Q&A: Jim Wright, Colorado Rockies Pitching Coach
July 26, 2013
http://ppt.cc/tu3X
It isn’t easy being the pitching coach for the Colorado Rockies. The reasons
are multitudinous, and well-known to fans and physicists alike. Coors Field
is simply not conducive to suppressing offense.
要在落矶队的担任投手教练不是一件容易的事。
理由非常的多，而且在球迷与物理学家之间都一样的广为人知。
酷儿斯球场就是对于压制打者非常不利。
Jim Wright is currently entrusted with helping Rockies hurlers succeed in
that hitter-friendly environment. He can’t do anything about the effect of
altitude on batted and thrown baseballs, but he can help his
mostly-inexperienced staff approach the challenges in a productive manner.
Jim Wright最近被委任要帮助洛矶投手们在这打者天堂生存。
他对于高海拔在球上造成的效应束手无策，但他可以用比较有效率的方法来帮助这群
缺乏经验的投手面对挑战。
Wright, who pitched for the Royals in 1981-1982, has previously served as a
minor-league pitching coach, roving pitching coordinator, and bullpen coach.
This is his 17th season in the Rockies organization.
曾在1981-1982年间曾为皇家队投球，Wright在洛矶球团的17年间曾担任小联盟的
投手教练，roving pitching coordinator，以及牛棚教练
P.S. 找不到roving pitching coordinator的定义，有神人板友知道要怎么翻吗XD
——
Wright on his pitching philosophy: “My philosophy — our philosophy — is
dedicated to getting people out. What we consider our identity — what we
like to see out of a Rockies pitcher — is to throw strikes, keep the ball
down, keep the ball on the ground, hold runners on first base, and deliver
the ball in a timely fashion. That’s our philosophy; that’s what we want
out of them.
“There are many descriptive terms I could use, but I want them to reflect
the attitude of their pitching coach, too. While I’m in this position, that
is to pitch inside, be aggressive, pitch to win — learn how to pitch to win
— and never have any fear, or any excuses, about anything. I want fearless
competitors, knowledgeable competitors. At this level, intestinal fortitude
has to be a given, so you have a chance to learn.”
谈到投球哲学：“我的哲学─我们的哲学─就是致力于让打者出局。当考虑到我们的
身分─我们想从一位洛矶投手身上看到的─就是把球投进好球带，把球路压低，把球
留在场内，让跑者止于一垒，用最符合现代的方式投球。那就是我们的投球哲学，就
是我们想从他们身上看到的。”
“有非常多的术语可以描述，但我想从他们身上看到他们投教的态度。当我担任投教
，把球投进去，展现积极，为赢而投─学习如何为赢球而投球─然后无所畏惧，不找
借口。我想要的是无畏的竞争者，专业知识充足的竞争者。在这个层级，胆子是必备
的，如此才有机会学习。”
On innings and experience: “I think a lot of pitchers today are… I don’t
know if prematurely is the right word, but they’re here sooner than they
should be. Normally, you’d like to see a guy get 500-700 innings in the
minor leagues, and they’re getting maybe 300.
“I don’t want to stall a guy’s career either, but pitchers need to have
some sense of baseball pitchability. It’s not scholarly knowledge, but it is
pitching wisdom. That comes through logging innings and the experience of
being out there, start after start after start. They need some level of
intelligence as a starting pitcher.”
谈到投球局数与经验：“我认为现今很多的投手....我不知道用过早来描述是不是
正确的，但他们真的给我一种揠苗助长的感觉。一般来说，你会看到投手在小联盟
投大约500-700局，但他们似乎都只投了300左右。”
“我也不想去阻挡人家的生涯，但投手对于pitchability需要有一点感觉才行。这
不是学术知识，但这(pitchability)是一种投球的智慧。那是来自于局数的累积，
以及上场的经验累积，先发接着先发再接着先发。他们需要一些身为先发投手该有
的智慧”
On pitching at Coors Field: “Mental toughness has to be there to pitch in
Denver, because there are certain things that might show up. Your sinker may
cut a little bit instead of sink, or your breaking ball may not have the same
bite. You have to figure out ways to pitch around those parameters of your
repertoire. The main thing is to be really good at pitching down in the
strike zone. That works anywhere, but getting ground balls in our ballpark is
the key to success.
谈到在酷儿斯投球：“在丹佛投球，心理素质强韧是必备的，因为在那里有些事情会
发生。你的伸卡球可能会多偏移一点而非下沉，你的变化球也有可能威力骤减。你必须
要在这些因子环绕之下找出投球的方法。最主要是你必须擅长把球压底在好球带的下缘
，那在任何地方都有用，但是滚地球才是在酷儿斯成功的唯一解。”
“It’s a different type of mindset as far as attacking a hitter; you’re
attacking down versus in-and-out, up-and-down. I mean, there are places for
that, and times for that, but as a general rule, I want these guys to learn
to pitch down in the zone. And to do that, they have to pitch to the catcher
and not to the hitter. If you pitch to the hitter, you’re going to pitch up
in the zone.
