How Much Time the Pitchers Took | FanGraphs Baseball

A very interesting piece on which pitchers work fast and which ones work slow. Among the quick workers include new Toronto Blue Jays Mark Buehrle and R.A. Dickey, including these two games that I recall vividly from last season:

"It’s worth noting that Mark Buehrle and R.A. Dickey went head-to-head twice last season, on April 25 and September 22. The first game lasted two hours and 29 minutes, while the second game lasted two hours and 26 minutes. Last year’s average Marlins game lasted two hours and 57 minutes, while last year’s average Mets game lasted two hours and 56 minutes. That, of course, is with Buehrle and Dickey starts included. That would’ve been some nicely-tempoed baseball, between sometimes unwatchable teams."

Pitcher Noah Syndergaard has the stuff big league dreams are made of | The Star-Telegram

A nice little piece on New York Mets pitching prospect Noah Syndergaard:

"I didn't think I'd be traded, but being traded for the reigning Cy Young winner is pretty cool," said Syndergaard, who reported to Mets spring training in Port St. Lucie, Fla., on Monday.

"Now I'm going to do whatever I can to contribute to the Mets' organization and try and help them win the World Series."

Good luck Noah! As the #3 prospect in the Mets organization, I hope you're right.

Tom Verducci advocates trading R.A. Dickey to Toronto

I agree with SI's Tom Verducci here, but only if the Mets can't work out a two-year extension running through the 2015 season.

What the Mets should do with R.A. Dickey

The Mets are making little progress in getting Cy Young Award winner R.A. Dickey signed to a two-year extension and the trade market for a young impact player hasn't materialized. They may be getting used to the idea of keeping him for another year at $5 million.

It seems the Mets are valuing Dickey as a number one pitcher on the trade market but as something less than that when it comes to an extension. A $20 million extension, for instance, would give Dickey $25 million over three years -- or just $4 million more than what the Reds are paying Broxton, a hybrid reliever, over the next three years.

What the Mets should do is send Dickey to Toronto for catcher J.P. Arencibia and outfielder Anthony Gose, which would net them two young, major-league-ready everyday players. The Blue Jays aren't enamored with the basic math of the deal: one year of Dickey for 10 years of control of two young players.

But here's why the Jays should do it: Both Arencibia and Gose are reserves right now and are blocked by young players who should be in Toronto for at least two years. Those "10 years of control" are not all years of full-time duty.

More than that, Toronto made a blockbuster move with Miami to rejuvenate baseball in the city. Manager John Gibbons said the goal is to get the franchise into the postseason for the first time in 20 years. If so, you need to go all in -- just as the Nationals are doing by trading a front-of-the-rotation prospect (Alex Meyer) to get a centerfielder (Denard Span) and by paying their fourth starter $13 million despite coming off a down year (Dan Haren).

The Blue Jays are not all in if they regard years of control for bench players above the chance to get a Cy Young Award winner. Think Toronto would have a better shot at the postseason with Dickey making 32 starts instead of J.A. Happ making 32 starts? Of course. But Toronto is hedging its bets.

Dickey has been so much fun to watch pitch these past three seasons, especially this year. If he's going to another team, I'd like it to be one in the American League (so the Mets don't face him) and the team that now employs Jose Reyes, who will forever be one of my favorite Mets of all time.

Also, imagine how awesome he could be with a controlled, retractable dome environment for that knuckleball. His worst start of the season came on a rainy, cold night in Atlanta. He wouldn't have to worry about the condition at home in Toronto, something that could come into play in Kansas City and, to a lesser extent, in Texas.

R.A. Dickey's thoughts on Disney buying the Star Wars franchise

Just like with baseball, I can't disagree with his thoughts on this except that he seems a bit more optimistic than me:

R.A. Dickey this morning on CBS and Mike & Mike

2012 National League Cy Young Award Winner R.A. Dickey (it never gets old writing that!) appeared on ESPN Radio's Mike & Mike as well as today's CBS This Morning with Charlie Rose and Norah O'Donnell:

The Value of Good Coaching | Baseball Prospectus

A very informative column written by New York Mets LOOGY C.J. Nitkowski about the value of good coaching. A must read even for the casual reader that isn't a baseball fan.

