When you combine fun commentary and GIFs of "filthy" pitches that make you go weak in the knees, you get Rob Friedman -- or as many of you know him as, @PitchingNinja.
We've already gone over Friedman's favorite Giants pitchers, but we wanted to take a look at the A's this time around. And with Friedman being a huge fan of Blake Treinen, he was more than happy to talk the green and gold.
Blake Treinen
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Rob Freidman: "OK, this comes as no surprise. I've been on Blake Treinen since I dubbed him as 'The Witch' a few years back due to his wicked, other-worldly stuff ... and then undubbed him when I found out he hated that name -- oops."
RF: "A witch or not, and I 96.9 percent believe him that he's not really a witch -- his stuff is among the filthiest in Major League Baseball. In fact, it might actually be the filthiest. Don't believe me? Here are some examples.
"A 96 mph sinker that looks like a changeup:"
RF: "A 97 mph sinker that was actually called a changeup by the broadcast team:"
RF: "A disappearing 98 mph turbo sinker:"
RF: "And Blake won my 'Filthiest sinker poll' with 51 perfect of the vote over the entire league:"
RF: "And he can tunnel his slider and sinker at 100and 90 mph"
RF: "This caused me to wonder out loud not why he was doing so well, but how anyone ever got a run off of him at all."
Lou Trivino
RF: "Like Treinen, Trivino has ridiculous stuff. Like an upper 90's/100 mph fastball and a sharp mid-90's cutter that he can tunnel. WHEW!"
RF: "And even though he possesses a 100 mph fastball, he can dismantle you with just his cutter and curve."
... causing his fellow American League pitcher Marcus Stroman to just say 'Yep.'"
RF: "Here's another filthy cutter from Trivino that briefly caused me to lapse into Spanish -- and I don't speak Spanish."
... and, Trivino's absurd stuff also briefly turned me into Dog Rates. Well, I do like dogs."
Fernando Rodney
RF: "Fernando Rodney has always been fun to watch because he throws gas and has a Bugs Bunny changeup -- it's legendarily good."
RF: "He also tunnels his changeup very well with his fastball. Well, most of the time."
Daniel Mengden
RF: "I love watching Daniel Mengden pitch because he has nasty stuff."
RF: "Plus, he has identical pitching mechanics to a praying mantis:
... and, his handlebar mustache and mechanics make him look like a 1930's baseball star (complete with the music and everything)":
All-time Pitcher: Rollie Fingers
RF: ... because he had a nasty slider:
... and he FAKED an intentional walk to strike out Johnny Bench in the World Series -- which will never happen again in the Major Leagues (due to the auto-intentional walk rule):
There is plenty to look forward to when it comes to the A's pitching staff in the upcoming season, and this was just a taste. The A's brought back starting pitcher Mike Fiers and the bullpen -- well, you saw the Treinen GIFs ...
Thanks again to Rob Friedman for his time and contributions to this article.
