Joe Nathan’s Finishing Touch Is Back

Nathan returned to closing this month when Matt Capps struggled,Shutter Shades Sale, and in his first 11 games off the disabled list, he had a 1.74 E.R.A. with no walks.
“My velocity’s getting better and better,” Nathan said, “but more importantly, just seeing the way hitters are reacting has been promising, and letting me trust my stuff more. I don’t mind throwing 91 to 94 right now, as long as when it’s crossing the plate,Keep the Strikeouts Coming, it seems to be picking up speed. Before I was throwing 91 and kind of forcing it, and it was flattening out as it crossed the zone. Now it’s got a little more zip.”
Joe Nathan, the four-time All-Star closer for the Minnesota Twins,Red Bull Hats Sale, had reconstructive elbow surgery on March 26, 2010. He returned for opening day this season, but by the end of May, he had lost his closer’s spot, had a bloated earned run average (7.63) and was back on the disabled list with a strained flexor muscle.
E-mail ThisPrint Share CloseLinkedinDiggFacebookMixxMy SpacePermalink Joe Nathan, twins Related PostsFrom BatsTwins Closer Joe Nathan to Miss 2010 Season Twins’ Nathan Has Torn LigamentAnother Save for Twins’ Joe NathanAnother View of KillebrewAnswers to Readers’ Baseball Questions, Part 3 Previous Post Roaming the Field for Detroit: A Jack-of-All-Trades Next Post McKenry’s Big Break Comes After Trade to Pirates Search This Blog
The idea of finishing pitches can be hard to define. Mike Mussina, the former Orioles and Yankees starter, compared it to throwing the ball through the catcher, instead of just getting it there. Nathan said he would not feel 100 percent until a winter of rest, but his pitches have that snap again.
“You think you’re feeling O.K. in April and May, but until you get that whip back and that life on your fastball, you don’t realize how much you were hindered early in the season,” Nathan said. “I really wasn’t finishing pitches off.”
For all the pitchers lost this season to Tommy John surgery — including Brett Anderson, Joba Chamberlain, Jorge De La Rosa, Daisuke Matsuzaka and Adam Wainwright — one recent patient has a message: returning to your old self takes time.