Scott Kazmir has been on people's radar since he was drafted by the Mets out
of high school in 2002. I'll try not to rehash too many bad memories for Mets
fans, but he was later traded to the then-Devil Rays. After only a few more
games in the minors, Kazmir was called up and has been at the top of the Rays
rotation since.
自2002年高中毕业后被大都会队选中开始，Scott Kazmir一直受到瞩目。我会试着不提起
大都会球迷不好的回忆，但是他稍后被交易到当时的魔鬼鱼队。仅仅在小联盟投了几场比
赛后，Kazmir就被升上大联盟，并且从此成为光芒队先发轮值中的王牌。
Kazmir, at six feet, is somewhat short for a pitcher, but he makes up for
that with brilliant stuff, knowing how to pitch, and of course, being left
handed. With the Rays making the playoffs this year he will have an
opportunity to show the nation what he can do on the biggest stage.
Kazmir身高6呎，对一位投手而言稍微矮了些，但是他利用出色的球威，投球技巧，当然
还有左投的优势弥补了这一点。随着光芒队本季打进季后赛，他将有机会在最重要的舞台
向全国展现他的能耐。
Kazmir's stuff
Kazmir的球威
Kazmir is a pretty typical lefty in terms of the types of pitches he throws.
Kazmir has a fastball, slider and change-up. Here is a look at the movement
he gets with these pitches.
由Kazmir所投的球种而言，他是一位非常典型的左投手。Kazmir会投快速球，滑球与变速
球。下面是他所投的三种球路的位移量图。
Kazmir's best pitch is his fastball, and you can see why quickly by looking
at his PITCHf/x averages for that pitch. He throws it a tick under 93 mph,
very good especially for a lefty, but it also has exceptional movement.
Kazmir's fastball averages almost six inches of horizontal movement, boring
in to a left-handed batter and having more than 10 inches of vertical "rise"
compared to a ball thrown without spin.
Kazmir最佳的球种是他的快速球，你可以借由查看他的快速球的PITCHf/x平均值而很快的
了解原因。他的快速球平均球速达93mph，对一名左投手而言非常的优秀，而且这颗球还
有绝佳的位移量。Kazmir的快速球平均水平位移将近6吋，钻向左打者内侧，除此之外和
不旋转的球相比还会上窜超过10吋。
All three of these things are well above average, making Kazmir's fastball
one of the most complete pitches in baseball. As you would expect, he uses
this weapon quite frequently, throwing it more than three quarters of the
time. To begin the at-bat, he throws his fastball 83 percent of the time, so
batters have to be aware that it is coming, but still can't do much with it.
This is a nasty, nasty pitch.
这三个项目皆高于平均水准，使得Kazmir的快速球成为大联盟最完美的球路之一。就像你
所预期的，他使用这项武器的频率非常的高，超过4分之3的投球都是快速球。面对每个打
者所投出的第一球，有83%是快速球，虽然打者知道快速球过来了，但是仍然打不好。这
是一颗非常刁钻的球路。
Kazmir's off-speed pitches aren't quite as strong. To left-handed batters, he
prefers a hard slider that checks in at 83 mph. This slider, however, offers
very little movement either horizontally or vertically (-0.4 and 4.0 inches
respectively). Regular readers will know that I am not a big fan of sliders
like this; it appears they are more effective if a pitcher can start them at
the outer edge of the plate and have them move out of the zone. This
certainly applies to Kazmir, with the little movement he has, but he still is
getting a lot of swings and misses with the slider especially with pitches
out of the zone.
Kazmir的慢速球种就没有如此具有威力了。面对左打者时，他偏好投大约83mph的快速滑
球。然而这颗滑球不论是水平或是垂直的位移量都很小 (分别为-0.4与0.4)。经常性的读
者知道我不太喜欢像这样的滑球;如果投手能将球控制一开始在本垒板外侧，最后跑出好
球带，似乎会让滑球更有威力。这当然也适用于滑球只有少量位移的Kazmir，但是他的滑
球仍然经常让打者挥棒落空，特别是没有投进好球带时。
So why does it seem like Kazmir can get away with this when other pitchers
can't? The difference here is that Kazmir's fastball tails in so hard to
left-handed batters and he throws it so often, he can fool hitters into this
pattern. Then, when he throws a slider that begins out of the zone and
doesn't move much, the hitter is expecting it to bend back over the plate.
那么为什么Kazmir使用这样的滑球似乎比其他投手有效呢?差别是Kazmir的快速球窜向左
打者的速度很快，而且快速球出现的频率很高，他可以借此欺骗打者。当他投一颗位移不
大且一开始在好球带之外的滑球时，打者会认为这颗球将会绕进本垒板。
This is magnified by Kazmir's choice of when to use his slider. He rarely
breaks it out until he gets the hitter in a hole with two strikes and needing
to protect the plate. Then out comes the slider, and he gets his swings and
misses. I still would like to see more movement from this pitch, and it might
be coming. Kazmir is still young and his slider has the potential to go from
an effective two-strike pitch to being a lefty killer at any count with a
little more movement.
