Those of us who worried that Brian Wilson was spending too much time dressing up like a sea captain and hanging out with Charlie Sheen this offseason probably shouldn't have.
At some point during his wild and wacky afterglow of the World Series, the San Francisco Giants wild closer also found time to add a fourth pitch to the repertoire that helped him save a league-high 48 games in 2010.
As The Cove's Will Brinson details, the early reviews on Wilson's "filthy" pitch have been great and it should help him immensely as he goes forward. After two rough outings to start the season, Wilson has overcome an early oblique injury to record four straight saves.
Over that streak, he has struck out five, walked none and allowed only one hit.
So what type of pitch is Wilson throwing these days?
[It's] a two-seam, sinking fastball that Wilson just added to a menu that largely consists of a straight, four-seam fastball, cutter and slider. If he can use it effectively, hitters will be in for even tougher at-bats against last year's major-league saves leader.
"The cat's out of the bag. It's another weapon," pitching coach Dave Righetti said, calling Wilson's two-seamer a "big-time" development.
It's certainly a fun pitch to watch. Unlike his straight four-seamer, Wilson's two-seam fastball tails in on right-handed hitters, its amount of movement only rivaled by the amount of confusion from the poor opposing batter. As Schulman notes, Mariano Rivera added the pitch a few years ago to pair with his trademark cutter. If Wilson can continue to have half the success of Rivera, he'll put together a pretty good career.
Straight from McCovey Chronicles, here's an animated GIF of Wilson throwing the two-seamer at Jamey Carroll of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Nope. Never a chance.
Love the pitch, love the Y! product placement.
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