Per the Red Sox website Manny Delcarmen suffered from shoulder fatigue last year in August & September. I have a couple of thoughts about that.
Delcarmen did pitch better during the first 4 months of the season. However, control & command of his pitches has been his Achilles heal since coming in the majors. He gives up a large number of walks for a reliever.
In addition, especially with arm fatigue, you would think that Manny would mix his pitches more. However, when his control goes, he becomes a 1-pitch pitcher which hitters tee-off on. If I'm in front of a TV at home & can call the next pitch, you know pro hitters can too.
Delcarmen has a plus fastball, curve & change-up. Any pitcher is at their best when they use all of their pitches to keep hitters off-balance. At best Manny is a 50-50 proposition when he enters a game. It could be a good performance or a bad one. Just depends on his control & that separates an average pitcher from a good one. You see a lot of kids who can throw hard, but they have no idea where the ball is going.
My point is that his arm fatigue did not help anything. But fatigue is not the main problem. Control & command of pitches is the issue with Delcarmen. That's why he remains an average pitcher. He will be a good pitcher when he becomes more consistent in the strike zone.
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