Kazmir选择投出滑球的时机将增加它的效果。他不会轻易的投出滑球，直到打者处于两好
球必须保护本垒板的困境时，滑球就出现了，让打者挥棒落空。我仍然希望看到这颗球能
有更多的位移量，这应该是有可能的。Kazmir还很年轻，只要再多一些位移量，他的滑球
有潜力从两好球时的有效球种进化为在任何球数都可以使用的左打克星。
While reports say Kazmir has some trouble controlling his change-up, I think
it's the future for him. The difference from Kazmir as the excellent pitcher
he is now to Kazmir as one of the top pitchers in the game is whether he
masters that change-up. The tools are all there; his straight change offers
very similar horizontal movement to his fastball with less vertical movement.
This means the spin of the two pitches is similar, making it hard for a
batter to detect but making the pitch drop before getting to home plate. Here
is a look at his average change-up and average fastball from the side to show
what I mean.
当记者们说Kazmir对他的变速球控制力不佳的同时，我认为这是他未来能否更成功的关键
。从优秀的投手成为比赛中顶尖投手之一的差别为能否掌握他的变速球。他的直坠变速球
拥有和他的快速球非常相似的水平位移与较少的垂直位移。这代表两种球路的旋转很类似
，所以在变速球接近本垒板开始下坠前，打者将很难辨认。借由这张他的平均变速球与平
均快速球的图表可以显示出我所说的。
Notice how late the two pitches stay on top of each other and then how much
they differ when they actually get to home plate. With similar spins and with
them overlapping so much, it is that much more difficult for a hitter to pick
up.
注意到这两种球路前半段有多相似，还有到达本垒板时有多大的差别。有类似的旋转与这
么长的相同轨迹，让打者更难以分辨。
Notice one other thing: Kazmir is throwing his change-up from a slightly
lower release point than his fastball. Because the change-up is thrown
slower, it is going to produce a larger hump than his fastball. If he
released both pitches from exactly the same point, the change-up would rise
above the plane of the fastball, potentially tipping it to batters. Kazmir
has picked the perfect release point with his change; the pitch perfectly
merges with his fastball before diverging at the end.
再注意到另一个地方: Kazmir投变速球时的出手点比投快速球时低了一些。由于变速球球
速较慢，所以会有比快速球更大的隆起轨迹。如果两种球路都在同一个出手点投出，变速
球轨迹将会高于快速球，便有可能被打者察觉。Kazmir为他的变速球挑选了最完美的出手
点;这个球路的轨迹与快速球完美的结合，直到最后才有所差异。
One last thing about Kazmir's change-up: He throws that pitch under 80 mph on
average, which produces an absolutely silly difference between his fastball
and his change-up. We have previously seen how effective a large speed
differential is, and Kazmir's is one of the best in the game.
关于Kazmir的变速球还有一点要提的: 他的变速球平均球速低于80mph，这使得他的快速
球与变速球有巨大的差异。我们之前曾读到大的速差将会产生非常大的效果，所以Kazmir
的变速球是大联盟中最佳之一。
Putting it all together, you have a pitch that has nearly limitless
potential. Like most lefties, Kazmir uses the pitch only to right-handed
batters, but his change-up could be nearly unhittable if he could control it
a little better. Now, he is using it as a setup pitch, throwing it the most
on 1-0, 1-1 and 2-1. I'd like to see him use it more often with two strikes
to right-handed batters; this change-up projects to be a much better pitch to
right handers than his slider does.
综合以上几点，你拥有一种具有无限潜能的球种。和大多数左投手一样，Kazmir只有在面
对右打者时才会使用这个球种，但是他的变速球几乎是打不到的，只要他对这颗球的控制
力能好一点。现在，他将这颗球当作布局球，大多在球数1好0坏，1好1坏或是2好1坏时投
。我希望能多看到他在面对右打者且两好球的时候投变速球;这颗变速球对右打者时显然
比他的滑球有效。
Conclusions
结论
If some of what you have read here reminds you of what I wrote about CC
Sabathia, it should. They both are lefties, they both have plus fastballs,
they both throw a change to right-handed batters and a slider to left-handed
batters.
当你读这篇文章时应该会想起我写的有关CC Sabathia的文章。他们都是左投手，有优于
平均水准的快速球，他们都用变速球面对右打者，滑球则拿来对付左打者。
Obviously Sabathia is more advanced, but he has years on Kazmir. While Kazmir
likely never will have the slider that Sabathia has, his change-up has the
potential to be a better pitch than Sabathia's. Because teams like to stack
their lineups with right-handed bats against these two, the change-up
probably is the more important of the two pitches anyway; Kazmir should be
able to do quite well with his fastball against lefties.
很显然的Sabathia更高竿，但是Kazmir比他更年轻。Kazmir似乎永远不会拥有像Sabathia
一样的滑球，但是他的变速球确有潜能变得比Sabathia的更优异。由于对手球队都喜欢在
打线中安排大量的右打者来对付他们两人，所以变速球无论如何应该比滑球更重要;而
Kazmir使用快速球应该就足以对付左打者了。
Scott Kazmir has taken a step forward this year and the potential is there
for him to take another step, bringing him to the very top of the game. He
throws only three pitches, but all are effective. If he gains a little more
control and more feel for his change-up, look out.
Scott Kazmir今年进步了，他有潜力更加进步，成为比赛中最顶尖的投手。他只使用三种
球路，但是三种都具有威力。如果他能增进对于球的控制力与变速球的信心，大家要注意
点了。
http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/anatomy-of-a-player-scott-kazmir/