貓追老鼠-關於紅襪投球策略的改變 - 美國職棒

投打對決絕對是棒球比賽中最令人著迷的環節，不管看門道還是看熱鬧，其中的鬥智鬥
力都非常有趣

剛好看到一篇咩棒的採訪有談到關於紅襪投球策略的東西，符合個人觀察，分享給大家

沒有全照原文字意翻得很隨興，有錯也請不吝指正~

https://goo.gl/SoFKaE


Opposing batters teeing off on elevated fastball by Sox pitchers

對手開始鎖定襪群投手的高角度速球

MINNEAPOLIS -- Matt Barnes can’t help but wonder if opposing hitters are
onto the way Red Sox pitchers pitch.

Barnes mostly watched from the bullpen as Chicago hitters seemed to be all
over elevated fastballs during the Cubs-Red Sox series at Fenway Park a week
ago -- a fastball up from Craig Kimbrel that Ben Zobrist hit for a double, a f
astball up from Joe Kelly that Anthony Rizzo smashed back up the middle, a fas
tball up from Drew Pomeranz that Kris Bryant hit well over the Green
Monster.

咩棒於一週前熊襪系列戰在牛棚觀察到熊群似乎在鎖定紅襪的高角度速球-
金寶的被Zoby敲2B、Kelly被梨斗打了支中穿、老大把潑墨的幹出綠怪

(譯者案：Kelly的那顆明明就是顆丟到中間的滑球 -_-)

And then Barnes threw an elevated fastball to Joe Mauer on Friday night, a
fastball at 95 mph well up and out of the strike zone -- and Mauer not only
got his bat to it but launched it over the fence in left-center field. The
swing still had Barnes shaking his head two days later.

不久後發生了有看比賽的襪迷都知道的事情，咩棒一顆按計畫丟的高於好球帶95mph的火
球被貓兒貓了支再見全壘打。即使過了兩天咩棒對這球仍耿耿於懷

“He can hit that pitch for a single, maybe a double, because of how good of
a hitter he is and how long he’s been playing the game,” Barnes said before
Sunday’s series finale at Target Field, “but, to me, the only way he hits
that ball for a home run is if he’s sitting heater up.”

咩棒：” 即使強如貓兒那顆球也很難打，頂多敲一安或二安，我覺得能幹本就代表他早
就在等那顆(高角度速)球”

(譯者案：不得不佩服貓兒，那顆球就算事前就知道要幹本也不容易耶…)

As recently as four or five years ago, the textbook pitching approach
remained hard in, soft away -- fastballs on the inner half to keep a hitter
from diving out over the plate, changeups and breaking balls on or just off
the outside corner for swings and misses.

以前教科書上都是教 ”硬的進來、軟的出去” -- 速球塞內角逼退打者，變化球/變速球
丟外面製造揮空

For the Red Sox, especially since analyst Brian Bannister took on a more
prominent role late in the 2015 season, the approach has been hard up, soft
down -- fastballs at or above the letters, changeups or breaking balls down
in the zone to change eye level. The approach is a response to the way hitters
’ swings have adjusted to a strike zone that has steadily expanded southward
since 2010.

但對紅襪來說，特別是2015季末Bannister擔任要職後，投球策略就變 ”硬上、軟掉”
– 速球丟到胸口以上，變化球/變速球丟到好球帶下緣去逼打者切換視角。

打者的揮棒因應自2010年起持續往下擴張的好球帶有所調整，此投球策略則是針對打者這
項調整而來。

Some of the game’s best hitters -- including Mike Trout, the consensus best
player in baseball -- hit fastballs at the knees better than they hit
fastballs at the letters. The home run Barnes gave up to Minnesota’s Kennys
Vargas in Sunday’s eighth inning came on a changeup below the knees.

一些頂尖的打者如鳟魚，對膝蓋附近的低球比胸口附近的高球打的更好更擅長

Rather than trying to spot fastballs down and away, Red Sox pitchers have
made a focus of riding fastballs up to the letters and above while using
offspeed pitches -- often sharp-breaking curveballs, the preferred offspeed
pitch of much of the Red Sox staff -- to change the hitters’ eye levels.

比起把快速球塞到外角低，紅襪的投手更喜歡把快速球往胸口以上丟，同時利用
off-speed，特別是多數紅襪投手偏好的夠銳利的曲球，來改變打者的視角

“Hitters have changed their swings,” Boston pitching coach Carl Willis
said. “Their swings have evolved to cover down in the zone because they saw
so many pitches there. It’s cyclical. It was just a really long cycle. The
instruction now in the minor leagues is developing swing paths that can
handle those pitches down in the zone.”

“打者的揮棒已經改變了。”投教Willis說道。”隨著投手們鎖定好球帶下緣攻擊，打者
的揮棒亦隨之進化，愈來愈會打低球，這是一個循環。培養可應付好球帶下緣的揮擊方式
已是現在小聯盟的育苗方針

Bannister began to preach the value of fastballs up in the strike zone early
last season, even before he was added to Boston’s coaching staff full-time.
The data Bannister showed Barnes and others made clear that their fastballs
worked better up in the zone, pitching as they were against hitters who had
been groomed to hit low fastballs.

在去年初尚未受雇為紅襪全職教職前，Bannister就已在球隊大肆宣揚高角度速球的價值
。Bannister拿數據給包括咩棒的其他投手們看證明高角度速球更有效果，尤其是對付那
些擅打低球的打者

The difference was particularly stark for pitchers like Barnes and Craig
Kimbrel, pitchers with the big-time velocity that has become more common in
recent years -- and a spin rate to match. It tends to be easier for hitters
to drop the bat head to a mid-90s fastball at the knees than to catch up a
mid-90s fastball at or above the letters.

對許多打者來說有尾勁的mid-90s落在胸口以上比膝蓋附近更難打。

“If you take a pitcher and correlate it and show me evidence that pitching
here versus pitching here makes me twice as good, I’d be an idiot not to do
that,” Barnes said, gesturing toward his chest and his knees. “Once we
could physically see those numbers, it was like, ‘OK, this is a no-brainer.’
It’s crazy when you break it all down and see the difference.”

咩棒: “若你能證明這樣丟更有效果而我不去做的話我就是傻子；差異顯著，當我們親眼
看到數據，就肯定這是毫無疑問的事情”

(譯者案：所以硬上才是真理嗎 >////<)

But the difference starts to diminish if opposing hitters begin to look for
that pitch, as the Cubs and Twins might have done against the Red Sox. The
next task of the Red Sox pitching staff will be to suss out if hitters indeed
are selling out to hit the elevated fastball -- and to do something to keep
them off-balance.

但如同小熊跟雙城可能已經做的，當對手已知道該策略並鎖定球種攻擊時，效果自然大打
折扣。

若確認對手已準備狙擊高角度速球，紅襪投手群的下一步將是設法使他們失去平衡。

“You’ve got to believe they have scouts at all of our games and they’re
saying, ’As soon as they get to two strikes, they’re going up,’” Barnes
said. “It’s a cat-and-mouse game. We’re going up. You guys are sitting up.
Well, now we’re going to snap (curveballs) off on 0-1 or 1-2. It’s
interesting to see how it has all come about.”

“若對手已認定我們在兩好球後會往上丟，我們自有應對方式。這是場貓捉老鼠的遊戲，
從現在起我們會在球數領先時多丟變化球，讓我們靜候結果。


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