Soriano "felt good" during bullpen session, could pitch in game soon
By Byron Kerr
Prior to Monday's game versus the Braves, Nationals manager Matt Williams updated Rafael Soriano's progress as he tries to work on his mechanics following a rough stretch. Soriano has not pitched since Friday.
Williams did not personally witness Soriano's bullpen session today, but got the full report from pitching coach Steve McCatty. He did get to speak to Soriano after the workout.
"He's working on his mechanics," Williams said. "I talked to him in there and he said he felt good. That's a good sign that he feels good. Working on down plane, throwing the ball where he wants to. I think it all worked well."
When trying to break down and build back up a pitcher's slider that has become flat, a pitching coach will look to three things: grip, the looseness and/or tightness of said grip, and arm angle.
Williams said Soriano must find that proper grip again and add the amount of pressure he had in the past to get the release that provided the most downward-plane effectiveness.
"I think it's feel. It's feel more than anything," Williams said. "You can watch video all you want. It's like a hitter. You can say, 'Oh well, I'm stepping in the bucket, I'm diving too much.' But you have to feel it. You have to get in there and actually do it and work on it and it does take some time."
Williams said Soriano could possibly pitch in the game tonight. But it will more likely be later on in the week because Soriano just had the bullpen session today. And it will also likely be a low-leverage situation.
"We'll see where we are at as far as the games go and look to get him in a game," Williams said. "Where that will be and when that will be, we don't know because we haven't started playing the game yet. It was a pretty good bullpen today - a good, hot bullpen. So, there's no reason that he couldn't go back-to-back like he would normally. But we'll see how the game unfolds and where we're at."
Williams said Soriano could even pitch tonight, referencing the 14-inning game last week in Los Angeles where they emptied the bullpen.
"He's working on his mechanics," Williams said. "I talked to him in there and he said he felt good. That's a good sign that he feels good. Working on down plane, throwing the ball where he wants to. I think it all worked well."
When trying to break down and build back up a pitcher's slider that has become flat, a pitching coach will look to three things: grip, the looseness and/or tightness of said grip, and arm angle.
Williams said Soriano must find that proper grip again and add the amount of pressure he had in the past to get the release that provided the most downward-plane effectiveness.
"I think it's feel. It's feel more than anything," Williams said. "You can watch video all you want. It's like a hitter. You can say, 'Oh well, I'm stepping in the bucket, I'm diving too much.' But you have to feel it. You have to get in there and actually do it and work on it and it does take some time."
Williams said Soriano could possibly pitch in the game tonight. But it will more likely be later on in the week because Soriano just had the bullpen session today. And it will also likely be a low-leverage situation.
"We'll see where we are at as far as the games go and look to get him in a game," Williams said. "Where that will be and when that will be, we don't know because we haven't started playing the game yet. It was a pretty good bullpen today - a good, hot bullpen. So, there's no reason that he couldn't go back-to-back like he would normally. But we'll see how the game unfolds and where we're at."
Williams said Soriano could even pitch tonight, referencing the 14-inning game last week in Los Angeles where they emptied the bullpen.
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