NEW YORK – Understandably, hitters can be a little sensitive about inside pitches that get a little too close for comfort. Nobody wants to take 96 in the face, or anywhere else for that matter, and as Marcus Stroman and Aaron Sanchez discovered this week, things can blow up quickly at the big-league level.
That’s why, amid the recent flak from the Baltimore Orioles toward the rookie right-handers, Toronto Blue Jays manager John Gibbons and pitching coach Pete Walker offer the duo an important piece of advice – stay right there.
"There’s no doubt," says Walker. "That’s a big part of baseball, being able to pitch inside. If you can’t pitch inside effectively, you’re going to have a lot of trouble, you can’t just live on the outer half of the plate or guys are going to clobber you. This last series opened up their eyes a little bit, they felt the heat from getting inside on some guys, and in some cases undeservedly so."
Adds Gibbons: "There are a lot of guys that won’t throw inside for the fear of hitting guys. I’ve played with guys, I’ve seen guys, there’s something about it that they just don’t want to go in there. But if you don’t do it, you’re going to get beat around. That’s just a fact."
Orioles manager Buck Showalter is largely responsible for landing Stroman and Sanchez in the spotlight, calling an errant pitch by Stroman on Monday over the head of catcher Caleb Joseph "intentional" and "border-line professionally embarrassing."
That created tension with every inside pitch for the rest of the series, and when Sanchez grazed Jonathan Schoop’s jersey and later hit the bat up and in on Steve Pearce on Wednesday, things ratcheted up a notch.
Pearce stared down Sanchez after the pitch but the 22-year-old calmed things down and nothing further developed.
"It came in high and tight but for the most part it came in over the plate," explained Sanchez. "It was just coming in hot."
The exchange likely won’t be the last for Sanchez, blessed with the dual gifts of big velocity and big movement. Landing in the spotlight the way he did might deter some young pitchers. He insists that won’t happen.
"Absolutely not – that’s my game," he says. "I’m a big-time sinker guy and that’s what happens when you get inside a ball. My game is to pitch inside and get weak contact, and I can’t deviate from that because of an incident that happened. Obviously there was no intention going in there, I was just trying to get a groundball and a double play.
"I’m going to do the same thing I’ve done coming through, which is just attack hitters."
Stroman is appealing the six-game suspension handed to him by Major League Baseball for his pitch up and in to Joseph, though a possible scenario is that he pitches on turn Saturday, serves his ban, and then makes one final start the following Saturday.
Regardless, he has repeatedly denied intent, and the aspersions cast upon him by some national U.S. commentators have hurt. Walker has stressed to Stroman not to let the negative attention keep him from doing the things he needs to do succeed.
"He’s taken a lot of heat for a young guy, he’s handled it well," says Walker. "I don’t think anyone feels worse than he does, but you’re talking about his integrity being challenged and his professionalism being challenged. He’s probably one of the most professional young kids I’ve ever come across.
"He happened to miss his spot and the ball took off. He’s a guy that gets underneath the ball a lot and he can elevate fastballs; that’s been his biggest challenge, trying to keep his ball down. The fact that people suggest he tried to headhunt and throw at (Joseph’s head) is ludicrous."
Stroman is also, to some degrees, a victim of timing as the recent beanings of Giancarlo Stanton and Chase Headley has everyone watching the issue closely.
Years ago, pitches up and in were standard practice – think of how crucial they are to the legend of Nolan Ryan or, more recently, Pedro Martinez. To excoriate Stroman and Sanchez now is silly.
"I don’t think the intimidation factor is there nowadays the way it was when we played back in the day," says Blue Jays hitting coach Kevin Seitzer. "We got knocked down all the time, when you got 0-2, there was a very strong possibility the next pitch was going to be up and in. It wasn’t in around the legs or waist area, they’d knock you on your butt just to get you from leaning out all over the plate, so they could set you up for the next one.
"It’s not as intimidating now because the way the league has dropped the fines and suspensions on guys getting hit. It’s taken away a big weapon for the pitchers, even though in recent days there’s been a lot of stuff that’s happened. Pitchers have to pitch inside to be effective."
When a team feels things are getting out of line, they generally hit an opposing batter in response.
Take Tuesday in Baltimore, when Aaron Loup hit Nick Markakis in the shoulder, and Darren O’Day responded by hitting Jose Bautista on the backside.
For better or worse, that’s the game policing itself.
"You can tell when someone is trying to hit someone, the situation dictates a lot of that," says Gibbons. "But there are times, too, if your guys are getting hit a few times, you come back just in case. That’s the way the game has always been."
And for all of the Orioles’ concerns, Gibbons points to the way his own sluggers get handled.
"You’ll see a lot of teams, the way throw Bautista and Eddie (Encarnacion), try to pound them in," he says. "They get extended, they kill you. They don’t get hit all the time, but you see them on their heels. If you have a fear of going inside, you’re probably going to have a tough time."
Worth noting also, especially with big velocity pitchers, is that hitters tend to cheat by leaning over the plate or starting their swing early, leaving them more vulnerable to inside pitches that aren’t necessarily that far inside because they have less time to react.
Sometimes, it’s stand in at your own risk.
"Everybody wants these pitchers to be perfect," says Walker. "They don’t make mistakes over the plate, they don’t make mistakes off the plate, they don’t miss up, they don’t miss down. When you miss up in that head area, it’s going to open some eyes and people are going to make suggestions that it’s an area you can’t go to, but there are accidents in this game and there are pitches that get away. People forget and they’re attacking a young kid who doesn’t necessarily deserve it."
Pitchers need to make opposing hitters feel uncomfortable, and clearly Stroman and Sanchez are doing just that.