NewsDavies confident in mechanics tweaks
Kansas City (48-78) at Seattle (65-61), 9:10 p.m. CT
By Dick Kaegel / MLB.com
08/26/09 7:43 PM ET
KANSAS CITY -- For quite a while -- actually since he came to the Royals in 2007 -- starter Kyle Davies has been searching for ways to better control his fastball."Now we actually have a solution," Davies said.
Davies gets his fourth try at working on that solution on Thursday night against the Mariners.
"We're working on some mechanical stuff that will put me in a better position," Davies said. "And that's just giving myself a little more time over the rubber. That's getting back, staying back. I have a tendency to drift toward home plate a little bit."
What it boils down to, in simple terms, is that during his delivery, Davies has been in the wrong position -- leaning toward home plate as the ball comes out of his glove instead of moving backward and letting it happen naturally.
"When I go to home plate, I'm almost falling toward home plate, where most pitchers get on their back side real good. When I go back, my hand comes out automatically. When I don't go back, I carry my hands a little bit toward home plate and it makes me late and a little erratic," Davies said.
Davies believes he got into that forward drift back in 2006 when he was with the Braves and had groin surgery. As a result, he altered his delivery, which cost him momentum and location on his pitches. He wasn't going back properly.
"Most pitchers do it instinctively, but I haven't been doing it," Davies said.
Davies said that pitching coach Bob McClure has been onto the problem.
"He said, 'Listen, we're going to do this, just work on this the rest of the year,' and it's shown pretty good results the last three games," Davies said, "and that's when I started -- three games ago. I get a lot more swings and misses, my stuff's a lot better and I'm more around the zone."
In those games, Davies held the Twins to one run in five innings of a blowout victory, gave up two runs in six innings of a 3-2 win over the Tigers and was charged with six runs in 5 2/3 innings in a loss to the Twins.
"You look at the last three games, and the only balls hit hard have been hanging changeups -- Magglio [Ordonez] hit one in Detroit and [Michael] Cuddyer hit one here," Davies said. "Those are the only two balls that I've given up that have been absolutely hit hard."
So he believes he's really onto something. Now he'll see how it goes in the first outing of his career at Safeco Field. At least there's good precedent; this season, Davies has a 3.08 ERA and has held opponents to a .216 average on the road compared to 9.12 and .335 at home.
Pitching matchupKC: RHP Kyle Davies (4-9, 6.12 ERA)
In his last outing against the Twins, Davies gave up six runs in 5 2/3 innings, although he allowed just four hits along with three walks. The bullpen let in two of the runs charged against him. Since returning from exile at Triple-A Omaha, Davies has won just one of four starts, although he pitched really poorly only in his first outing. However, that happened to be against the Mariners, and he gave up eight runs on eight hits in just 3 2/3 innings. Overall Davies has won just two of his past 13 starts. SEA: RHP Doug Fister (1-0, 2.21 ERA)
Fister took another step forward Saturday against the Indians. Although he didn't get the win, Fister pitched well in his third straight start. He gave up just two earned runs on six hits with four strikeouts and one walk in 6 1/3 innings. The Indians applied plenty of pressure on the rookie right-hander, who was making his first start away from Safeco Field. But he handled it like a veteran, inducing two ground-ball double plays to limit the damage. Crown points
Statistical items on Zack Greinke's club-record 15 strikeouts against the Indians on Tuesday night: It was the second 15-strikeout performance in the Majors this year; the Giants' Tim Lincecum fanned 15 Pirates on July 27 in nine innings. Greinke went eight. Also, of the 16 pitchers who have recorded 3,000 career K's, four of them never had a game with 15 or more strikeouts -- Don Sutton, Greg Maddux, Phil Niekro and Ferguson Jenkins. Greinke is up to 197 strikeouts for the season; the Royals record is 244 by Dennis Leonard in 1977. ... Mitch Maier got the ball he belted for his first Major League home run on Tuesday night. "Luckily I hit it into the [Royals'] bullpen," he said. "I couldn't have planned it any better." ... Catchers Brayan Pena and John Buck have been taking ground balls at third base, but manager Trey Hillman doesn't see them there in a game. Pena, who saw some action at third in Spring Training, would be the more likely candidate but only in an emergency. Buck is working there just to get in some throwing across the diamond. ... Dr. Tony Diehl of Lenexa, Kan., was in the Buck O'Neil Legacy Seat on Wednesday. He helped start the Turner House Children's Clinic which serves uninsured children, and he travels twice per year to the Dominican Republic on medical missions. ... Heavy rain washed out batting practice for the Royals and Indians on Wednesday, but the game started on time. ... Jose Guillen, on the disabled list with a sore right knee, will accompany the club to Seattle and Oakland, and he hopes to be activated next Tuesday. "We'll see where he's at," Hillman said Wednesday. "I know his workouts are going good. He's been swinging the bat for three days and doing OK." Tickets
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• Friday: Royals (Brian Bannister, 7-10, 4.50) at Mariners (Felix Hernandez, 12-5, 2.73), 9:10 p.m. CT
• Saturday: Royals (Gil Meche, 6-9, 4.75) at Mariners (Ian Snell, 4-9, 5.37), 9:10 p.m. CT
• Sunday: Royals (Zack Greinke, 12-8, 2.43) at Mariners (Ryan Rowland-Smith, 2-1, 4.05), 3:10 p.m. CT
Dick Kaegel is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
