FanPost

Roger McDowell: The Arm Whisperer?

This is going to be a short, anecdotal, and purely speculative fanpost written in a time of post victory/shutout celebration. Mostly, I am curious whether anyone has any insight into how much credit McDowell should receive for the success of our pitching staff. Much has been said about Wren's ability to find scrap heap and/or waiver wire arms, but maybe not enough has been said about how McDowell (being a reliever himself) has worked with these pitchers. I am wondering what aspects of the pitching game McDowell excels at teaching; whether it be pitch selection, sequencing, psychology, rubber placement (as some Braves have talked about), or maybe even the game theory of pitching.

McDowell has a long and undeniable track record of getting the most out of relief pitcher arms, and he seems to be adding an impressive resume of starting pitchers as well. It will be interesting to see how Santana performs this year (personally I am looking out for his 2 seam vs 4 seam usage, and Teheran as well). I also can't wait for him to get a shot at high ceiling/velocity arms like Hursh and Cabrera.

Also, what is that 85-87 mph "fastball" that Teheran throws? Intentional? Changeup inconsistency? Cold weather problems?

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