“We see a big difference when we come here with guys — with their movement,
the bite on their breaking ball and the consistency of the rotation. It’s
different. That’s an adjustment for them, but they’re pros, so they should
be able to adjust.”
“这跟对付打者是不一样的心态，把球压低相对于攻击内外角、上下缘。我的意思是，在
某些时地上可以这么作，但一般来说我会希望他们学着把球压在好球带下缘。要做到这件
事，他们必须把球投向捕手，而非打者，当你试着把球投向打者，球路自然就会偏高。”
“来到这里时可以看到很明显的不同─他们的动作，变化球的威力，以及轮值群的稳定度
。因为不同，他们必须做修正，他们是职业选手，所以必须要有能力去做修正。”
On if Rockies pitchers should pitch differently on the road than they do at
home: “No, they shouldn’t. I think that once you buy into the down… if you
asked me, when I pitched, “How do you pitch?’, I pitched in-and-out, but
always down, and then up when I wanted to. And I think in the past — because
of Denver and our venue — they’ve focused on being down in the zone, but
then they get on the road and see their better stuff, and they want to throw
instead of still pitch down. You have to pitch the same, no matter where you
go. Our ground-ball ratio should to be similar at home and on the road; it
shouldn’t be one good and one bad. That’s what happened with us last year.
We want that same attitude and same approach of keeping the ball down in the
zone.”
谈到洛矶投手客场时必须用与主场时不同的策略投球：“不，他们不需要改变什么。
我认为你一但开始把球压低....如果你在我投球时问我是怎么投球，我会说：‘攻击打者
内角外角，只是把球压低，然后在我想要的时候把球投进上缘。’我认为在过去─因为
丹佛以及我们的球场，他们必须专注于把球压低，但客场时他们发现自己有更好的Stuff
，然后他们就想用压低球路以外的策略投球。无论在哪你都不能改变投球的策略，我们的
滚地球比例在客场时应该要跟在主场时相同，不能有差别，这就是去年发生在我们身上的
事，我们想要相同的态度，以及相同的方法─把球压低─这种投球策略。”
On pitch movement at Coors: “A slider doesn’t have the same bite here. At
times it does, but there’s more bite on the road in a more humid
environment. The sinker doesn’t sink as sharp. So I’d say, basically the
sharpness of the movement is not the same in Denver as it is on the road. You
’ll find a lot of guys that pitch against us come in and try some breaking
balls, and they’re not working. so they go to a lot of changeups —
fastballs and changeup. That’s another one of our absolutes, the changeup
percentage we have.
谈到酷儿斯球场的球路位移：“滑球在这里的幅度会不同，尽管有时候相同，但在客场时
，湿度较高的环境会让滑球有更大的幅度。伸卡球在这里也会不尽犀利。所以我会说，
基本上在丹佛，球的位移、犀利程度跟在客场时并不相同。你可以发现很多投手上山对付
我们时，会试着投一些变化球，但那无用武之地。所以他们会试着投很多变速球，直球搭
配变速。变速球使用的比例也是我们的坚持。”
“Cutters aren‘t impacted as much as sliders, but it’s not a pitch we teach
initially. It’s a little tough on the arm. I think sliders and cutters are
in general. The concern is that the extra pronation, to the side of the ball,
can affect an elbow if it’s not thrown properly, or if you’re gripping it
too tight. But it’s something we’ll add to the repertoire if it’s needed,
maybe later on when their arms are developed and their delivery is sound
enough.”
“卡特球被影响不如滑球，但那不会是我们最初教授的球种，那对手臂会有负担。我认为
滑球与卡特球一样，如果投球的方式不正确，或是把球握的过紧了，那么额外施在球上的
旋转(意指扣球)会影响手肘的健康。但有需要时我们也会把他加进投手的技能里，可能在
他们的手臂更健壮以及他们的投球机制够好了之后。”
On mechanics and focus: “My view on mechanics is that they’re important for
health. But in general, when his foot lands and his arm is in position to
throw the ball, I’m not going to mess with him much. The last thing I want
my pitchers to be dependent upon is their mechanics. The more you have your
thoughts around yourself, and not where the catcher is… it’s pretty hard to
switch them.
