Last Outing

Start a new series tonight against Texas. I meant to drop a blog on you yesterday but got caught up with my day after workout. I pitched pretty well the other night against the A's got the complete game. I was asked if complete games are important to starting pitchers, to me it's important in one regard - it gives the bullpen a night off. As many times as those guys save me, it's nice to return the favor and give them a needed rest. Especially this late in the season. I knew going in that I had my stuff. I had my peanut butter and jelly sandwich and Red Bulls, got focused and went to the bullpen to warm up. That's where you usually get a feel for how the night is going to go. I felt strong out there warming up. When I got out there I liked my control, I was able to put the ball in the spots I was looking for. The curve was working too. I did leave a pitch out over to Cust and he jacked it, that's the one thing that sticks out to me. These division games are important. We lost the A's series, we need to get one back against the Rangers.

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• pelechati said August 28, 2008

  Big John have you taken a Quiz yet?

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• 1Halo_Luvr said August 28, 2008

  John - once again you amaze me with your pitching. It was so much fun watching you go out there inning after inning, throwing another great game and firing up the guys behind you . I think that is my favorite part...watching how the rest of the team gets fired up when you are pitching.
  
  Keep up the great work....and here's to a great September!!! Go ANGELS!!!
  
  By the way....Strawberry or Grape...Crunchy or Creamy???

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• brettwb1 said August 29, 2008

  John you've been consistent all year since you came back in May, Saunders has worried me recently though, you may need to have a talk with him. Have you heard the rumors about David Eckstein possibly returning to the Angels? I hope it's true, it'd be great to see you, Shieldsy, Figgy. Garrett, and Eck hold that World Championship trophy together again. I'd have said Frankie too but I think he'll be leaving at the end of the year for more money and he blew like 3 saves for you last year. Good luck and keep up the good work!

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• napsthemasher said August 29, 2008

  1) keep doin what you're doin, lack
  2) a little disheartening to see hokie joe struggle on the bump the other night
  3) started to get real worried last night after the first inning, but garland buckled down and really impressed me by making through eight.
  4) having tex has been great, i know the team has been struggling a little of late, but make sure those boys are ready for the playoffs. at this point, other than fine tuning, that is what matters most.
  5) get those guys fired up and keep winning games. great season so far, you're making life as an angel fan pretty sweet these days...

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• Annt74 said August 29, 2008

  gonna need all that good stuff come playoff time, know that goes without saying but F just getting excited for playoff ball, nothing better than watchin scioscia ball in the playoff time- attack attack attack!!!

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• baseballfan said August 29, 2008

  Hi John, you're a very good pitcher, but your strikeout rate has been going down every year since 2005. I noticed you have been throwing a lot of fastballs on 2-strike counts. That explains why your strikeouts are down. You're not going to get a lot of strikeouts throwing fastballs on 2-strike counts. That's called pitching to contact. Plus, you don't have an overpowering fastball, so you can't expect many strikeouts. Strikeouts are very important and one of the best predictors of future success. With a strikeout, a batter has a 0% chance to get a hit. When you let them put it in play, you're giving them a chance to do damage. Plus, a pitcher can't control whether or not balls in play become hits or outs. That's why you can't expect favorable results pitching to contact all the time. You can expect a Jekyll and Hyde routine. You just never know what will happen. Sometimes you get lucky, sometimes not.
  
  You have a very good curveball and slider, and if you threw it on 2-strike counts, your strikeout rate would go up fast. If you also look from 05-07, you were an innings eater + strikeout pitcher. There's simply no need for you to change your approach and pitch to contact. Strikeouts are very important, and the less you have, the more opportunities opposing batters have a chance to do serious damage against you. In other words, the less you have, the more hits you can expect to allow, which in turn will raise your ERA with neutral luck. Hopefully, your strikeout rates start going up, since strikeouts are very important if you want to remain your level of success. Throwing 90-92 mph fastballs on 2-strike counts is a batter's best friend, since they'll put it in play and have opportunities to do damage. You certainly have the stuff (curve+slider) to be one of the best strikeout pitchers in the game, so hopefully you use your stuff to your advantage. You're way too good and talented to restort to being a contact pitcher.

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  • Annt74 replied August 29, 2008

    advice from the comments section on a blog, thats rich...ya john your pitching complete games getting wins and your team is in first place but heres what you need to do better
• Reneeskates said August 29, 2008

  lol double that Annt74! uhhh i think that is what his pitching coach is for?!

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• johnlackeyfan said August 29, 2008

  Way to go just glad you could give the bullpen the night off they really needed it!

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• HaloRed said August 31, 2008

  PB&J with Red Bull, I love it!!! What's really good, too, I'm serious! Peanut butter and pickle. Put a few dill slices on that PB, it's great!! Best with wheat bread, too.

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  • Annt74 replied September 01, 2008

    pickles and peanut butter, really? are you pregnant?
    • HaloRed replied September 01, 2008

      Don't knock it until you try it
    • Annt74 replied September 02, 2008

      not knocking it, gf likes black licorice and pickles, just think its really strange
      • HaloRed replied September 02, 2008

        Strange but good. Strange is the chocolate covered habanero pepper at an exotic cuisine that Visa advertised. Peanut Butter is a good base for just about anything. The Thai's use it in much of their food. Get some wheat bread, spread that PB, and put some dill slices on it. It's not going to kill you if you try it.
• miaflea said September 01, 2008

  Great series Lackey :) It would have been cool to see you go up against Padilla but he's on the "DL" for that (fill in injury here).
  

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