Teng ‘trusting his stuff’ pays off in season-best outing for Astros By Brian McTaggart CHICAGO – What makes right-hander Kai-Wei Teng’s sweeper so difficult for opposing pitchers to hit, says Astros catcher César Salazar, is that it resembles a fastball for a good portion of the time while traveling to the plate and then suddenly takes a hard left. By that time, the hitter has committed to the fastball and has little chance of making good contact. 芝加哥—太空人捕手 César Salazar 表示，右投 Kai-Wei Teng 的 sweeper（橫掃滑球）之所以難以擊中，在於球路前段看起來和速球非常相似，但接近本壘時會突然大幅橫移。等到打者判斷出變化時，通常已經對速球出棒，很難擊出紮實擊球。 The quality of Teng’s sweeper was on full display in Saturday’s 3-0 win over the Cubs at Wrigley Field, where he threw a season-high six scoreless innings, striking out three batters and allowing two hits. Christian Walker clubbed a pair of homers to drive in all three runs for the Astros, who have gone 6-4 in their last 10 games. 鄧愷威的 sweeper 在今天對 Chicago Cubs 一戰完全展現威力。太空人在 Wrigley Field 以3比0擊敗小熊，鄧愷威主投本季新高的6局無失分，送出3次三振、僅被敲2安。Christian Walker 則敲出雙響砲，包辦球隊全部3分打點。太空人近10戰取得6勝4敗。 Teng, making his fourth start since being moved to the rotation, lowered his ERA to 2.19 and WHIP to 1.05 in 37 innings. Teng threw the sweeper 42 times in 89 pitches and got seven of his 10 whiffs on the pitch. 自從轉任先發後，這是鄧愷威第4場先發。此役過後，他本季37局的防禦率降至2.19，WHIP為1.05。今天89球中有42球是 sweeper，並利用這顆球種製造10次揮空中的7次。 “Obviously, the sweeper is my best pitch right now,” Teng said. “During the past few years when I didn’t really feel my sinker and my four-seam, I sometimes threw tons of sweeper. This year, I really trusted in my stuff and even though I didn’t feel good throwing the sinker and four-seam, I stuck with the game plan – just throw those fastballs and then it has good tunnelling with the sweeper. That’s probably why the sweeper plays that well.” 「很明顯，sweeper 是我目前最好的球種，」鄧愷威表示。 「過去幾年當我對伸卡球和四縫線沒有太多手感時，有時候會大量使用 sweeper。今年我更相信自己的球威，即使伸卡球和四縫線狀況沒有特別好，我還是照著比賽策略去投那些速球，讓它們和 sweeper 形成不錯的 tunnelling（軌跡偽裝效果）。這大概也是 sweeper 能發揮效果的原因。」 For the season, opposing hitters are batting .105 with a .140 slugging percentage and 32.2 percent whiff rate against Teng’s sweeper. Salazar said his ability to throw it on both sides of the plate, for strikes and for chase, makes it effective. 本季打者面對鄧愷威的 sweeper，打擊率僅0.105、長打率0.140，揮空率則達32.2%。Salazar 表示，鄧愷威能將這顆球投進好球帶兩側，不論是搶好球或引誘打者追打，都相當有效。 “It has a good line off the fastball for a long time,” said Salazar. “It’s like six or seven miles [per hour] off the fastball, but it’s not like it pops out of the hand. It goes in a straight line and takes a hard left, even when he’s throwing it for get-me-over strikes.” 「它有很長一段時間都和速球維持相似軌跡，」Salazar 說。 「它大概只比速球慢6、7英里，但不會讓人一出手就看出來。它會先維持直線球路，之後再突然大幅橫移，即使只是拿來搶好球也一樣。」 Teng issued leadoff walks in the second and third inning, but ground-ball double plays in both innings kept the Cubs off the scoreboard and his pitch count low. Astros starting pitchers have posted a 1.58 ERA in 23 innings in the team’s last four games, including three scoreless outings by a starter. 鄧愷威在第2與第3局都投出開局保送，但兩局都靠滾地球雙殺化解危機，不僅讓小熊無法得分，也有效控制用球數。太空人先發投手群近4場比賽合計23局、防禦率1.58，其中已有3場由先發投手完成無失分內容。 “We’re starting to get quality start after quality start,” Astros manager Joe Espada said. “Our offense continues to put [together] some good at-bats again today, but for us to get going and create consistency in how we win games, we need both sides of the ball, and it starts with our pitching.” 太空人總教練 Joe Espada 表示： 「我們開始一場接著一場投出優質先發。今天打線也持續有不錯的打席內容，但如果想建立穩定贏球的模式，攻守兩端都必須到位，而一切都是從投手開始。」 Teng, acquired in a January trade from the Giants, was excelling in a long relief role before the Astros decided to move him to the rotation in late April. That was in part because of the number of injuries they had in the rotation, but also because of how well Teng was throwing. 鄧愷威是在今年1月透過交易自 San Francisco Giants 加入太空人。在4月底被調進先發輪值前，他原本擔任長中繼角色且表現出色。太空人之所以做出調整，一方面是因為輪值傷兵問題，另一方面也是因為鄧愷威本身投球內容相當穩定。 As a starter, he’s managed to remain effective during the second and third time through the batting order. He retired nine of the final 10 hitters he faced Saturday. Teng said he sticks to the pregame plan during the first time through the order, but focuses on hitters’ reactions after that to determine which pitches to throw. 轉任先發後，鄧愷威在面對打線第二輪、第三輪時，依然能維持壓制力。今天他最後面對的10名打者中，解決了其中9人。鄧愷威表示，第一次面對打線時，會依照賽前擬定的策略配球，之後則會根據打者反應調整球種搭配。 愷威今年的sweeper依舊是有目共睹，賽前Run value是6。 這場繳出生涯代表作，今年控球的進步是自己休賽季的功勞，我空是幫他優化game plan，文中也有提到更相信自己的stuff，而不是像去年基本上一直靠sweeper。不過這場只有sweeper能用的情況下重回到了去年的使用率，但該丟的四縫還是要丟，直接丟進去而不是要求一定要控在邊角，實際取得的效果非常好。 這場隱憂則是BB希望還能更好以及本場Hard Hit還是偏高，這點相較於去年就沒那麼好了。 但無損愷威連續兩場繳出無失分好投，繼續保持，我空也只落後外卡4場而已，還有機會。 Brown要準備復健賽了，到時候真的是要煩惱要繼續6人輪值還是誰去牛棚了XD ----- Sent from JPTT on my iPhone -- ※ 發信站: 批踢踢實業坊(ptt.cc), 來自: 223.138.28.217 (臺灣) ※ 文章網址: https://www.ptt.cc/bbs/Baseball/M.1779580500.A.B26.html