Pitching

Last night, Wainwright was very good. He was not stellar, but he was very good. A very good Adam Wainwright can shut down any lineup in baseball. The 1 run that did score could have been prevented had Ludwick played the ball differently. However, I don't think now is a good time to criticize our best hitter. One thing that I would like to see Waino do, however, is throw more sliders/cutters. He has a solid 3rd pitch there, but he rarely relies on it for more than a throw away. I would like to see him develop it into an out pitch. It has that sort of potential. One thing about last night's game that stuck out for some reason was an AB by Juan Pierre. It was later in the game, maybe 6th or 7th. Wainwright zipped a 92 mph fastball by Pierre's bat on the outside corner for a strikeout. This might not seem like a big deal, but this was only Pierre's 5th K of the season in 131 at bats. Still, not that big of a deal. However, it is the way that Pierre looked at the plate. Usually, as a general rule of thumb, hitters are told at a young age to look for the fastball and adjust to the offspeed junk. Pierre was way behind on the pitch as if to say that he expected a curve ball. So, now hitters fear Wainwright's curve ball. They are trying to adjust to fastballs that they won't touch because their timing is off. I am happy to see Waino/Yadi recognize this. The fastball was beautiful pitch selection.
Speaking of fastballs, how about Chris Perez!! I have never been so excited to see a reliever pitch. I am at the edge of my seat in anticipation when he comes to the mound. The crazy thing is that Hrabosky and everyone keep saying that he has a filthy slider. I have seen him throw it about 3 times so far. It has nice movement---tight action, but he hasn't even needed it yet. Rock and fire! That is all he needs right now. When he starts throwing the filth, hitters will be at his mercy.