Control Matters for Boston's Dice-K, Clay Buchholz, and Manny Delcarmen

What do Red Sox pitchers Daisuke Matsuzaka, Clay Buchholz, and Manny Delcarmen have in common?

They don't have much rhythm.

I don't mean on the dance floor, but on the pitching mound. In the cases of starting pitchers, Dice-K and Buchholz, that means they have to pitch backwards, using their off speed pitches when they need to throw a strike. In the case of reliever Delcarmen, it means he walks too many people.

Red Sox fans will remember a game Buchholz pitched in Tampa Bay early in the year. He had a 1-0 lead into the eighth inning, but gave up a hit to the Rays' catcher Dioner Navarro. Then, with Akinori Iwamura at the plate, Buchholz did what he always does when the heat's on, which is throw his changeup. And Iwamura was waiting for it, knew it was coming, and hit it a long way over the fence.

That was the beginning of the end for Buchholz, as teams realized that he couldn't throw his fastball for a strike. And, he won't until he learns to have some rhythm in his delivery. If he's relaxed, and backed off a mile or two in his effort, his control would improve markedly.

Dice-K is more of the same, but Dice-K has more pitches and more experience than Buchholz, so he is more successful. Given his slow motion snake dance that he calls a windup, it's a wonder he ever throws a strike. He has no rhythm at all to his preliminary windup and then he hurls every ounce of himself at the plate in about as wild a finish as possible.

There is no doubt that with a more conventional windup and a less forceful finish, his control would improve. And, with all of the weapons that he has, he would win 20 games year after year, and also save his manager (and his fans) severe stomach aches. 

Like Dice-K and Buchholz, Delcarmen also overthrows, and the formula for him is the same as for the other two. In the case of Del Carmen, however, he also has a good curve ball. And, given that he seems ill-suited for the pressure of late inning relief work, I'd like to see him in the starting rotation, taking the place of Tim Wakefield (who gets my vote to become the long reliever).

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