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年高中畢業後被大都會隊選中開始，Scott Kazmir一直受到矚目。我會試著不提起
大都會球迷不好的回憶，但是他稍後被交易到當時的魔鬼魚隊。僅僅在小聯盟投了幾場比
賽後，Kazmir就被升上大聯盟，並且從此成為光芒隊先發輪值中的王牌。
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，對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，當然
還有左投的優勢彌補了這一點。隨著光芒隊本季打進季後賽，他將有機會在最重要的舞台
向全國展現他的能耐。
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所投的球種而言，他是一位非常典型的左投手。Kazmir會投快速球，滑球與變速
球。下面是他所投的三種球路的位移量圖。
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最佳的球種是他的快速球，你可以藉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達93mph，對一名左投手而言非常的優秀，而且這顆球還
有絕佳的位移量。Kazmir的快速球平均水平位移將近6吋，鑽向左打者內側，除此之外和
不旋轉的球相比還會上竄超過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.
這三個項目皆高於平均水準，使得Kazmir的快速球成為大聯盟最完美的球路之一。就像你
所預期的，他使用這項武器的頻率非常的高，超過4分之3的投球都是快速球。面對每個打
者所投出的第一球，有83%是快速球，雖然打者知道快速球過來了，但是仍然打不好。這
是一顆非常刁鑽的球路。
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的慢速球種就沒有如此具有威力了。面對左打者時，他偏好投大約83mph的快速滑
球。然而這顆滑球不論是水平或是垂直的位移量都很小 (分別為-0.4與0.4)。經常性的讀
者知道我不太喜歡像這樣的滑球;如果投手能將球控制一開始在本壘板外側，最後跑出好
球帶，似乎會讓滑球更有威力。這當然也適用於滑球只有少量位移的Kazmir，但是他的滑
球仍然經常讓打者揮棒落空，特別是沒有投進好球帶時。
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.
那麼為什麼Kazmir使用這樣的滑球似乎比其他投手有效呢?差別是Kazmir的快速球竄向左
打者的速度很快，而且快速球出現的頻率很高，他可以藉此欺騙打者。當他投一顆位移不
大且一開始在好球帶之外的滑球時，打者會認為這顆球將會繞進本壘板。
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選擇投出滑球的時機將增加它的效果。他不會輕易的投出滑球，直到打者處於兩好
球必須保護本壘板的困境時，滑球就出現了，讓打者揮棒落空。我仍然希望看到這顆球能
有更多的位移量，這應該是有可能的。Kazmir還很年輕，只要再多一些位移量，他的滑球
有潛力從兩好球時的有效球種進化為在任何球數都可以使用的左打剋星。
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.
當記者們說Kazmir對他的變速球控制力不佳的同時，我認為這是他未來能否更成功的關鍵
。從優秀的投手成為比賽中頂尖投手之一的差別為能否掌握他的變速球。他的直墜變速球
擁有和他的快速球非常相似的水平位移與較少的垂直位移。這代表兩種球路的旋轉很類似
，所以在變速球接近本壘板開始下墜前，打者將很難辨認。藉由這張他的平均變速球與平
均快速球的圖表可以顯示出我所說的。
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.
注意到這兩種球路前半段有多相似，還有到達本壘板時有多大的差別。有類似的旋轉與這
麼長的相同軌跡，讓打者更難以分辨。
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.
再注意到另一個地方: Kazmir投變速球時的出手點比投快速球時低了一些。由於變速球球
速較慢，所以會有比快速球更大的隆起軌跡。如果兩種球路都在同一個出手點投出，變速
球軌跡將會高於快速球，便有可能被打者察覺。Kazmir為他的變速球挑選了最完美的出手
點;這個球路的軌跡與快速球完美的結合，直到最後才有所差異。
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.
關於Kazmir的變速球還有一點要提的: 他的變速球平均球速低於80mph，這使得他的快速
球與變速球有巨大的差異。我們之前曾讀到大的速差將會產生非常大的效果，所以Kazmir
的變速球是大聯盟中最佳之一。
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.
綜合以上幾點，你擁有一種具有無限潛能的球種。和大多數左投手一樣，Kazmir只有在面
對右打者時才會使用這個球種，但是他的變速球幾乎是打不到的，只要他對這顆球的控制
力能好一點。現在，他將這顆球當作佈局球，大多在球數1好0壞，1好1壞或是2好1壞時投
。我希望能多看到他在面對右打者且兩好球的時候投變速球;這顆變速球對右打者時顯然
比他的滑球有效。
Conclusions
結論
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.
當你讀這篇文章時應該會想起我寫的有關CC Sabathia的文章。他們都是左投手，有優於
平均水準的快速球，他們都用變速球面對右打者，滑球則拿來對付左打者。
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.
很顯然的Sabathia更高竿，但是Kazmir比他更年輕。Kazmir似乎永遠不會擁有像Sabathia
一樣的滑球，但是他的變速球確有潛能變得比Sabathia的更優異。由於對手球隊都喜歡在
打線中安排大量的右打者來對付他們兩人，所以變速球無論如何應該比滑球更重要;而
Kazmir使用快速球應該就足以對付左打者了。
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今年進步了，他有潛力更加進步，成為比賽中最頂尖的投手。他只使用三種
球路，但是三種都具有威力。如果他能增進對於球的控制力與變速球的信心，大家要注意
點了。
http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/anatomy-of-a-player-scott-kazmir/