specific questions you may have.
On Wednesday, Aldred spoke about Chase Wright. Today, it’s Daniel McCutchen’s turn.
TT: Let’s move on to Cutch. What kinds of things have you been working on with him, and also what can you tell me about his other pitches?
SA: “Breaking ball command. The spin and break is there. Power changeup. Commands his fastball pretty good, should improve. Some delivery issues, minimal. Really learning how to command the breaking ball instead of overthrowing it.”
TT: He does throw the hardest out of the guys in the rotation, right?
SA: “I guess if you ask him, he’d say that, yeah.”
TT: So how important is the velocity? Pitchers say all the time that they can throw hard, but it doesn’t matter if they can’t locate it…
SA: “Guys who throw hard are able to make more mistakes within the zone. Guys with less velocity can’t afford to make the same mistakes in the zone. Guys with the power get away with a little bit more.”
Mike Ashmore, mashmore98 AT gmail.com
