Nice article on Jordan Lyles, from his hometown paper.
What was the difference for Lyles in 2009?
“I think the biggest difference this year was really just learning how to pitch and learning how to scout an opposing team. I was used to playing every day in high school. Now I have five days between starts to sit in the dugout and watch the other team hit. After a while, you start to learn where you want to attack certain players and where you want to stay away from others. About a quarter of the way through the season, I made it a point to utilize both sides of the plate. Before, I hadn’t gone inside too much. I think that was one of the things that really started to keep the hitters off-balance.”
Legends' pitching coach Travis Driskill:
“Jordan has a special fastball. It almost seems to speed up as it comes to the plate. In reality, it’s just maintaining a constant speed from the mound to the plate. But movement and location are what make it so effective. Even when Jordan throws it for a ball on purpose, he still gets hitters to swing.”
Lyles, on his curve:
“I didn’t really have too much of a curveball to begin with. It was one of those slow, looping curves that just gave the batters something different to look at. But after a while, I was able to tighten up the spin and speed it up a little. Now I’m pretty comfortable using it as an out pitch, too.”
Driskill, on where Lyles will be in 2010:
"I'm 99.9% sure he'll be at Lancaster next year, or maybe even Corpus Christi. Jordan’s grown a lot this year as both a player and a person. I’m sure he’s not too far off from realizing his big-league dream.”
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
