Does the climate of Arizona benefit Webb at all?
I’m sure it does, but I don’t know how much. My team is the Giants; when they go to AZ for spring training, you see it’s harder for the pitchers to get a break, and the environment benefits hitters. The ball tends to carry farther. So if you’re a good sinkerballer and can get a lot of balls on the ground instead of in the air, that’s going to be beneficial in Arizona. As Buster Olney profiled Webb, he was going through a little bit of a rough patch. What are the dangers of the sinkerball? A lot of sinkerball guys will say, “I just throw it down the middle and let the sinking take care of the effect.” The danger with that is, if anything is off and the ball’s not sinking, it’s right there in the hitter’s wheelhouse. Right now I think Webb—he’s still a great pitcher—he could be having issues with release point, topspin, or even velocity; if it sinks too much or too fast, you’re losing control. If something is off with your mechanics, the ball’s right down the middle.
