Just met @bullpenbrian in the flesh. This #CubsSocial is turning out great.
— jdot (@fiveoutstogo) May 17, 2012
Ken Griffey Jr for sureRT @dannikanash: @ian_stewart_9 Who’s your favorite player in history?
— IAN_STEWART_2 (@IAN_STEWART_2sc) May 17, 2012
Okay guys. *WAKE UP BATS!* #Jobu
— ᵃᶰᵗᶦᑫᵘᵉ ᵖᶫᵃˢᵗᶦᶜ (@lastcartridge) May 12, 2012
I like big bunts and I cannot lie. #cubs
— Fake Dale Sveum (@CubsSkipper) May 15, 2012
Some call it the ‘yips’. Golfers call it the ‘shanks’. Baseball players refer to it simply as ‘The Thing’.
Whatever you call it, Matt Garza is suffering from it—his inability to make the simplest of fielding throws.
Another pitcher, Rick Ankiel, famously suffered from the yips with the Cardinals. He eventually coped by converting to an outfielder.
Yankees second baseman Chuck Knoblauch was so riddled by the shanks he too switched to the outfield, and eventually had to become a DH.
Roy McAvoy…that’s another story.
Garza’s case, thankfully, hasn’t reached such extremes. But his two throwing mishaps during Wednesday’s game left me wondering…how much worse will Garza get?
