Felix Today

The game took place while I was at work, so I didn't really get to watch much of anything, but from what I can tell, this was far from being one of his better starts. The numbers:

75 fastballs (69%)
17 changeups (16%)
10 curveballs (9%)
6 sliders (6%)

13 swinging strikes (12%)
23 foul (3 foul tips) (21%)
17 called strikes (16%)
17 in play (16%)
38 balls (35%)

6 grounders (35%)
4 outfield fly balls (24%)
2 pop ups (12%)
5 line drives (29%)

The pitch pattern's about what I'd expect against a lineup that was 6/9ths left-handed, and his changeup was fairly effective, going for a strike 11 times and generating three groundballs against one base hit. The problem, as I see it, is that he had only spotty command of his fastball, which you might recognize as being the same problem he has in all of his mediocre starts. And being a guy who works primarily off of his fastball, Felix isn't going to be that comfortable throwing offspeed stuff in hitter's counts, which means on days like this he actually winds up throwing more fastballs than usual, turning his trouble with the strike zone into a sort of self-perpetuating snowball. The sort of snowball that leads to him walking five guys in six innings against a lineup missing both Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz.

Not a great game. Not bad, mind you, but not real good either, and a definite step back from his recent string of extraordinary success. And with Texas up next, it's not about to get any easier.

My kingdom for a guy with Felix's stuff and Silva's command.