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Brandon McCarthy is back

By The Cheat

A little over a month ago, Brandon McCarthy was sent back down the AAA Charlotte before the All-Star break because the White Sox wouldn't need a 5th starter until 5 games after the break, and it was clear that McCarthy wasn't ready for the show. Fast forward 6 weeks, and it appears that McCarthy is a changed man.

When McCarthy was making those 5 starts for the White Sox, he was pretty much only a 2-pitch pitcher. He could throw the fastball(straight) and curveball for strikes, but didn't have the confidence or command to get the change up over the plate to fool big league hitters. According to FutureSox, Brandon has worked on the change and has added a new pitch to his arsenal.

McCarthy has struggled to mix in his change up at times this year and has just begun working the pitch back into his arsenal. The change up was the key to his success during spring training and will be the key to his long-term success. Earlier this year, Brandon was made aware of the fact that he was tipping his pitches. When he learned of the problem, he ended up tweaking his mechanics, throwing himself into a rut.

The problem was magnified as Brandon had begun working a 2 seam fastball into his arsenal around the same time the "tipping" was brought to him. Brandon is still adjusting to the 2-seam fastball, but it's a pitch that will give him a little extra ammo, next time he's in the majors.

As you can see, the adjustments he's made have obviously been working. He's lowered his ERA by over 1.5 runs.
IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA Before 7/10 66.1 68 42 41 19 82 12 5.56 After 53 36 11 11 13 48 4 1.87 =============================================== 119.1 104 53 52 32 130 16 3.92
The two most impressive things to me are how he has cut down on the HR, (He was giving up over 1 HR per start before the change) and the drastic drop in H/9 (Dropping from 9.23 to 6.11 tells me that he's giving up a lot fewer ropes and hard outs than before)

So with a double header on the Horizon against the Texas Rangers, who have lit McCarthy up twice, will the Sox turn to him a third time? If I was to guess I would say no. They have proven time and time again that they pay little-to-no attention to minor league numbers when they have a need to fill. (e.g. Gload, Bajenaru) Add to that, the Chicago Tribune speculates that lil' Arnie Munoz may get the nod because of his left handedness.

They have yet to decide who will be called up from the minors to start one game of the Tuesday doubleheader at Texas.
Triple-A Charlotte pitcher Brandon McCarthy (7-7) has been pounded twice by the Rangers, but he struck out 10 and allowed one run in 72/3 innings Tuesday in a 5-1 victory over Toledo.

Other candidates include Felix Diaz (6-7) and left-hander Arnie Munoz (7-13), as well as Double-A Birmingham's Sean Tracey (13-5). All four are on the 40-man roster.

Texas' predominately left-handed-hitting lineup could mean Munoz gets extra consideration.

Oh, to be a middling left-handed talent. If I ever have a kid, his right arm is getting tied behind his back at birth.

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