Jim Colborn Quotes (27 Quotes)

He's consistent and feels very good about it. His balance is good. He's a lot better than the films I saw from last year. I think he'll pitch well.

When you commit to a delivery alteration or different focus, which we've done with almost every single pitcher on the staff, it sometimes takes a while to get the consistent release point. It takes a while to be able to throw the baseball without concentrating on that alteration. Once it's ingrained in there to where they can throw without concentrating on that and put all of their focus on getting hitters out, then they pitch better.

It takes patience because you have to be willing to get the wrong answers. But in the end, it's a better technique.

The truth is, we're trying to get him to throw exactly like he did in previous years. It's a sense of timing and knowing where your body parts need to be in the delivery on the way to home plate. It's timing of the different parts.

In all my years as a pitching coach I've only done what I feel is right to help a pitcher get better, and my experience has been that I've been able to help a lot of pitchers.

I'm more worried about location. He doesn't have to strike out 225 guys in a season to win 20 games.

These Pirates ... They're a great team waiting to happen. I honestly feel as though I have this grave responsibility to shape this young staff into what it could become -- and what it could become is frighteningly good.

His breaking ball, change-up and fastball are sharp. His command is good. So I'm pleased. That's what you want more than anything, that they execute what they're trying to do and he was doing it fairly well. There were three hits that accounted for his runs -- two doubles and a homer. Of the three, only one was a little bit of a mistake.

Right now, my job is just going to be to observe and learn for a while. But I know there is talent here.

I don't really pay attention to velocity with anyone.

A lot of times what you see in the spring can change radically in the season. It can go from good to bad or bad to good. So I'm not too interested, I don't concern myself with their performance in the spring.

It happened a couple of days ago and it's gotten worse. I don't know how, but it doesn't take much to aggravate it. It's the size of a large cantaloupe. I think I strained the tendon in the back where the calf connects.

His delivery was a little more consistent than what we've seen here before. The main thing that shows is he's a competitor. And when the stakes are on the table he pitches his best.

He's had confidence before and he's had success before. It's in the package. That's what it is all about, for individual players to realize that who they are is good enough. Most of the problems are caused when a player thinks he has to do more or be radically different than what his talents are in order to succeed. In most cases, that's not the case. They just need to be themselves and trust that.

I mainly wanted to see what his delivery looked like compared to earlier in the spring. The pace is much better, his balance is better. So I think we're on the right track.

My theory on him is that he's essentially still in Spring Training. He's behind, and he may have hit a little bit of that 'dead arm' phase. In general, he's throwing the ball better than he was when I saw him in January. It's consistent, he feels very good about it, his balance is good. It's a lot better than the films I've seen from last year.

I was looking at his motion and his balance, if it was a consistent motion and if he repeated it. And on all those counts, I felt pretty good about it. I thought the mechanics were decent.

My theory on him is he's essentially still in spring training. He's behind, and he's going through a bit of a dead-arm period, something like that.

He looked really good. I was quite surprised that he looked so good. It was a really nice delivery.

Sometimes, you just get a feeling about things. I thought it might take a little longer for him to get comfortable with it, because some different images have to be processed. But apparently, it hasn't. Apparently, he was just doing it wrong before. Now, he's doing it right, and it's easier for him.

Good hitters want to extend their arms, they want to take away the inside of the plate and look middle-to-away. If a pitcher can establish the inside of the plate, it keeps a hitter honest.

It would have been great to be back with them. But Pittsburgh's time seems to be on the rise, too, with some good players and some very good young pitchers, ... Jim wants to bring in as many of our L.A. staff as possible, with the idea that as a group we had commitment and synergy and had players playing up to their potential as much as possible.

You do see some deliveries quicker than others. Sometimes, you get a sense that your body is in their body and you can feel the transfer of power. When you do get a pitcher like that, sometimes the smallest thing sticks out with you. I'm not saying that Ryan was exactly like that, but he was close.

But maybe the action on Derek's pitches trumps that,

They certainly have talent, but what you really notice is that they're beyond their years in knowing how to pitch. They have an instinct.

Staying with Jim was the result of a very fortunate time in my life. I really had two first choices of where I wanted to be, with Jim or with the Mariners, a first-class organization to work for, ... at least one of the top candidates.

It's important for a hitter to know that you can protect the inside of the plate. The reason the inside of the plate is so important is because slow pitches away become that much more effective when you can control it.