From Bryan Hoch (MLB):
Chien-Ming Wang may not share A.J. Burnett’s fervor for tattoos, saying that his mother would kill him if he were ever caught inking up his body.
But the Yankees teammates have found plenty of other subjects to discuss this spring.
One of the points that Burnett has stressed to Wang since arriving in camp has been the urgency of developing his other pitches, playing off a bowling-ball sinker that has been regarded as one of the league’s best.
The suggestion is not a new one for Wang, who was tinkering with his offspeed pitches leading up to a season-ending injury last season. But hearing it from a power pitcher like Burnett may ratchet up the intensity of the message.
“A.J. told me a lot about changing speeds,” Wang said. “More changeups, more sliders.”
Although Wang has attempted to “evolve” as a pitcher and supplement his sinker by incorporating his secondary pitches — a move that has lead to an increase in his strikeout rate — you have to wonder whether this is wise, especially since he has seemingly sacrificed some control in order to do so. Again, if it’s not broke, why fix it? The sinker has been Wonder Wang’s bread and butter and, while I’m fine with mixing it up, especially against lefties, you shouldn’t venture too far from what made you successful, right? Who cares if its somewhat unconventional — it works.
Therefore, you have to question A.J.’s advice. Sure, he means well, but it’s different strokes for different folks and all pitchers have varying styles. In his most recent outing, Wang “grounded” the Astros, inducing 10 groundouts with his boring ol’ sinker. It’s not the sexiest pitch in the AL, however, you can’t argue with its overall effectiveness. Obviously, it’s fine if Wang is making subtle pitching style alterations in order to keep hitters honest, though he shouldn’t alter his style in a drastic (and detrimental) fashion (where the slider becomes as prominent as the sinker).
This brings me the following post from Pete Abraham (LoHud):
Wang said he has talked more to Burnett this spring as their lockers are closer together.“What does A.J. tell you?” I asked.
“Bad things,” Wang said as everybody laughed.
Might Wang get a few tattoos like his new buddy?
“No,” he said, eyes wide. “My Mom would kill me.”
“Bad things,” huh? Maybe Wang wasn’t referring to tattoos. Maybe he was referring to A.J.’s pitching advice?
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13 Responses to Burnett a bad influence?
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TIQ IQ
I have to agree with you. Wang had no reason to change what he was doing. I could see some slight tinkering, but there is no way he needs wholesale approach changes.
I love this story – I wanted to cover it, but you already had it written in yesterday so I stopped. I think there’s gold in this thing. They should be roommates on the road. We’re talking the Odd Couple all over again, here. I can’t wait for the episode when Wanger’s mom comes to visit.
Ha! They do make a strange pairing.
Maybe he can learn how to command his off-speed stuff better from A.J. than anyone else. I think he should try some things in ST, but keep it to a minimum in the regular season.
I do think he wants to add some things for the days his sinker isn’t working well enough to get guys out. (Like vs Cle in the play-offs.)
That splitter seems to work for him. Sinker, slider, splitter and changeup are probably his best offerings in that order.
On October 27th AJ Burnett was asked to remove himself from the Rogers Centre. This request came from JP Ricciardi. Deep down he knew he was right, but he also knew that someday he would return to Toronto. He decided to sign with the NY Yankees and met his friend CM Wang. Can to pitchers share a clubhoue without driving eachother crazy? (Pa para paraaaaaaa)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Af1h4ibpKJA
lol
I’m sure Wang would go right back to his old pitching style if Burnett’s advice doesn’t work. It’s not like Burnett’s holding a gun to his head.
Or maybe he is. I don’t know what athletes do when the writers aren’t around…
He’ll have to pick his spots when using A.J.’s advice. Against the Red Sox at Fenway, hell, why not try something new since he typically gets handled by that team. That would be a good context for CMW to switch it up.
I don’t know I think you are really overanalyzing Burnett here.
The “bad things” comment from Wang was meant as a joke, not a rip on Burnett’s advice.
Two, Wang absolutely should refine his slider and changeup. He does not necessarily have to throw them much more in games, but for the times Wang cannot keep his sinker down (ahem, remember him in the playoffs against Cleveland?), his ability to adapt by relying on his secondary stuff becomes paramount.
Burnett is not giving bad advice, he’s giving invaluable advice, IMO.
I hope my final bit on the “bad things” comment didn’t come off as a serious one. It was clear that exchange was a joke, I was just trying to apply it differently.
haha.. My fault Chris.
FAIL on my part.
Haha, Tony, you’re a writer here at the TYU — none of us ever FAIL.