A tale of two pitches: Kyle Lohse’s sinker & Jason Motte’s 2nd
JUPITER, Fla. — For the second consecutive ninth inning in as many games for the St. Louis Cardinals, rookie pitcher Jason Motte got the ball to close out the game. On Tuesday, it was a save situation.
Motte struck out two and retired the three batters he faced for his first save of spring, cinching a 5-2 victory at Roger Dean Stadium against Detroit. How he did it is as important as what he did. Motte flashed command of two pitches beyond his fastball, something pitching coach Dave Duncan said he’s done more and more and better and better this spring. Motte set up the strikeout to end the game with a changeup, and then blew a fastball by the Tiger righthanded hitter. Motte’s final four pitches were strikes, and his outing including a mix of changeups and sliders for strikes.
It wasn’t something seen from Motte.
“You mean last season?” Duncan said. “Last season, no. But we’ve seen it this spring.”
Manager Tony La Russa said there was a method to using Motte in a second consecutive game. Three of the righthanders were “hot” for Tuesday’s game but not schedule to pitch — Motte, Chris Perez and Josh Kinney. (They all appeared under a squibble line on La Russa’s lineup card.) But when a save opportunity presented itself in the ninth, the call went to Motte. It was, La Russa agreed when asked, a purposeful test of the young righthander’s composure in a clinching situation.
Motte fired a few wildly, but got the third out — “the hardest” out, La Russa said.
Starter Kyle Lohse worked 4 1/3 inning and threw 57 pitches. He allowed one run on a home run an struck out four. The homer was the third Lohse has allowed this spring, and the righthander said all three have come on the same pitch — his sinker. The two-seam fastball isn’t going where he wants it to, backing up instead of plunging down. He’ll work on it during his next bullpen session and probably spotlight it during his fourth start of spring. Lohse’s changeup, however, was a featured pitch Tuesday. It set up or caused most of his strikeouts and was good for a groundball or two as he held the Tigers to two hits.
“Standard spring training,” Lohse said. “Be aggressive in the strike zone. I left one over the plate … and in a real-game situation, he’s not going to see that pitch.”
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Derrick Goold said he was going to Mizzou for capital-J journalism, but after growing up in the Time Zone Baseball Forgot he was really drawn to MU sitting between two major-league cities. Goold joined the Post-Dispatch in 2001 after working for The Times-Picayune and Rocky Mountain News, covering sports from LSU to NHL and every level of baseball in between. 
Sounds like a good outing by Lohse. I am also very excited about our young closers. Motte has my vote, with Perez a very close second. This is very encouraging to especially with Motte throwing three of his pitches effectively.
http://buschshouseofcards.blogspot.com
Motte, seems to be advancing faster than Perez, despite his relative lack of experience. Great to have such a fierce competition in the BP….keep up the great work!
Wow- What little hair I have on my head is standing straight up….!!!
I like it that this team is likely to be underestimated and the pressure will once again be on the Cubs. i suspect it is going to be more interesting than some will judge.
DG- it is -12 outside and wind chill here is 31 below zero….. So your updates and reporting are truly appreciated. Especially, since I had planned on spending quite a bit of time in Jupiter this year.
Go Cards!
TRB
Choteau, MT
Nice news on Motte. Maybe he’s ready for the majors now. I mean, last year the guy only fanned 16 batters in his 11 innings. And he gave up a run!
I expect better things from you in 2009, Jason.
I’ve always figured Perez before Motte, but it is now clear that Motte has done what Perez has failed to do, learn secondary pitches and actually pitch. Perez’s fault in the minors was that he always relied on his fastball and barely worked on his slider but it didn’t seem to matter until he reached St. Louis. Motte & Perez have now flipped roles and I look forward to seeing the converted catcher as the new closer.
Now lets NOT get to overly excited Cardinal nation. So for so good, it seems our young guns are progressing very nicely and there is optimisum in the air……………I like what I see so for, but there is 164 regular season games to be played, and confidence, prudence, and learning to pitch in situations are still part of the learning process for our young guns ( remember Brad Lidge…………..who is now doing MUCH better…. I know I know the Skipper doesn’t like using the youngsters in key situations, Dunc doesn’t know how to handle a young inexperience pitcher………..humm lets see how many champion season, one world series, one of the best win percentages out of active managers……….All I am saying is lets not drink the kool aid too soon, Carp is getting stronger BUT, and there is justification for a but here…………..Lets let the young guns grow and gain experience…………….before we pop the champaign…..
Well they say the closers role is a job to be won through spring training competition. I dont see why we would need to close by committee if Motte keeps throwin flames,striking guys out, and having a 0.00 ERA. If he keeps that up sounds to me like he should win the role. I was all about Perez closing it out but if Motte beats em out then job well done he deserves it.
Wow, one inning of spring training work in the 9th and we have our closer.
I know sports fans tend to place too much emphasis on whatever happens today, but lets relax and let this closer thing evolve. I take this piece of news like I do the fact that Carp has been healthy so far, with cautious optimism. I’ll put more faith in both situations in 90 days or so.
I do have to admit that it is very cool that Motte threw 3 pitches effectively.
A couple of things here, Siclianj59. I’m not sure who here is popping champagne but there are 162 regular season games, not 164 and the last World Championship in 2006 was won when a rookie (Adam Wainwright) nailed down the final out in the NLDS, the NLCS and the World Series.
This myth that TLR and Duncan don’t trust young guys needs to be put to rest. Oh, and what does Brad Lidge have to do with any of this?
OK with me whenever anyone mentions Lidge. It brings back one of my favorite Cardinal memories.
Two outs, two strikes, and Eckstein eeks a grounder between third & short for a seeing-eye single. The college girl two barstools over says for all to hear, “Now Edmonds is gonna draw a walk, and Pujols is gonna hit a homer.”
And she…was a Cub fan.