Storen’s struggles are both mental and physical

Steve Phillips

TSN Baseball Insider

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Drew Storen is a mess with the Blue Jays just like he was a mess with the Washington Nationals over the last two months of the 2015 season. His performance in Washington tanked when he was demoted from closer to setup man. I believe it was a mental collapse as much as it was a physical collapse. 

The Jays gave Storen a chance to win the closer role away from Roberto Osuna this spring. He pitched well, but not well enough to earn the ball in the ninth inning. Storen said all the right things, but it still had to be disappointing. That would help explain the mental component to his current struggles.

There is certainly a physical issue. Storen’s velocity is down a bit this year.  He has gone to a windup to recover a few miles per hour and add some rhythm to his mechanics. But velocity isn’t the only issue; command is as well. 

Storen tends to handle right-handed hitters (.219 OBA) better than lefties (.256 OBA) because his slider is his most effective put-away pitch. His command of the slider has not been good, but it has been slightly better than the command of his fastball. He is finding far too much of the plate with less velocity on his stuff. The league is hitting .352 against him this year. Lefties are hitting .385 with a 2.60 WHIP, while righties are hitting .321 with a 1.29 WHIP.

Storen needs to get more aggressive in the zone.  He needs to throw strike one with a well-placed fastball and then expand the zone with his slider. 

Toronto manager John Gibbons needs to find a few games where he can use Storen with some margin for error. That will let Storen feel like he can throw the ball over the plate early in the count, giving him a better chance to get hitters to chase later out of the zone.

Storen looks afraid right now to throw the ball over the plate early in the count. When he falls behind he is forced to throw the ball over the plate in areas where the hitter is waiting.

Storen needs to get right if the Jays are going to be a playoff team. Toronto’s starters don’t go deep in the game, so they need Storen to pitch frequently and effectively. He needs to start trusting his stuff and attack batter. The time is now.

Storen will be a free agent at the end of the season, so he wants to get things turned around to put himself in position for a big contract.

Strasburg signs big deal

I am sure Storen wouldn’t mind getting a deal like the one signed this week by Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg.

Strasburg signed a seven-year, $175-million contract extension that includes a rolling opt out clause and $1-million bonus in each year he throws more than 180 innings. The most shocking aspect of the deal is that it happened at all. Strasburg’s agent, Scott Boras, rarely allows his clients to sign an extension while foregoing free agency. It is even more surprising because Strasburg was thought to be at the top of the free-agent class among starters this off-season. It is a much lighter class than we have seen in a long time.

So why did Strasburg sign now?  He either heard an offer that he didn’t expect to get in free agency or decided he didn’t want to take the risk of a potential injury between now and the end of the season. Boras said that Strasburg wanted to reward the Nats for how well they have handled him throughout his injury-plagued career. I find it hard to believe that super agent Scott Boras and his client signed a deal to be nice. You hire Boras to get the most money, not to send you to a place because it is a good fit. 

I would never have given Strasburg a deal like this. I have significant fear about his pitching mechanics and their impact on his long-term health. The simplest way to describe his mechanical flaw is that when Strasburg’s front foot hits the ground in his stride toward home plate, his arm is 180 degrees from where it should be. A pitcher with good mechanics has the ball facing the sky with his arm above his head when his lead foot hits the ground.  Strasburg has the ball facing the ground, which means that he still has to get the ball above his head and then forward to his release point. That puts so much more pressure and torque on his elbow and shoulder. Mark Prior, the former Chicago Cubs’ phenom, is an example of a pitcher with great stuff who couldn’t stay healthy with the same flawed mechanics.

To be fair, there are many other analysts who think Strasburg left money on the table and could have demanded $200 million next off-season. All I know is that he wouldn’t have gotten it from me. The Nats have pitching depth with Gio Gonzalez locked up for a couple of years, plus Tanner Roark, Joe Ross and top prospect Lucas Giolito. Even though there isn’t great pitching available in free agency, the Nats could survive the loss. 

My other area of concern is that any dollar committed to Strasburg that limits Washington’s ability to sign Bryce Harper is a mistake. The Nats now have nearly $400 million committed to ace Max Scherzer and Strasburg. They will soon be out from under the Jayson Werth contract, which will free up a good amount of dough. But even if Washington pays to keep Harper (which will likely cost at least $400 million), you have to wonder whether there will be any money left to field a competitive team around him, Scherzer and Strasburg. 

As it stands now, both the Nationals and Strasburg are happy with the deal.  I am not sure Boras is all that happy as he may have preferred to shop the power righty around to other clubs. 

