Tigers' Pote Impressive

Mr. Sugishita, pitching coach for the Dragons taught a new type of split finger ball to Lue Pote, and he mastered it immediately according to the one of the articles today.

This pitching coach is called "the father of the fork ball," and he is the first great pitcher in the Japanese baseball to effectively use it. Sasaki, now with the Mariners, was also taught and improved this spitter by him.

Now Pote has got a new Sasaki type of split fingered fast ball in addition. This could really benefit him.

Bino316 from Anaheim

It is just a matter of time until people realize this guy has some nasty stuff. Hopefully he will be able to be as consistent as I know he's capable of being, the best is yet to come!!!!

I sure hope that's true, firstly because Hanshin let go of a great closer in Marc Valdez, and we need someone good to replace him, and secondly because Pote faces some stiff competition in Jeff Williams for the closing spot. Hoshino has made noises about using Pote to close and Williams (along with others) in the middle.

I think the competition will be beneficial to both guys. I'm sure they use their pitchers in the same manner over here in regards to lefty verse lefty for matchup reasons as they do in the States. He is a real versatile pitcher, so however they use him, he will do well.

Lou has a very important faculty to be in Japanese baseball. He does not hesitate to throw a breaking ball or split finger at any count, even if it is 3-2, 3-0, or any time. He doesn't have to go with a fastball on a 3-2 pitch.

I was very impressed last June when he pitched a one-hitter in 5 innings as a starter. At the time he filled in for a sick Schoeny.

Lou has always had good stats when he pitched on a consistent basis. At the end of the 2001 season, with roughly 2 weeks to play, his ERA was 2.45 and he had about 82 to 85 innings already pitched. At this time he was being used on a consistent basis, and basically had a couple of bad outings right at the end of the season, so his ERA ballooned to 4.15. But the whole team kind of faltered toward the end of that season.

You are certainly correct that he does not hesitate to throw various pitches in situations that most other pitchers won't attempt in certain count situations. He also was pretty affective in New York, again on a spot starts.