It was easily Jarrod Parker’s best start last night, but it still wasn’t the Parker we saw last year. At times the changeup flashed plus to plus-plus, but there were times he missed away and outside (of the strike zone) with it. This start was definitely a step in the right direction, but with his next start at Texas I want to see another good performance before I start him.
The best takeaway from Edwin Jackson’s start is he only walked one batter and threw a lot of strikes (68 percent). However, he’s still throwing too many balls in the middle of the strike zone, which is contributed to the two home runs he allowed. He could’ve allowed 1-2 more if the wind wasn’t blowing in. What made me laugh out loud is Matt Harvey made louder contact in his RBI single than Ike Davis has made the past week.
Speaking of Harvey, he got roughed up in the first inning, but proceeded to dominate the next 6.1 innings, retiring 14 in a row at one point. The game plan by the Cubs was to be extremely aggressive, swinging at the first pitch fastballs. After the first inning he made an adjustment and starting throwing curveballs and changeups to begin at-bats.
Tony Cingrani should and most likely be sent down when Johnny Cueto comes off the DL on Monday. There are a lot of things he has to work on. First is maintaining a consistent release point when pitching out of the stretch. Second, he has to learn to start incorporating his secondary offerings more. By now we all know how much he relies on his fastball. He tried incorporating the changeup and curveball more, but he wouldn’t throw it with runners on base. Throughout the entire game batters stopped their swing when they picked up it was a secondary offering. Cingrani is a better option than Mike Leake, but Cingrani has more upside and refining his secondary stuff in the minors will make the Reds better in the long run.
Last, but not least, it’s time to talk about Jeremy Hellickson. The entire game he struggled to find command of his pitches, which almost cost him to give up a six run lead. You would think that he would’ve walked a lot of batters because the lack of command, but it was the opposite. He threw a lot of pitches right down the middle of the plate (heat map below) the Orioles hitters took full advantage. At this point I have no problem dropping him 12-team mixed leagues because except for one start, hitters have made consistent hard contact against him all year.
