Marlins' closer Cishek needs to keep lefties at bay

Sidearmers like Marlins' and Team USA right-hander Steve Cishek generally have disparate splits, but Cishek has shown an ability to keep lefties in check.

  • USA pitcher Steve Cishek pitches during the eight inning of the World Baseball Classic second round Pool 2 game between United States and the Puerto Rico at Marlins Park in Miami on Tuesday, March 12, 2013.
USA pitcher Steve Cishek pitches during the eight inning of the World Baseball… (David Santiago / El Nuevo…)
March 14, 2013|By Juan C. Rodriguez, Sun Sentinel

MIAMI As capably as Steve Cishek pitched last season, the Marlins are running an inherent risk in using him as their closer. Right-handed sidearmers like Cishek generally are vulnerable to left-handed hitters.

Cishek to some degree has bucked that trend, but even the best right-handed sidearm closers of all-time were susceptible to lefties.

Indians reliever Vinnie Pestano, one of Cishek's Team USA bullpen mates and a sidearmer himself, explained why that arm angle in many cases limits guys to specialist roles.

"For a right-handed hitter, when you're coming from the right side it's like that the ball is almost coming from behind your back and it's coming back in," said Pestano, before Thursday's 3-1 Dominican Republic World Baseball Classic win over Team USA at Marlins Park. "Throwing from that angle you get some of that natural run.

"Lefties see the ball the entire time, so usually when you've got side-arm guys like myself ... it's all about really being able to, one, command your off speed pitches to lefties, being able to back-door it, keeping them honest and really coming inside. It doesn't hurt that [Cishek] throws 96 from that angle as well."

Since making his major league debut in 2010, Pestano has held right-handed hitters to a .139 average and .446 on-base plus slugging percentage with a 4.6-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Lefties have hit .261 with a .780 OPS and have totaled just 17 more strikeouts (43) than walks off him.

Disparate splits are common for pitchers of that ilk. Left-handers hit 44 points better (.289) and slugged 58 points higher (.393) off Dan Quisenberry than righties. For his stellar career, he struck out just 34 more lefties than he walked.

Hall of Famer Dennis Eckersley during his years as a reliever (1987-'98) held right-handed hitters to a .199/.224/.319 slash line with an eye-popping 12.3-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio. The lefties' slash line: .259/.297/.398 with 3.8 strikeouts for every walk.

"Lefties are going to see the ball better," Pestano said. "They're going to see it longer, but if you can keep them honest, moving the ball in, out, and then keeping them honest again with the off speed, I think that's definitely beneficial. Watching Steve a couple times, he has come in and gotten some huge outs for us."

Cishek's splits have been a mixed bag in his young career. Lefties' batting average and OPS are 52 and 182 points higher, respectively, but his strikeout-to-walk ratios are nearly identical: 2.9-to-1 for righties and 2.3-to-1 for lefties.

"I just try to throw every pitch with conviction," said Cishek, who struck out the left-handed hitting Robinson Cano as part of his 1 1/3 scoreless innings Thursday. "I always try to mix locations and speeds just to keep them off balance. This offseason I've been working on the changeup. Whether I use it in a big situation or not, probably not, but it's a nice pitch to have to keep those lefties off balance.

"I don't want them seeing a lot of the same pitch. I try to make my slider look a lot like my fastball so when they see it coming out of my hand they think it's going to go down and away into their happy zone instead of coming back in on their hands."

Lefties were considerably better off Cishek in 2012 (.279/.391/.396) than 2011 (.225/.311/.350), when his slider had more tilt. Cishek learned to back-door that pitch and employed it often against lefties.

"Now I think I got the tilt back a little bit on my slider," Cishek said. "Hopefully it stays that way and I can use it this year." or @JCRMarlinsbeat on Twitter

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