OC Register: Angels hoping for improved velocity from closer Cody Allen

[AngelsWin.com]

OAKLAND — Although one outing is hardly reason for concern, the Angels are nonetheless closely watching closer Cody Allen’s velocity.

Allen’s average fastball velocity in his 2019 debut on Friday was 92.09 mph, which was down from 94.20 mph last year. He had consistently thrown around 95-96 as recently as 2016, but the numbers had been trending down.

Allen said in spring training that he’d been working on improving his delivery, and he was satisfied that he was moving in the right direction.

After Allen’s first performance of the season — a scoreless inning to hold a four-run victory — Ausmus acknowledged there is still work to do.

“He and (pitching coach Doug White) are working on some things mechanically, which is part of the reason I was glad to get him into more of a softer situation to start,” Ausmus said Saturday. “Then again, he’s probably thrown 10 to 12 innings all year. We’re hoping the velocity will get better as he gets stronger.”

Allen explained a few weeks ago that his fastball and curve both suffered as his delivery got out of line, which didn’t allow him to get maximum leverage from his lower body or to get the spin he wanted on his curve.

Allen threw only three curves on Friday, but the average spin was 2,708 rpm, which is up from last year’s average of 2,575.

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Ausmus said Allen has enough experience that he can still be effective, even if the velocity remains where it is.

“He definitely can,” Ausmus said. “I’m sure he’d like to see 97 every time he throws the baseball. But he’s pitched in the back-end, which is an important part of it because there is a makeup portion to being a closer. So the stuff he’s doing with Doug, working to get his velocity back, we’ll see how it goes.”

BUTTREY’S ROLE

Ty Buttrey was warming up in the fifth inning on Friday night, as the Oakland A’s were on their way to loading the bases with no outs against Matt Harvey. Harvey managed to escape on his own, with a strikeout and a double play, and Buttrey was available to pitch the eighth, after the Angels took the lead.

The sequence was instructive as to how Ausmus views Buttrey’s bullpen role. He could be the pitcher used to extricate the team from its most difficult spots, regardless of the inning.

“Traditionally he’d probably be late innings,” Ausmus said, “but occasionally he may be non-traditional because of that reason.”

ALSO

Shohei Ohtani is still taking batting practice on the field and throwing three times a week, Ausmus said. Ohtani will be hitting with the Angels at Angel Stadium when the team returns home from this trip. Although at some point Ohtani figures to leave the team — either to go to extended spring in Arizona or a minor league affiliate — that isn’t likely to happen until he’s ready to face live pitching. The Angels have said they expect Ohtani back in May …

The Angels faced a left-hander on Saturday night, so Ausmus reworked his lineup. Right-handed hitters Zack Cozart and Andrelton Simmons moved up to first and third, respectively, around Mike Trout, while lefties Justin Bour and Kole Calhoun moved to the bottom half. Lefties Brian Goodwin and Tommy La Stella were both benched in favor of righties Peter Bourjos and David Fletcher.

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[Duren, Duren]

Give him time to get his mechanics smoothed out. Crafty veteran relievers can survive with guile, experience and trickery up to a point. His off speed pitches are good enough short term  with his current velocity provided he can steady his control. 

But of course, more velocity will only make everything better. I hope he can raise his speed up a few notches, even in the 93 - 95 range when he needs something extra in a tight situation. If he can show that fastball in key at bats even once, it sets up doubt in the hitter. 

Deception is such an overlooked aspect of pitching. 

[bloodbrother]

Angels hoping for improved velocity from Cody Allen.....so they can hopefully deal him at the deadline* I believe is what the headline was trying to say

[Chuck]

3 minutes ago, bloodbrother said:

Angels hoping for improved velocity from Cody Allen.....so they can hopefully deal him at the deadline* I believe is what the headline was trying to say

They're also hoping for improved VELO from Felix Pena. 

What was that tonight? 88-90 MPH fastballs and no command of his splitter/slider.

[bloodbrother]

2 minutes ago, Chuckster70 said:

They're also hoping for improved VELO from Felix Pena. 

What was that tonight? 88-90 MPH fastballs and no command of his splitter/slider.

Yeah that wasn't encouraging to see the FB down. Think he averaged over 92 on it last season. 88-90 with his poor command means a lot of meatballs in hitters counts

[Tank]

3 hours ago, AngelsWin.com said:

OAKLAND — Although one outing is hardly reason for concern, the Angels are nonetheless closely watching closer Cody Allen’s velocity.

Allen’s average fastball velocity in his 2019 debut on Friday was 92.09 mph, which was down from 94.20 mph last year. He had consistently thrown around 95-96 as recently as 2016, but the numbers had been trending down.

Allen said in spring training that he’d been working on improving his delivery, and he was satisfied that he was moving in the right direction.

After Allen’s first performance of the season — a scoreless inning to hold a four-run victory — Ausmus acknowledged there is still work to do.

“He and (pitching coach Doug White) are working on some things mechanically, which is part of the reason I was glad to get him into more of a softer situation to start,” Ausmus said Saturday. “Then again, he’s probably thrown 10 to 12 innings all year. We’re hoping the velocity will get better as he gets stronger.”

Allen explained a few weeks ago that his fastball and curve both suffered as his delivery got out of line, which didn’t allow him to get maximum leverage from his lower body or to get the spin he wanted on his curve.

Allen threw only three curves on Friday, but the average spin was 2,708 rpm, which is up from last year’s average of 2,575.

Ausmus said Allen has enough experience that he can still be effective, even if the velocity remains where it is.

“He definitely can,” Ausmus said. “I’m sure he’d like to see 97 every time he throws the baseball. But he’s pitched in the back-end, which is an important part of it because there is a makeup portion to being a closer. So the stuff he’s doing with Doug, working to get his velocity back, we’ll see how it goes.”

how much of a difference is there for a hitter facing a fastball at 92 vs. 94? is it enough of a difference that a pitcher starts losing his effectiveness? and then what about guys like tommy john and john tudor who couldn't throw hard enough to break a wet paper bag, yet were very effective?