Comfortability with the American baseball, throwing program, Major League Baseball all helping Padres reliever Yuki Matsui find his stride
San Diego Padres relief pitcher Yuki Matsui celebrates after striking out Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani during the fifth inning of a baseball game Tuesday, July 30, 2024, in San Diego. The Padres were down three runs on Friday when Yuki Matsui struck out a batter in the ninth inning to run his walk-less streak to nine appearances.
The outing before, Matsui struck out two batters — including Shohei Ohtani — in the fifth inning of a down game. The 28-year-old left-hander saved 236 games in a decade in Nippon Professional Baseball, but he understands he’s got work to do to get back into high-leverage spots.“I need to get more confidence from the team that I can pitch ,” Matsui said through interpreter Yusuke Horii. “I’ve been happy with all the situations that I’ve been throwing in, but I need to get more confidence from the team so I can throw in more leverage situations.” Yes, the new dynamic will make that difficult, as the arrival of All-Star left-hander Tanner Scott and right-hander Jason Adam is pushing the incumbents into games earlier. That doesn’t mean Matsui isn’t pitching important innings, as he did on Tuesday in a scoreless fifth that helped the Padres erase a five-run deficit. That he hasn’t walked a batter in nine straight appearances after averaging 5.5 per nine innings through his first 40 appearances is all about ever-increasing comfort as he wades through his first big-league season.For starters, the culture is entirely different — even if he had Yu Darvish to lean on. The U.S. ball is also bigger with a smaller seam and the games are more frequent in Major League Baseball than in Japan. To combat the latter, Matsui began the season with the intention of dialing back his pre-game throwing program. But after a particularly tough game in early June in Anaheim , conversations with pitching coach Ruben Niebla and Padres President of Baseball Operations A.J. Preller led Matsui to reintroduce long-tossing to match his pre-game preparation in Japan.Padres notes: Calf holding Michael King back; Martín Pérez set for debut Along the way, Matsui also upped the usage of a four-seamer that features some 20 inches of vertical ride. Since the game in Anaheim, Matsui has pushed that percentage from 34.5 percent to 48.4 percent, a stretch that has seen Matsui strike out 27 batters against six walks while posting a 1.29 ERA and .579 opponent OPS over 21 innings. “There’s a lot of things that are happening with the comfortability with the baseball, the culture, the environment, the hitters, the league,” Niebla said. “You start piecing all these things together and you start seeing the product that we signed for a few years.”and Scott were honored as the NL’s pitcher and reliever of the month, respectively, for their work in July. Including his no-hitter, Cease went 4-2 with a 2.35 ERA, 49 strikeouts and an 0.83 WHIP. Hitters hit .143 off him. As for Scott, he struck out 15 over 9 ⅔ innings without allowing a run. He walked four and allowed one hit for an 0.34 opponent average. played catch again on Saturday. The Padres expect him to return to the rotation at some point during the three-game series in Pittsburgh. RHPwill make his rehab start on Sunday at Double-A San Antonio — likely in the neighborhood of three innings and 45-50 pitches — and then join the team in Pittsburgh for his post-start evaluation. He’s aiming to return to the rotation on the upcoming road trip.45 free or really cheap things to do in San Diego CountyRubio’s, still in bankruptcy, finds a buyerAffordable housing project in Pacific Beach first to breach 30-foot coastal height limitA pair of reports show utility bills will keep going up in San Diego — and across California
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