Stay tuned because feelings have a way of changing as time goes by.

The other Chicago team is also playing well

The Strasburg extension was a bit of a surprise, but not nearly as surprising as the strong start to the season by the Chicago White Sox. The way the Cubs came blasting out of the gate this season has left the White Sox a bit under the radar. 

The Sox were one of the biggest disappointments in baseball a year ago. They had been considered one of the big off-season winners, but failed miserably in 2015.  They had the lowest scoring offence in the American League, a middle-of-the-road pitching staff and a well below-average defence. It was not a great formula for success. 

The White Sox are playing much better so far this year. Their pitching has been particularly good, led by ace Chris Sale, who is 7-0 with a 1.79 ERA. Their No. 2 starter, Jose Quintana, is 5-1 with a 1.38 ERA, giving the White Sox one of the best dynamic duos in the game. Mat Latos (5-0, 3.40) has been a pleasant surprise and is an early candidate for comeback player of the year.  Their bullpen has held the opposition to a .211 batting average and only four homers.

The White Sox are also dramatically better offensively this year. The acquisitions of third baseman Todd Frazier and second baseman Brett Lawrie have made a difference; the two have combined for 16 homers and 37 RBIs so far. Adam Eaton has been playing out of his mind and Jose Abreu is starting to heat up after a slow start. 

Defensively, Frazier, Lawrie and Jimmy Rollins have tightened up the infield, while Austin Jackson playing centre field flanked by Melky Cabrera and Eaton has made the outfield a flytrap. 

What I like the most about the White Sox is the grit and toughness they play with. They seem to have excellent makeup and chemistry. Good pitching, solid defence, timely hitting and good chemistry make the White Sox the team to beat in the AL Central.

Some random thoughts:

- Bartolo Colon hit his first career home run on the weekend. Yep, read it again. The Mets husky right-hander went deep. The most amazing thing is that his helmet didn’t even fall off as he ran the bases. He really should consider a chinstrap.

- I applaud MLB for suspending Bryce Harper one game for his post-game antics after the Nats walk-off win against the Tigers. Harper had been ejected in the ninth inning for arguing from the dugout about the umpire’s strike zone. After a Clint Robinson walk-off homer, Harper came back on the field for the celebration. It was then that he decided to spew more profanity in the direction of the umpires. It was a selfish move for Harper to get ejected in what was at the time a tie game and even more selfish for him to get suspended for actions after such a dramatic win. I thought he wanted to put the fun back in the game.

- Scherzer is a lot of fun to watch when things are going well.  He pitches with energy and excitement. It was never more evident than in his amazing 20-strikeout performance against the Tigers. He had an explosive fastball and big sweeping breaking ball that fooled hitters all night. Even better for Scherzer, he dominated his former team. That must feel so good.

- The Oakland A’s (14-21) are off to a tough start to say the least. To make matters worse, ace Sonny Gray is 3-4 with a 6.00 ERA. With Strasburg off the free-agent market, Gray would be a great trade chip for the A’s. Unfortunately, his velocity is down and he is getting hit hard. His value has dropped significantly after only seven starts. 

- The Kansas City Royals are in trouble. Their starting rotation is a mess and they aren’t scoring runs.  Other than that they look like the World Series champions. What goes up must come down!

- Blue Jays starter Marcus Stroman is graduating from Duke University on Sunday.  How cool is that?  He should be so proud.  Did you know that MLB allows clubs to offer college scholarship money as part of the package to sign amateur players?  It is a great recruiting tool, but only 25 per cent of the money included in deals ever gets used.  What a wasted opportunity.

- The Tim Lincecum sweepstakes are reportedly down to three teams: the Angels, White Sox and Giants. You can count out the Angels as their season is already slipping away with the injuries to Garrett Richards and Andrelton Simmons.  The fact that the Giants are in on Lincecum is quite telling. They know him better than everyone else since he was their guy for years.  The righty has been training at the Giants facility in Scottsdale, Ariz., so they know his work ethic and medical status better than anyone. The fact that the Giants are in on him should cause others to be more interested. 

- I don’t know if I have ever been more shocked by a team than I am by the Baltimore Orioles this year. They looked so bad in spring training (12-15).  I would have bet my life that they couldn’t compete with their pitching staff.  Glad I didn’t make the bet, as they are now 21-12. 

- To reinforce the point that spring training doesn’t mean much, consider the preseason records of the current division leaders:  the Cubs were 11-19 this spring; the Mets were 8-17; the Boston Red Sox were 14-18; the Dodgers were 13-17; and the Giants were 13-20.  Maybe a bad spring training is a good thing.