I wrote a blog about a month ago about Neil Allen, our new pitching coach. He molded Tampa Bay's young starters into one of the best pitching staffs in baseball. His secret? He taught them ALL the value of the change-up.
I said I liked that idea because Twins starters for the last several years weren't fooling anybody with their constant stream of fastballs. My ONE caution: DON'T TOUCH Phil Hughes. He's always had one of the worst change-ups in baseball, but with his incredible control (the best strikeouts to walks ratio in baseball history last year) he doesn't need tampering with.
Well, my worst fears were realized. Hughes had his second straight horrible spring training outing yesterday, including walking a guy who can't hit, on FOUR straight balls. Hughes hasn't thrown four straight balls in his entire life. I was wondering how that happened.
I discovered the reason in an article printed this morning at ESPN. This is a direct quote:
"Hughes also has been working on his change-up at the urging of new pitching coach Neil Allen."
nuts
The ONE good thing about our entire team has now been messed up by the one NEW guy I was hoping would actually help the team.
sigh
It's going to be a long, long, dreary season. Or two...
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