谈到投球机制以及专注：“我对于投球机制的观点是，这对于投手的健康是很重要的。
一般来说，当他的脚着地、手臂已经准备投出时，我是不会去影响他太多的。我想要我
的投手去依赖的最后一件事就是投球机制。当你放越多心思在自己身上，而非在捕手的
所在时，那就越难去改变他们。”
“Learn to trust your eyes and your hand. Develop a level of concentration
that’s a higher standard and focus. I believe concentration is a learned
habit. I’ll have drills where I’ll put a target down, with no catcher, and
have them throw at it. It’s kind of like in the circus when you’re trying
to knock the bottles down, or you’re trying to dunk the person in the water
tank. You want be able to focus on something and throw at it without thinking
about how to do it.
“学着相信自己的手与眼，养成一定程度的专注力。我相信专心是一种后天的习惯，我
会给投手们练习，把目标放在下方，让他们在没人接补时把球投到那个目标上。这就像
在马戏团里，当你试着把瓶子打下来，或是试着把人灌进水缸里。你想要有能力去专注
而且可以不假思索的把他丢向目标。”
“These guys are in their twenties and thirties, and have been throwing a
baseball since they were 10 years old. Most of these guys had pretty good
rhythm and deliveries, and got signed without thinking about that stuff. Then
they got to pro ball and were taught so much about deliveries that they kind
of lost focus on how to compete to the target.
“这些人都是20到30多岁，而且大概在10岁时就开始投球。他们大多都有非常好的投球
节奏还有姿势，而且都是在忽略stuff的情况下被签来。然后他们进到职业棒球，开始被
大量教授有关投球姿势，使得他们失去对于投球时目标的专注”
“Mechanics are important to keep the guy healthy, and there are certain
things they do, but I’ll pay more attention to their focus, how they’re
competing in the game, and how they’re pitching to a batter — you know,
have they changed the sequence? I’ll look at the film, and if he’s getting
hit, and 99% of the time he’s not hitting his target… you know, once he
starts hitting his target, and he’s still getting hit, now we’re going to
look at his sequences. When the sequences are changed, now I’ll look at his
mechanics to see if he’s tipping pitches, or something like that.”
“投球机制对于保持健康是很重要的，他们做了很多事，但我会把重心放在他们的专注度
上，他们如何在比赛中竞争，如何把球投向打者─你知道的，他们是否改变了投球的顺序
(意指抬腿，前倾，扭腰等步骤)？我会去看影片，如果他被击出安打，那99%是因为他没有
投到他的目标。你知道的，一旦他们把球投到目标却还是挨打，那我们就要去看看他的投
球顺序。当顺序被改变时，我们就要看看他的机制是否泄漏了信息给打者。”
On video and reports: “We’ve invested a lot of finances in our video; we’
ve got state-of-the-art equipment. It’s very good, at times, to go back if a
guy has gotten into bad habits. We can take video and put [them] side by side
to see when he was throwing low, and when he wasn’t, and see if there are
any mechanical discrepancies. Maybe it’s something subtle. We can pick up
through video what maybe your naked eye can’t see. I’ll use it to find out
if their arm is on time. And for scouting purposes, it’s huge. But here
again, it’s a tool that’s good as long as it’s not overused. You can
overuse video.
谈到影片及报告：“我们在录影上投资了许多，有着许多最先进的设备。超棒的，如果
有人染上了不好的习惯就可以回去看。把他录下来，然后放在一起做比较，看他何时有
把球压低，何时没有，然后看看机制上有没有不一致之处。或许有一些细微之处我们无
法用双眼观察到，却可以透过影片挑出来。我会利用影带来观察他们的手臂是否有跟上
。此外对于scouting来说更为重要。但必须重申一次，你有可能过度依赖录影，他只有
在非过度使用的状况之下才是一项好工具。”
“With reports… let’s say were looking at how [an opposing hitter] has been
hitting sliders. The reports are grouping in a lot of different types of
sliders. It may be that the guy isn’t hitting the good ones, or even the
more average sliders, he’s mostly hitting below-average sliders.
“有了报告....好比说可以看对方是怎么攻击滑球，报告集结了许多颗不同的滑球，可
能是打者没打中的好球，或是比较一般的，以及大多被他击中那些低标品质的滑球。”
“In general, the more you can focus on making your pitch — then you just
have to find out if your stuff is good enough in the zone, or if you have to
maybe go out of the zone a little bit with your strikes. Or do you need to
pitch in a bit more, to open up away? Scouting reports are good, and I used
them when I pitched, but once I went out there, sometimes I saw I could get a
hitter out a different way. It’s important to understand that reports are a
foundation to go of off, and then you build from that.”
“一般来说，你越能专注在你的投球上，然后你就只需要去看看你的stuff是否够好，或
是你需要把好球投在好球带外侧一些，或是你需要投内角一点、投开一点？球探报告很棒
，我以前投球时也会利用它们，但当我上场时，我发现有时候我可以用不同的方法让打者
出局。了解报告是一切基石是件重要的事，然后你就能以这个基础来发展自己的能力。”