Last Saturday, prior to a mandatory commitment at Happy Hour, I sat down to watch the struggling Gio Gonzalez attempt to turn around his performance against the Milwaukee Brewers. The Nationals had lost six consecutive games on this road trip prior to Saturday, and needed a solid effort from Gonzalez. If ever there felt like an appropriate time to do an Armchair Evaluation, this start from Gio felt like the perfect opportunity.
Unfortunately the string of subpar performances continued Saturday, as Gonzalez allowed 6 runs on 6 hits and 1 walk, striking out 5 hitters and hitting 2 batters in his 3 innings pitched. Gio needed 69 pitches to get through these 3 innings, throwing only 43 strikes, and allowed a mammoth 3-run home run to Chris Carter in the 1st inning. In this outing Gio featured his customary 3-pitch mix of a fastball, curveball and changeup. According to BrooksBaseball.net, his fastball velocity sat 90-91mph, essentially in line with his numbers thus far in 2016, as were his 84mph changeup and 78mph curveball.
The reasons for Gio’s recent struggles were readily apparent – first and foremost his fastball command is absent presently, especially to the inner-half of the plate to right-handed hitters. According to my notes, he threw only two called strikes inside to righties out of more than a dozen, with the rest either punished by the hitter or missing up-and-in. This allowed the Brewers’ hitters to essentially eliminate the inner-half, having them lean out over the plate and look away. Owning a fastball with only mediocre velocity, Gonzalez must be able to locate his heater or else he will be exploited by major league batters.
If you have a discount cialis generic hereditary inclination towards premature menopause, blood clotting disorders or other related medical issues. Below are those minor adverse discount cialis http://nichestlouis.com/levitra-2938.html reactions of the medicine. The nitric order generic viagra oxide stimulates an enzyme that produces something called a messenger cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP). Kevin Billups, Director of Interactive Men’s Health Program says that the pill is supposed to be taken an hour prior to the demonstration and it generico cialis on line will have its impact on the whole body and as it can act as a second generation dihydrotestosterone inhibitor. Secondly, Gio’s traditionally excellent, knee-bending curveball was woefully inconsistent Saturday, as I had him throwing only 5 “positive” curveballs of the 16 total he threw. Two of his curveballs hit batters, several were far from the strike zone and a couple others were struck forcefully. Some of this can likely be linked back to the struggles with his fastball command, but he must induce more whiffs and weak contact from his best off-speed offering if he wishes to finish off opposing hitters.
Finally, and this feels a bit like piling on, but I was noticeably perturbed throughout the game by the poor body language Gonzalez was exhibiting. Gio tends to show more emotion on the mound than most pitchers, which he thrives off of when things are going well. However on Saturday, he was clearly chirping with the umpire on two separate occasions and looked to have a massive barbell draped across his back. Certainly it is easier said than done, but Gonzalez needs to find his affable, easygoing personality on the mound if he wishes to get back into a groove.
Overall I finished studying this appearance feeling more positive about Gio Gonzalez than I expected, especially considering my mood after watching another poor performance and subsequent loss. Most importantly, it looks like Gio’s arm is healthy, as his velocity was in-line with previous efforts, and he still struck out five hitters in three innings pitched.
This string of poor performance feels like a mechanical issue in his delivery, as a flaw or several flaws have worked their way into his motion. It appears at first glance that Gonzalez is out of rhythm with his body and over-rotating his core, causing his balance to suffer and his arm to lag behind. This would easily explain the difficulties with fastball command, especially locating to his glove-side. Gonzalez likely needs a few productive film sessions and bullpen efforts with pitching coach Mike Maddux to refine his delivery. While I hesitate to say Gio Gonzalez will recapture the magic he possesses early this season, I feel reasonably confident a strong run of productive starts is coming in the near future.