It is one start. I repeat one start. However this one start is a sign that LHP Dontrelle Willis of the Detroit Tigers is finding his way back to being a big league pitcher. Few things in sports are sadder than watching a pitcher implode in front of your eyes; losing the strike zone, throwing lollipops, and just the general glaze of a pitcher so lost on the mound that he no longer feels that he can throw the baseball within a three block radius of the plate. Mechanics drive the machine that is a pitcher. If one little gear is out of place the machine falls apart. For a pitcher like Dontrelle Willis, who has a very funky arms and legs delivery, it is difficult to maintain their delivery because of how complicated it is. Much of Willis' problems with the Tigers were due in large part to his lack of control which was a result of his pitching motion. Due to his poor performance he was sent down to the minors midseason to fix his problems. That was last year. At the beginning of this year Willis was on the DL with an anxiety disorder. Add all these bumps in the road up and you have a pretty big hill to climb.
With his start on Tuesday Willis took his first step toward reviving his big league career. Hurling 6.1 scoreless innings allowing only 1 hit and 2 walks while striking out 5, Dontrelle picked up his first win this season and his first with the tigers. As previously stated nothing is quite as watching a pitcher breakdown in front of your eyes. Luckily it appears that Dontrelle Willis will not be yet another story in a long line of sad stories.
No comments:
Post a Comment