Tim Lincecum 投他的二缝線快速球
During the last offseason, I gushed over Tim Lincecum and his incredible tools. Now that Lincecum has taken home the Cy Young award, I want to do my first rewrite of a player, to look at Lincecum's evolution this year and how he went from an excellent pitcher to the best pitcher in the National League.
去年季後我曾發表了一篇關於Lincecum與他不可思議的投球武器的文章。現在Lincecum已經將賽揚獎抱回家了，我想要首次重寫一位球員的分析以觀察Lincecum今年的進步與他如何從一位優秀的投手成為國聯的最佳投手。
First, though, a small correction to the previous article. Tim Lincecum's fastball is actually a two-seamer, not a four-seam fastball. Despite being able to throw his fastball in the mid-90s and with a ton of vertical "rise," Lincecum does not use four seams. Big thanks to Icon for this excellent picture showing Lincecum's fastball. You have to look closely, but once you see the seams, it is easy to tell this is a two-seamer. For more on fastball grips check this site.
首先是之前文章的一點小更正。Tim Lincecum的快速球事實上是二縫線球而不是四缝線。儘管Lincecum能夠投出95mph以上具有大量垂直上飄的快速球，但是他卻不使用四缝線快速球。非常感謝Icon這張展現Lincecum快速球投法的照片。你得靠近點看，但是當你看到缝線時，就能輕易的分辨出這是顆二缝線球。你可以在這個網站中了解更多關於快速球的握法。
Really, whether it is a four-seamer or two-seamer doesn't matter because of the excellent action of the pitch. Here is a look at the movement of Lincecum's pitches.
由於這顆球的優異位移軌跡，不管它是四缝線還是二缝線都不重要了。以下是Lincecum的球種位移圖。
Lincecum's fastball averages 95 mph, which is overpowering, but he combines that with 11 inches of vertical movement and only three inches of horizontal movement. The small horizontal movement is because Lincecum throws his fastball from almost completely over the top. Because his fastball has little horizontal movement, it is effective against both right- and left-handed batters. Pitchers who throw more sidearm generally specialize in similarly handed batters. The overpowering speed is great, but the movement of the pitch makes it so much better.
Lincecum的快速球均速達到極具威力的95mph，除此之外還具有11吋的垂直位移與3吋的水平位移。微小的水平位移是因為Lincecum投快速球時使用基乎完全徹底的高壓投法。由於僅具有少量水平位移，所以面對不論是左打或右打者時皆能有效運用。投球動作較偏向側投的投手所投出的在面對同樣慣用手的打者時會較有威力。位移讓Lincecum的火球更加優異。
For off-speed pitches, Lincecum throws a change-up, slider and curveball. While the change-up and curveball were holdovers from last year, Lincecum added a slider this year—about two sliders in 100 pitches. Lincecum had thrown a slider in college, but it was scrapped when he was drafted. You can see why Lincecum didn't use his slider often—it has almost no horizontal movement, which is important.
至於慢速球種方面，Liucecum會投變速球，滑球與曲球。除了去年就有使用的變速球與曲球外，Lincecum今年又加上了滑球，大約100顆球中有2顆是滑球。Lincecum大學時就曾使用滑球，但是當他被巨人隊選中後，滑球就被封印了。由於幾乎沒有水平位移，所以Lincecum不常使用他的滑球。
Lincecum's curveball is a very hard one, averaging 80 mph, similar to Ben Sheets'. Also like Sheets, he gets good vertical drop, and that combination is absolutely deadly. Here is a look at Lincecum's average fastball and curve from the side.
Lincecum的曲球屬於速度較快的，平均球速為80mph，與Ben Sheet的曲球類似。除了球速類似以外，兩個人的曲球也都具有不錯的垂直下墜，倆者結合在一起形成了這顆致命的球種。下圖為Lincecum平均的快速球與曲球側視圖。
Because of its speed, Lincecum can hide his curve extremely well. His curveball's hump is absolutely tiny and he is letting it go from exactly the same release point. That gives a hitter no clue that the pitch is coming. But fooling hitters is only part of the equation. You then have to have the pitch drop enough so the hitter is swinging over the curve. That is where the vertical movement comes in; you can see the result with the huge differential when the pitch reaches home plate. That combination is what makes the pitch so effective.
由於速度快，Lincecum能將他的曲球隱藏的非常好。曲球的隆起幅度非常的微小，並且與快速球的出手點幾乎相同。這使得打者無法得知眼前的這顆球是曲球，但是愚弄打者只是解決打者其中的一環而已。你還必須讓球下墜幅度夠大，使打者揮空。這就是垂直位移的功效，你可以看出球到達本壘板時的巨大差異。速度加上垂直位移使得這個球種如此優異。
As good as Lincecum's curve is, I don't feel it is his best off-speed pitch. That pitch is his change-up, which has identical horizontal movement to his fastball with about half a foot less vertical "rise." In addition, Lincecum has an excellent speed differential of almost 11 mph. That is extremely strong. When you look at his change-up and fastball, you see an even more devastating combination than his curveball/fastball.
