With over 40 years as a major league player, manager and broadcaster, Buck Martinez has experienced baseball from all angles. Now in his role as the Toronto Blue Jays play-by-play announcer, Buck is taking your questions in his weekly blog for sportsnet.ca, Ask Buck Martinez.
Rob asks:
Hey Buck,
Just wanted to say your knowledge and enthusiasm for the game makes watching the broadcasts a lot of fun.
My question pertains to the routine of starting pitchers. I have heard various things about icing their arms, watching tapes of their start, etc. Is that something that takes place right after the game or not usually until the next day?
Buck: Rob the starters generally begin preparing for their next start as soon as they leave the game. After an outing most starters will ice their elbows and shoulder to speed the healing process.
A starting pitcher puts a lot of stress on his shoulder and elbow during the day of his start. The routine begins with stretching and running in the outfield before the move to the pen for the warm up session. Then once the game starts, 100 pitches or more will cause a lot of little muscle tears the can cause minor swelling, thus the post-game ice.
The next day is dedicated to stretching out those abused muscles and conditioning, maybe with some soft toss and long throwing to get the kinks out. The second day features more conditioning and more intense throwing and the third day is the work day. This in when the starters have their "side session" working on refining their pitches and the delivery.
It varies with each pitcher as to how much they throw. For Ricky Romero maybe it’s just a light tune up. Kyle Drabek might have a more intense session focusing on fastball command and delivery. Brandon Morrow might work on his change up, four-seam fastball and keeping his delivery smooth. As for the video, that’s work that can go on each day with personal computers and iPads. The technology helps more than ever.
Julius asks:
Hi Buck,
I’ve noticed that John Farrell often uses radically different lineups when the Jays face a left-handed pitcher, usually by sitting Adam Lind and Travis Snider.
Doesn’t it make sense to get these guys at-bats against lefties so that they can improve hitting against them? Given that the Jays are not expected to compete for the playoffs this year, wouldn’t it be beneficial for those hitters to hit against lefties, so that they can contribute more at-bats when the Jays are trying to compete for a playoff spot?
Buck: Julius, Adam Lind and Travis Snider are thought to be everyday players starting most games. This season the Jays faced Francisco Liriano in Game 2 and Snider was held out but Lind played. The next leftie they faced was Dallas Braden of the A’s and both were in the lineup.
Jason Vargas started in Seattle and three regulars sat out (Lind, Hill and Snider), but because they were scuffling. When Jon Lester beat the Jays at Fenway last week Lind and Snider were in the lineup. John Farrell uses them as regulars to find out what they can do with Adam learning a new position at first base and Travis getting regular playing time in left for the first time in his career. I think the plan is in place to develop these players against everyone so they will develop as all-around good players not platoon parts.
Ryan asks
Hey Buck, quick question.
Although opening weekend proved to be a success attendance wise, weekday games have once again drawn sparse crowds. Do sparse crowds affect players detrimentally in terms of performance and mental attitude?
Thanks.
Buck Ryan, I think every player would like to play in front of a full house every night like the hay-day of the Jays back in 1989 through 1994, but it will take a while to build it back to that stage. Players really shouldn’t care how many fans are in the stands when it comes to their effort, but it is fun when the place is packed like it was for the Twins series opening weekend.
This is a fun team that will play hard for nine innings and before too long you will see some additions to the roster that will encourage you that the organization is headed back to contention in the AL East.
Bob asks:
Hi Buck, I’ll always remember the play when you broke your leg, wow what an effort. My question: Do you think video replays should be used to make sure the correct call is made in regards to base stealing or tags and also baserunning judgment calls such as the one where Escobar was called out for interference?
Buck: Bob, I am sure you watch a lot of games on Sportsnet when we show replays of bang-bang plays all over the field.
Most of the time the umpires are right on the money.
I like the replay system the way it is being used on boundary calls of home runs. I think the umpires do an excellent job under the demands of split-second decisions. We in the booth and at home have the benefit of many camera angles and slow motion replays. Umps have to call it when it happens. I don’t want to see replay expanded from its current role.
Jacob asks:
Buck, do you think that Kyle Drabek, in a couple of years, will take over the No. 1 spot from Ricky Romero or will Ricky remain ace till his Jays career is over?
Buck: Jacob, it is so hard to tell with Kyle having just seven major league starts under his belt.
We have seen him great and we have seen him shaky. I love everything about him. He is blessed with a great arm. He is a hard worker and he wants to excel. But as with Ricky Romero, it takes a few years to get a grip on what it takes to succeed as a major league starter.
You have to have mental and physical stamina to pitch seven, eight, nine innings facing big league hitters that can track your every move. You have to be aware of making changes during the course of a game when things aren’t going your way.
Kyle will be a very good pitcher at some point, but we won’t know how good until he takes the mound every days for a couple of years. I will tell you this, I would put my money on Drabek figuring it out and being one of the stalwarts of this team when it goes back to the post season.
Robert asks:
Buck, great job to start the year by you and Tabbie!
After a couple of tough losses, the chins of these Jays must be hanging a little low. As a manager, how many "inspirational" words can you say?
Are those “win one for the Gipper” speeches really effective? Who were the best managers you played under for lighting a fire in the clubhouse with his words?
Buck: Robert, there are no inspirational words the manager can offer. He can put the players in good spots to have success, but he can’t pitch for them, nor hit for them.
As John Farrell said the first week of the season, "this is not an exercise, this is the real deal."
It is about wins, and losses. Professional sports is about winning championships, not having a "good game." Farrell comes from an atmosphere in Boston that demanded excellence and where anything short of the World Series was a bad year. That is what his goal is here with the Jays.
As for managers that made great speeches, I don’t think anybody can get your attention as well as Bobby Cox.
When he called a meeting, we knew we had messed up big time and everybody was in their seats early and bracing for a fire brand. Coxie was the best I ever played for and he was very good with his players, but when he spoke, everybody listened.
