Catching Up with Nationals Chien-Ming Wang - 棒球

http://www.opposingviews.com/i/sports/mlb/catching-nationals-chien-ming-wang

Catching Up with Nationals Chien-Ming Wang
捕住王建民

By Hardball Times on Aug 24, 2011

After waiting 17 months, the Washington Nationals finally saw their
free-agent signee Chien-Ming Wang (pronounced "Wong") pitch in the big
leagues on July 29. Great comeback story so far, but whether he is
capable of his past success as a Yankee is still up in the air.

在等待了十七個月後, 7/29 日, 王建民終於在大聯盟投出他以自由球員身分
加入國民隊後的第一球. 很好的一段東山再起的故事, 但他是否還能締造
過去的那段輝煌佳績仍上有懸念.

Background facts

Wang signed with the Yankees in 2000 after their bonus offer beat out
the Mariners. The Taiwanese media were surprised the Yankees were so
aggressive, as he was not viewed as one of their nation's top prospects.
Wang was more of a conventional starter—a straight, hard four-seamer
the Yankees' interest at the time. It was only when Wang made the
Triple-A Scranton team that minor league pitching coach Neil Allen
advised him to try the sinker. Due to his height and ability to place
ample pressure on the seams with his index-finger, the sinker became
his signature pitch.

As a Yankees starter, Wang's best seasons came in 2006 and 2007: He
won 19 games in each season. Despite the success, he was not as dominant
as the media would portray him. His strikeout rates were below average.
The ability to induce ground balls was his real weapon, which allowed
him to eat up innings while having ample rest in the dugout between
innings, as his teammates gave him the best run support in the league
during that time frame.

Then the injuries started. Wang's first major injury came as a shock,
as he tore a ligament and a muscle in his right foot while running
the bases during interleague play. After coming back in 2009, he ran
into a terrible stretch of his career, looking uncomfortable on the
mound. Many speculated he was still bothered by his 2008 freak injury.
It was also noted that his release point was 5 inches higher to
compensate for the pain. He would eventually need season-ending shoulder
surgery, rendering him unable to help the team further in its subsequent
World Series championship.

Since then, Wang has been working his way back to the majors, a journey
that has taken more than two years. He signed two consecutive deals
with the Nationals, the latest being a one-year, $1 million contract
with performance incentives up to an extra $4 million.


So far, so-so

During his time with the Yankees, Wang mostly used a combination of his
sinker with a slider and a change-up. Wang would use his off-speed pitches
to make sure hitters would not just wait on a lifeless sinker. It kept
hitters honest, to a degree, as he induced a slightly below average
whiff rate during 2006 and 2007.

So far in 2011, he has showcased his usual sinker and slider, but has
replaced his change with a split-finger fastball (though I can't find
any instances where his "old" change-up was not in fact a split finger
grip). His current slider looks to cluster in two distinct groups: One
is a sweeping slider, the other drops in a more slurve—11-to-5 curve
fashion.

In the five starts Wang has made for the Nats this year (up to his Aug.
21 start), he's been able to showcase a groundball rate consistent with
his career numbers (a 55 percent rate compared to his 59 percent career
rate). His K/9, though, has hit an all-time low, coming in at 2.33.
This can be explained in part by his 3.8 percent whiff rate, well below
the league average.

image

Wang uses his sinker to both lefties and righties, but likes to use his
slider against right handers, and his splitter to left handers.

Hitters have been making contact on Wang's pitches at above 90 percent,
well above the league mark of 81 percent this year. This is mainly due
to his absurd 88 percent outside the strike zone contact rate. It's not
conclusive, but it seems like hitters are having a jolly time making
contact against Wang. So far the defense behind him has been able to
handle the duties (whether these balls are weakly induced or are scorched
off the bat is another question) with minimal damage, as his opponent
BABIP is hovering .250.

Conclusions

It's probably too early to predict anything meaningful for Wang's future.
But so far in 2011, Wang has shown his ability to induce ground balls at
around the same clip as he did pre-injury. What's not apparent is whether
good results are sustainable when hitters are making that much contact.

Wang's health is also a major consideration, as he took more than two
years to recover from shoulder surgery. Taiwanese youth are notorious
for their strenuous bullpen sessions and practices. Pitchers' arms have
trended toward deteriorating at an early age. Not saying he's injury prone,
but looking at past Taiwanese pitchers' records in the majors does make
you wonder about Wang's future.

現在若要斷定王建民的未來的表現還太早了
截至目前為止, 王的卻展現出他過去的那段製造滾地球的功力
但打者若持續打出他的球, 是否一定能有好結果則相當難說

王的健康也是主要考慮問題, 他花了約兩年以上的時間進行復健.
台灣棒壇亂操年輕選手大家都知道, 但這並非說他容易再受傷,
但看看過去MLB內的台灣選手的傷病史, 你仍會因此對王建民的未來存疑.


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