Gavin Stone spent lots to get to his rookie 12 months, but it surely all paid off – so nicely, in truth, that he's being in comparison with Orel Hershiser.
“I at all times thought I might do it,” Hershiser mentioned of Stone's success. “Due to the way in which his physique strikes. And the way in which he tries, so exhausting, to be good.”
After supervisor Dave Roberts referred to as Stone “a bulldog” and “a little bit Orel Hershiser-esque,” it's straightforward to make the connection.
Each pitchers give attention to the motion of their pitches, somewhat than velocity. Stone labored notably exhausting on the motion after realizing final 12 months that not solely was he not swinging his pitches, however that his fastball was too hittable. Including a sinker and cutter helped, largely due to his motion.
“He's virtually again to the pitcher he was when he was youthful,” Roberts mentioned. “Miss-hit balls, lack of exhausting contact, have interaction your protection, after which swing and miss when it’s essential, that's what he did … He simply got here again to love, really feel that he may be who inherently is sort of a pitcher.”
The brand new pitches didn't have an instantaneous influence, however — in true bulldog type — Stone continued to work, performing nicely sufficient in spring coaching to take over Walker Buehler's rotation spot when Buehler began the season on the record of wounded.
“We now have nice coaches,” Stone mentioned in recognition of the personnel changes. “They offer us confidence, a technique or one other, on the mound.”
Dodgers Hyperlinks
Tim Kelly at Bleacher Report lists 15 energetic MLB gamers who’re more likely to retire at some point, with Mookie Betts and Clayton Kershaw making the lower.
Shohei Ohtani is doing greater than altering baseball — he's additionally altering tourism in Los Angeles. Josie Huang at LAist describes how the town has seen document numbers of vacationers from Japan all through the town, particularly in Little Tokyo.
For all their success, Betts and Ohtani are amongst Dodgers coping with slumps proper now, with progress coming slowly, writes Invoice Plunkett on the OC Register.
