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Kazmir: Master Of Deception

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By MARC LANCASTER

The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 13, 2008

Updated: 07/13/2008 12:16 am

CLEVELAND - As someone who has never stood in the batter's box against Scott Kazmir, it took Dioner Navarro some time to fully grasp how miserable an experience trying to hit the lefty can be.

He knew Kazmir was throwing harder than average, but not triple-digits hard, and the pitcher didn't roll out a particularly nasty breaking ball or effective changeup.

"I'd be catching back there and I'd be, 'How the heck do these guys keep missing those pitches,' because he just throws fastball after fastball," Navarro said. "I started talking with other guys around the league - 'What do you see?' - and they said that ball gets there so fast, like sneaky fast."

A pitch traveling 95 mph gets to home plate in about four-tenths of a second, and a decision on whether (and where) to swing must be made in about half that time. When working in parameters like that, any variable that tilts the equation a fraction of a second in either direction can create a huge advantage for the pitcher or the batter.

And therein lies much of the secret behind the success that has made Kazmir a two-time All-Star at age 24. Plenty of pitchers throw harder or have nastier stuff, but his delivery keeps hitters guessing just long enough that they usually can't recover.

"As a left-handed hitter, it looks like it's kind of coming from out of his ear," said Eric Hinske. "And it's 95 mph and his slider looks just like his fastball, so it's not a fun time when you're a left-handed hitter."

Hinske is one of three lefties on the Rays' roster who faced Kazmir before coming to Tampa Bay, and none managed to put a ball in play. Hinske, Carlos Pena and Gabe Gross are a combined 0-for-8 with eight strikeouts, though Kazmir walked Pena three times and once hit Hinske with a pitch.

Pena described the experience of hitting against Kazmir as "baffling," in that "your eyes see something and then what you see is really not what's going on."

So what is going on when Kazmir whips through his compact delivery? Let him describe it.

"The way I developed my windup, I throw across my body a little bit," he said. "That's why I stand on the third-base side, so it kind of balances me out.

"Once I throw across my body, my front foot is directly towards the middle of the plate, so it just seems like it's a little bit awkward compared to just straight forward and staying open - it seems like they can't see it as good. But I do it just enough to where it doesn't affect my accuracy really that much."

Kazmir has utilized basically the same delivery since he got serious about pitching as a sophomore in high school. He mostly played center field before then, though he had dabbled in pitching as a Little Leaguer. After he threw some runners out at home plate, his coach asked him about trying to pitch again and gave him a crash course in basic mechanics that included some homework.

"He told me and my dad to get a mirror and put it in my room and just kind of look at yourself, go through your mechanics and just stay balanced and keep doing it until you feel comfortable," Kazmir said. "After that, I got a good idea on how to throw with a windup."

Day after day, he would practice in front of the mirror that hung on the closet door. When he wasn't there, he often planted himself in front of whatever game happened to be on television - usually his hometown Astros or the superstation broadcasts of the Braves or Cubs - and paid close attention.

"I would just watch, in detail, all of those guys," he said. "How they would go about their business, how their windup is and whatnot, and just try to mimic it. I think that helped me out a lot."

Over time, Kazmir was able to assemble all of the various components he picked up along the way into a style that has served him well. In his fourth full year as a major-leaguer, he has become known as one of the game's most prolific strikeout artists.

Of course, that attribute also has served as something of an impediment to Kazmir at times. Striking out a lot of batters usually requires a lot of pitches, and Kazmir has been openly frustrated about his inability to work deeper into games lately.

Much of the problem stems from hitters fouling off pitches they just can't square up to. Kazmir still finds a way to get them out more often than not, but those extended at-bats add up after a while. He recently pondered whether he should try to dial it back to about 88 mph and "just get some groundballs and stuff like that," a smile coming to his face as he envisioned himself as a classic veteran lefty junkballer.

"I think I'm always going to be a work in progress," he said. "I think there's a lot of room for me to improve. I'm just learning the changeup now and I think with time I'll be able to develop another pitch than just the fastball-slider-changeup. A knuckle-split or something - I'm working on that."

With that, another smile. Keep looking for that fastball, hitters. It's there, somewhere.

Reporter Marc Lancaster can be reached at (813) 259-7227 or mlancaster@tampatrib.com.

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