Padres right-hander Jake Peavy worked three scoreless innings Tuesday afternoon in USA’s 2-0 victory over Mexico at Phoenix. Ducksnorts reader LynchMob was at the game and said that “Jake was dominating.”
I watched the contest on TiVo, and I’ve cycled through Peavy’s performance a few times. Here is a breakdown of his afternoon:
1st inning
Karim Garcia (LHB)
FB 91 outside, ball
FB 90 inside, ball
FB 92 down (probably a strike), routine grounder to second ruled a single; Chase Utley fell down and made a bad throw
Jorge Cantu (RHB)
FB 92 called strike @ belt, inner half
SL 83 up and in, fouled off foot
SL 81 6-4-3 DP
Vinny Castilla (RHB)
SL 86 6-3
2nd inning
Erbubiel Durazo (LHB)
FB 88 called strike
FB 87 called strike, inside corner
FB 91 fouled back
SL 86 low
FB 92 called strike @ knees
Luis Alfonzo Garcia (RHB)
SL 87 E6
Adrian Gonzalez (LHB)
FB 91 called strike, outside corner
SL 88 in on hands, 3-6-1 DP
3rd inning
Geronimo Gil (RHB)
FB 90 called strike
FB 90 fouled back
SL 87 swinging strike, outer half just off dirt
Mario Valenzuela (RHB)
SL 86 swinging strike, outside off plate
FB 91 fouled back
SL 81 swinging strike, down the middle
Juan Castro (RHB)
SL 86 outside
SL 87 F8 – hung it a little; this is the only ball that was hit hard off Peavy, and it was a routine fly to center
Velocity is as reported by ESPN2. Pitch type is courtesy of my untrained eye. I mainly was looking at velocity and movement of pitch to determine its type. By my count, Peavy threw 12 fastballs and 11 sliders. I’m sure of the first number, some of those sliders may have been change-ups (I say this because I find it hard to believe he didn’t throw any — but they sure looked like sliders to me).
Peavy needed just 23 pitches to get through three innings. He fell behind, 2-0, to Karim Garcia to start the game, then threw 19 of his final 21 pitches for strikes. Fastball topped out at 92 mph according to ESPN2 and, of course, it had that late movement in on right-handed hitters that we’ve come to know and love.
Peavy’s three nastiest pitches were a 92-mph fastball at the knees to retire Durazo on called strikes to open the second; an 88-mph slider that bore in on the hands of Gonzalez, forcing the latter to ground into a double play to end the same inning; and an 87-mph slider down and away to get Gil swinging to lead off the third.
I also noticed a couple things about Peavy’s delivery while watching it in slow motion. The first is how high he gets his front leg. At its apex, Peavy’s left knee is pretty much even with the jersey letters and his thigh is almost perpendicular to the ground. Contrast this with Mexico’s Rodrigo López, who gets his knee about to belt level and keeps his thigh parallel to the ground. I’m no expert on pitching mechanics, but it seems to me that getting the leg so high, so quickly should generate a lot of power, assuming everything else is coordinated properly.
The second thing I noticed is how well Peavy keeps the ball hidden from the batter. His hands separate behind his raised front leg, and he keeps his glove hand in front of his ball hand until the latter has moved behind his hip. He then extends so that his front foot and glove hand are pointed directly toward home plate. At this point, Peavy’s ball hand is 180 degrees opposite his glove hand, forming a straight line from the ball, through his torso and glove hand, to the catcher’s mitt. The first time he shows the ball is as he turns his torso toward the plate and cocks his arm behind and over his right ear.
Again, I’m no expert on pitching mechanics, but I’ve seen a lot of pitchers do their thing, and from an aesthetic standpoint, Peavy is one of the best I’ve ever seen. Also, his results aren’t too shabby. 
Hey I know this is off topic, but has anyone ever had problems getting tix at the gate for Padre’s spring training games? I’m headed to AZ later this month and want to check out a game or two while I’m there but I’m not sure what games ill be able to attend so I can’t get tix ahead of time.
Steve,
You really shouldn’t have any problems. If they’re playing in Peoria and not against the Mariners, you’ll be able to get tickets. If they are playing the M’s, try to get them the day before. I have never had any trouble getting tickets at any of the other team’s parks. I’ve been to Scottsdale (Giants), Tempe (Angels), Surprise (Royals), and HoHoWhatever where the Cubs play.
Best of luck.
Jesse
Great! thanks for the info.
Peavy pitched great and I’m pleased they did not allow him to overextend past the three innings.
Anyone watching the Panama v. Cuba game? Hell of a game. If Panama loses, it’s on Ruben Rivera. 2-1 pitch with 2 outs and the bases loaded, game tied. The pitcher throws the ball right at Rivera. Game over, right? No. Rivera manages to avoid getting hit. Good plan, Ruben.
How about the homer and 3 rbi for Ruben? Eat crow, Ruben haters! Why don’t they just throw him a slider?
5-0 Canada after 2 innings. Willis wasn’t sharp but wasn’t helped at all by his crappy defense — Griffey, Wells played outs into triples and Teixeira butchered a possible double play ball. Then Al Leiter came in for some reason.
Is it unpatriotic to not care at all whether the US wins or not? Or is just the fact that Al Leiter is in?
Oh yeah, I forgot about this play…bases loaded after a single and two straight walks and Chipper swings at the first pitch and grounds into an inning ending double play. As the Guinness guys say: Brilliant!
Steve – D-backs games are also popular so should try to get tix in advance if that’s your game day …
I’m going over the Peoria Sports Complex tomorrow morning to see what happens over there in the morning … I’m hoping to see some future Storm-ers / Bay Bears / Beavers …
I’ve got digital video of Barfield’s grand slam to beat the Cubs @ HoHoKam this afternoon … he was swinging the BIG BAT (also had 2 doubles and a single) … nice to see him (and Ben Johnson) kept in for the full game …
Kottaras threw out a would-be base stealer … Mirabelli looked like a #4 hitter … Young wears BIG pants …
Oh ya, one red flag … Barfield was slow on a DP turn … ump made a bad call at first so the Padres got the DP … but I know in my heart that Josh knows in his heart that he was slow on the turn and that the guy was safe … something for him to learn from and work on …
Richard, I’m not gonna knock a guy for getting out of the way (on instinct) that’s moving 80-90mph at your hands… However, with the count 3-2 Ruben did manage to foul-off a breaking pitch in the dirt (taking it would have won the game for Panama).
Tom, as for being unpatriotic… I know I’m pissed at the roster compisition and lineup choices… Griffy is no longer a first-tier CF or 3-hole hitter (at least not when we have A-Rod, Teixeira, et al on the team)…
And for Chipper, I missed that first-pitch-swing-into-a-DP, but he’s a guy who regularly walks more than he strikes out (career 1009 BB to 933 SO). If he’s first-pitch swinging, he probably saw something he liked and just missed it.