As you will read in today's Norwich Bulletin, the Eastern league All-Star team was announced. Sadly, there were no Defenders on the squad. OK, let's be frank here, based on the team's play there wasn't anyone deserving. But I felt there was at least one who was: Billy Sadler.
Sadler was 4-3, 2.56 ERA with 20 saves. He pitched 42.3 innings, allowing 23 hits and 13 earned runs. He struck out 67 and batters hit .145 against him.
I'm not saying that Henry Owens, the closer for Binghamton is not as good, because he is. He might be better. The numbers suggest that, too. But I think when you look at Sadler, especially considering the team he plays for, its hard to not imagine how much better his numbers would be if he were, say, in Akron.
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1 comment:
I don't know if he would have had 30 saves. Maybe if he spent the whole year with the Defenders and serving as the closer. I think his ERA would have been lower as just when he was called to AAA, he was really hitting stride.
One of the things pitching coach Bob Stanley wanted to work on with Billy was focus. Billy is an emotional guy. There's good and bad associated with this. The good is when things are going well, he can ride that wave of emotion and use it to his advantage. The drawback is if something doesn't go his way, it can lead to the aforementioned lack of focus. When pitchers don't focus, the list of bad things that can happen is long.
In a conversation with Billy last month, he mentioned that focus is something he needs to work on. The general opinion iin the organization is once Billy learns how to bottle emotion and direct it toward his pitching, he is flat-out NASTY.
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