Tek Talks Pitches

Red Sox catcher and captain Jason Varitek is cagy about his pitchers. So when a sportswriter asks for details on how a particular pitcher designs strategy, 'Tek dishes on the methods of Mike Timlin - now retired.

"There are different ways you can go," said Varitek. "Take [Mike] Timlin: he could four-seam away, sink away, and cut away, so he’s created this."

Now, as if chopping the side of one hand with the other, Varitek formed an 'X' to mark one corner of the plate.

"One [pitch] goes beneath the barrel [of the bat], one goes over the barrel and one goes across the barrel," Varitek continued. "That's basically three varieties of one pitch - a fastball."

Mazz goes on to talk about Jon Lester's turnaround (he found control inside to lefties), Pedro's dominance, Derek Lowe's growth and mastery of the corners (especially inside to lefties), Justin Masterson's problems (he lost control inside to lefties), and Buchholz's prospects for pitching inside to lefties tonight.

In the midseason break, most baseball reporting is silliness; if you've been dying to sink your teeth into some serious baseball reading, here it (finally) is.