Speed isn't everything
Published Sept. 16, 2008
Although it's looking more and more like the Philadelphia Phillies will miss out on the playoffs this year, it won't be because of Jamie Moyer. The left-hander is 14-7 with a 3.68 ERA so far, making him the second-best pitcher on the Phillies right behind ace Cole Hamels.
And Moyer is old enough to be your dad.
At 45, Moyer hasn't gotten stronger in a suspect way like Roger Clemens. He isn't a Hall-of-Fame pitcher like Randy Johnson, Tom Glavine or Greg Maddux. He's just a classic case of pitching within one's abilities and having some pretty good success with it despite his age.
The average velocity of a Jamie Moyer fastball is 81.2 mph, second slowest in baseball to the knuckleballing Tim Wakefield, a pitcher who really doesn't need his fastball to the extent Moyer needs his. For reference, the average velocity of a Josh Beckett fastball this year is 94.4 mph. There are 59 starters - more than half the regular starting pitchers in baseball - whose changeups have a higher average velocity than Moyer's fastball.
So how is Moyer putting together this season? The same way he's been doing it his whole career, in which he is 244-189 with a 4.13 ERA in 3,729 innings. Moyer will lull you into a false sense of security in the on-deck circle, allowing you to think that you can mash his fastball that looks more like a batting practice pitch than anything else. However, you go up to the plate wanting to take a pitch so you can get a better feel of just how slow Moyer is throwing. He throws that fastball over for strike one.
The next pitch, you think you have a good read on his velocity, and he throws that fastball again. It looks so tempting, but it's perfectly located right beneath your hands. You make contact, but get sawed off or pull it foul. Just like that you're 0-2 against Moyer, and the worst part: he's in your head. It's at this point when Moyer can drop his 67 mph curveball or 74 mph changeup to get you even more off balance.
In the 22,885 pitches Moyer has thrown in his career, 14,207 (62 percent) of them have been strikes. Moyer has to get ahead in the count to have success, as he doesn't possess a blazing fastball to get him out of 2-0 or 3-1 counts as somebody like Beckett does. For Moyer, it's all about throwing strikes, hitting his spots and changing speeds to stay one step ahead of the batter.
Another big key to Moyer's success is his ability to keep the ball on the ground, as this year, 43.6 percent of balls hit in play off Moyer have been ground balls. Moyer's slow fastball, coupled with Citizens Bank Park being a home run friendly ballpark, makes it even more important for him to induce ground balls.
Oh, and two more fun facts about Moyer: his father-in-law is ESPN college basketball analyst and tielighter (matching tie and highlighter) pioneer Digger Phelps. Also, one of J.D.'s girlfriends on Scrubs was named Jamie Moyer.
Maybe the producers of that show had an affinity for 81-mile per hour fastballs.