David Price and Zack Greinke Type Pitching Contract: Why?

If you love baseball then I’m sure you have seen some of the jaw dropping contracts for 2016. David Price landed a 7 year deal with The Red Sox for $217 million; an average annual salary of $31 Million.

A short time later Zack Greinke signed a 6 year contract with the Diamondbacks for $206 million. Not bad.

Jeff Samardzija just signed a 5 year contract with the Giants for $90 million early this week. Wow! And his 2015 season wasn’t too exciting, just ask Jeremy Guthrie of the Royals about his enthusiasm after hearing about this deal. He’s excited to be a free agent right now as well.

There is no doubt that money is serious and those teams investing in those pitchers expect great results from them. So, what do these pitchers have to gain so much exposure, popularity and earn the respect of those teams deep pockets?

I’ve talked so much lately about the importance of mastering pitches. These pitchers have mastered their craft and know how to win because they keep hitters off balance; of course they have or they wouldn’t have received those contracts right?

Let’s take a look at what each of these pitchers throw and why they dominate.

David Price throws a Fourseam Fastball at 95mph, sinker (95 mph) a circle change (86mph) and a cutter at (90mph). He can also throw a curveball at (80 mph) using a knuckle curve grip.
Think about that for a minute. What goes through a hitter’s mind when he faces David Price? David has the winning edge before the hitter steps in the box. He’s got a lot of options to keep the hitters guessing. With that much variation of movement and speed no wonder he dominates his competition.

Let’s look at what Zack Greinke has in his arsenal.
His Fourseam fastball is an average of 92 mph, changeup (89 mph), slider (87mph), curve (75 mph) and a sinker at 92 mph. Every once in a while he will also throw a slow curve at 68 mph. Are you kidding? Can you imagine seeing a 68 mph curve and then a fastball at 92 immediately after that? You would think Arnolis Chapman just threw one at you at 106. How does a hitter react to that?

Greinke is also know for how many groundballs he generates with his Slider. This keeps him throwing less pitches throughout the game. When a pitcher can get outs quickly instead of going deep in the count, you can really keep throwing deep in the game and allow your team a better chance of winning when you’re on the mound.

Now a look at Jeff Samardzija: Now remember, Jeff only got $90 million. 🙂
Jeff throws a slider at 86 mph, a sinker at 95 mph (incredible) and a four seam at 94 mph. He also has 2 other pitches he’ll mix in from time to time. A cutter (93 mph) and splitter (85 mph)

What do all of these pitchers have in common? If you haven’t figured it out yet, they have an incredible arsenal of pitches that they can throw for strikes in any given situation and count. Think about the confusion each batter has to go through facing competition like this; the change of speed, the movement and location of each pitch is very unique. This makes it very difficult for hitters to drive the ball. That’s the point I’m making today.

How many pitches have you perfected? How many can you throw with complete confidence?

Keeping hitters off balance and getting outs is your job. If you want to dominate this year, I would suggest picking up a copy of my pitching grips and workouts DVD and add another pitch or two to your arsenal. You won’t regret it! You’ll be amazed at the results you’ll see this season.

https://www.thepitchingacademy.com/gripsandworkouts

The Pitching Academy