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Friday, April 20, 2007

Quick Workers and Human Rain Delays

After watching and reading about Mark Buehrle's no-hitter the other night I wondered which pitchers have been known as quick workers (meaning pitchers whose tempo is accelerated and not pitchers who pitch to contact) and which are, shall we say, a little more deliberate. With the help of some BP staffers I've come up with the following lists of quick and slow workers by reputation. I'd appreciate any other contributions to the list from any era.

Quick Workers (no particular order)
Mark Buehrle
Zane Smith
Bob Gibson
Jim Kaat
Bronson Arroyo
John Lieber
Catfish Hunter
Roy Halladay
Greg Maddux
Tim Wakefield
Mark Mulder

Slow Workers
Vicente Padilla
Joey Hamilton
Jeff Gray
Steve Trachsel

Others..and why do you suppose the first list includes pitchers of higher quality? Do we simply remember when good pitchers work quickly or is that a part of their success?

2 comments:

Friar said...

For the Quick Workers List, I'd have to say David Wells is the fastest I've ever watched. Plus Curt Schilling is a quick work also.
Slowest I can think of is Al Leiter.

To your point on quality pitchers being in the Quick Worker list, I think has more to do with their ability to throw in the zone without getting hit. If it is a question of whether we feel as though the pitcher is a quick worker, nothing changes that perception like having a high WHIP.

Anonymous said...

The great Denny Matthews (Royals broadcasters) likes to point out that when slow workers are pitching, his defense becomes bored and less likely to make the plays behind him, leading to more hits and/or errors.

Quick workers keep his team in the game and at the ready.