University of North Carolina Athletics
Lucas: Breaking Down The Starters
June 13, 2006 | Baseball
June 13, 2006
By Adam Lucas
As soon as Chad Flack's game-winning home run cleared the fence Saturday night in Tuscaloosa, the Carolina baseball bandwagon began to tilt. As the Tar Heels prepare to depart for Omaha and the College World Series on Wednesday, Chapel Hill is suddenly abuzz with Carolina baseball fever.
Whether your Diamond Heels knowledge starts and ends with B.J. Surhoff or whether you've been a Boshamer Stadium regular all season, you're going to spend a lot of time this week hearing about Carolina's starting pitchers. Andrew Miller, Daniel Bard, and Robert Woodard give the Heels one of the most fearsome trios in the country.
But what are they throwing? The following crash course on the pitches they throw--in their own words--will enable you to watch the College World Series like a veteran.
4-Seam Fastball: "This is the harder of my two fastballs. I throw it to the left side of the plate, so it's inside to lefties or away from righties."
2-Seam Fastball: "I've thrown this pitch my whole life. It gets more movement than the other fastball but it's a little slower. I throw it away from lefties or inside to righties."
Changeup: "This is pretty much the basic circle change except I put my pinky underneath. It's just to change speeds and give the hitter another look. It's been pretty good for me this year but I haven't thrown it a lot."
Slider: "My grip has changed the last couple years and I've finally found one that works for me. I can vary the speeds with this pitch, so sometimes I throw it more like a curveball and sometimes more like a hard slider. It depends on the situation."
4-Seam Fastball: "This is the basic fastball. It's the most common pitch thrown by almost everyone."
2-Seam Fastball: "This ball moves a little bit more but won't be as hard. This is probably my go-to pitch; some pitchers might call this a sinker. It helps create ground balls."
Cutter: "This is a new pitch for me. It's kind of like a 2-seam fastball but moves in the opposite direction. I figured if I have one fastball that moves away from righties I should also have one that moves in to keep them guessing."
Slider: "This is my big breaking ball. It's more of a strikeout pitch than anything else. I try not to throw too many of them because I want to work off my fastball. It's been my best pitch as far as getting hitters out with one pitch."
4-Seam Fastball: "This is my most accurate pitch. It's also the straightest but it still has a little bit of sink. I need all the velocity I can get, so I use this a lot."
2-Seam Fastball: "I usually only throw this to lefties. It gets a lot of sink and is only in the strike zone for a short amount of time. They either give up on it and take it for a strike or swing at it when it's out of the strike zone."
Slider: "When I went to San Diego to work with Dr. (Tom) House, he taught me to split the ball in the middle of my finger and thumb. That's the concept I use with this pitch, too. I keep my finger just a little bit off to get a better grip."
Changeup: "I throw this a little unorthodox. It's not a circle change, and I pronate a little more with my arm. I keep my index finger relatively straight."
Adam Lucas is the publisher of Tar Heel Monthly and can be reached at alucas@tarheelmonthly.com. He is the coauthor of the official book of the 2005 championship season, Led By Their Dreams, and his book on Roy Williams's first season at Carolina, Going Home Again, is now available in bookstores. To subscribe to Tar Heel Monthly or learn more about Going Home Again, click here.