With writers like Nitkowski, Collin McHugh, and 2012 National League Cy Young Award Winner R.A. Dickey, the Mets have quite the literary group on the hill.

More video of R.A. Dickey (lots more video!)

I have to admit, as a life-long Met fan I haven't enjoyed watching a Met pitcher this much since Dwight Gooden's 1985 Cy Young season. To get a flavor of not just how dominating R.A. Dickey's season was but the things that he can do with the knuckleball, here's plenty of video going back to his consecutive one-hitters against Tampa Bay and Baltimore. A few things to notice:
- How many times the Mets catchers, Josh Thole and Mike Nickeas drop the ball and have to throw to first base to complete the strikeout
- The Darth Vader theme at the beginning of some of the videos (Dickey is a HUGE Star Wars fan and warms up to that music during home games.)
- The All-Stars that struck out on the knuckler over the course of the season (Bryce Harper, Andrew McCutchen, and Jimmy Rollins, to name a few.)

E N J O Y ! ! !

One-hitter against Tampa Bay:


One-hitter against Baltimore:




All-Star game appearance:








Bryce Harper strikes out three times in the same game:
















20th win of the season:

R.A. Dickey, Cy Young Winner | New York Magazine

Great post by Will Leitch but here is the money quote:

"Of course, this is the Mets, and there is a dark side. That dark side is that Dickey is a free agent at the end of the season, and general manager Sandy Alderson hasn't ruled out trading Dickey if they can't come to terms on an agreement. That brings up all sorts of questions about the Mets' finances — even though we're talking about a pitcher in his late thirties here — and no one wants to talk about that when the Mets just got some unadulterated good news."

All R.A. Dickey All The Time!

Last night New York Mets pitcher R.A. Dickey ran away with the 2012 National League Cy Young Award, becoming the first knuckleballer to do so. For all the video analysis I could find on the web, check it out right here.

MLB.com:









ESPN won't allow users to embed most of their videos but you can check out Adam Rubin conversation here and the Karl Ravech and Curt Schilling analysis here and watch the R.A. Dickey SportCenter interview here:



R.A. Dickey interview on SNY.TV:



If I find more clips, I'll update them. Until then,
E N J O Y ! ! !

R.A. Dickey: The Market’s Other Ace | FanGraphs Baseball

I have to begrudgingly admit that I agree with the premise of this post on FanGraphs:

There are teams best suited to take a chance on a talented 38-year-old knuckleballer. The present New York Mets aren’t real high on that list.

As much as I enjoyed R.A. Dickey pitch and hope he does win the National League Cy Young Award this season, I'm not sure he's going to be the same pitcher he is now when the Mets are finally ready to contend. It's a shame because he's really fun to watch pitch.

Knuckleballer in Full Ascendancy | Patrick Flood Blog

Fantastic blog post by Patrick Flood. Well worth the lengthy read. Here's a great excerpt from it:

"Hitting a good knuckleball may be near-impossible, but it’s probably easier for hitters trained to make contact instead of swinging with max-effort. E.g., Omar Infante, a cardinal in the church of just-making-contact, has excellent career numbers against Dickey and is one of the few hitters who looks comfortable in the batter’s box against the knuckleball. But Infante is the exception, and most modern hitters run closer to Dan Uggla’s troglodytic approach to hitting. Which approach can be reduced to: see ball, swing as hard you possibly can, repeat. The violence and power of the modern swing is basically useless against a well-thrown knuckleball, and no hitters yet seem to know how to adjust to Dickey’s magic show."

He gets extra points in my book for use of the word 'troglodytic', which is quite apt in describing something being done by Dan Uggla.

R.A. Dickey's Historic Run - Baseball Nation

Great read about how unique R.A. Dickey's accomplishments have been this season.

What do you need to throw a knuckleball? Midi-chlorians.

Mets pitcher and avid Star Wars fan R.A. Dickey answered fan questions on Twitter yesterday, which were posted on Metsblog. This one, by far, has to be my favorite:

Savetofavorites: Ever think about teaching the knuckler to somebody? What do you think you’d look for in a protege?
RA Dickey: Midi-chlorians.

May The Force be with you R.A. May The Force be with you.