儘管Lincecum的曲球很棒，但是我不認為這是他最棒的慢速球種。他最棒的慢速球種是變速球，變速球的水平位移與快速球相同，與快速球相比少了大約半呎的垂直"上飄"。此外，Lincecum與快速球還具有11mph的優異速差。這是非常大的速差。當你觀察他的變速球與快速球時，你會發覺這是比他的曲球/快速球更具威力的組合。
There isn't any way for a hitter to identify the change-up here until the ball is right on top of him. If his change-up had different horizontal movement than his fastball, hitters could use that, but again, Lincecum's change-up has identical horizontal movement. This is one of the best change-ups in the world right now and you hear almost nothing about it. The scary thing is Lincecum just started throwing this pitch when he signed with the Giants. Whoever taught Lincecum his change in the Giants organization deserves a huge raise.
直到球到了打者面前之前，打者沒有任何辦法能夠分辨出這是一顆變速球。如果他的變速球具有與快速球不同的水平位移，打者就可藉此分辨，但是再提一次，Lincecum的變速球具有與快速球相同的水平位移。這是目前為止世界上最棒的變速球之一。最令人驚訝的是Lincecum是在與巨人隊簽約後才開始投這個球種的。巨人球團中指導Lincecum投變速球的人應該要被大大的加薪。
Usage
使用方式
While Lincecum's pitches are electric, plenty of pitchers have electric stuff. What made Lincecum the best pitcher in the National League this year was how he used those pitches. Last year, he used his curve a little more than his change-up and used it mostly as his strikeout pitch. This year, Lincecum used his change-up more often and with two strikes much more frequently. As I mentioned last week while writing about Brett Myers, breaking pitches that move away from the hitter tend to be more effective than breaking pitches that move toward the hitter. For a right-handed pitcher, this means more change-ups to left-handed batters and more curveballs to right-handed batters. Lincecum absolutely followed that pattern this year.
很多投手與Lincecum同樣都具有不錯的球威。如何使用各種球種是讓Lincecum今年成為國家聯盟最佳投手的原因。去年球季，他的曲球投的比變速球多一些，並且幾乎都是使用在有三振打者的機會時。今年Lincecum投了較多的變速球，並且更常在兩好球的情況下使用。上週在撰寫關於Brett Myers的文章時我注意到，偏離打者的慢速球種較其他慢速球種更為有效。以右投手為例，對左打者應該多使用變速球，隊右打者則應該投較多的曲球。Lincecum今年肯定是以這樣的型態在投球。
Type RHB LHB Curve 18 7.5 Change 11 27 (all values in percent) 球種 右打 左打 曲球 18 7.5 變速球 11 27 (單位為百分比)
Notice that Lincecum still throws some curves to left-handed batters and some change-ups to right-handed batters. He can get away with that more than other pitchers because he throws over the top and his change-up and curve have less horizontal movement. Pitchers like Myers who have more horizontal movement with breaking pitches need to be more careful about this. This means that right-handed batters can't just forget about Lincecum's change-up and focus on his fastball and curveball. Just another thing for hitters to worry about when facing Lincecum.
注意到Lincecum仍然會在面對左打者時投少量的曲球與面對右打者時投一些變速球。Lincecum比其他投手更能跳脫這樣的型態是由於他使用高壓投法，他的變速球與曲球只有微量的水平位移。像Myers這樣慢速球種具有較多水平位移的投手需要更加注意。這代表右打者將無法忽略Lincecum的變速球而專注於他的快速球與曲球。這使得打者在面對Lincecum時需要多注意一個球種。
Conclusions
結論
I hope this article has convinced you that Tim Lincecum is far more than just his 95 mph fastball. While speed is great, Lincecum's movement on his pitches is also excellent. Lincecum's off-speed pitches mesh incredibly well with his fastball and this year he threw the right pitch for the situation time and time again.
我希望這篇文章能讓你了解Tim Lincecmu不是只有95mph的快速球。除了優秀的球速之外，球的位移也同樣非常棒。Lincecum的慢速球種與他的快速球形成不可思議的搭配。另外今年他總是能依當時情況投出正確的球種。
Not only is Lincecum blessed with great stuff, but clearly knows how to pitch and that is a deadly combination. Expect him to be one of the best pitchers in the league for many years to come.
Lincecum不只具有優異的球威，他更完全明白該如何投球，這又是另一樣致命的組合。數年之內他應該都會是聯盟中最佳投手之一。
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