Notes: Capuano to add cutter to arsenal

02/21/2006
PHOENIX -- After a breakthrough, 18-win season, Chris Capuano does not have to worry about winning a roster spot. He has time to tinker.
So within the next two weeks, after he builds back his arm strength and gets his legs under him, Capuano plans to join what seems like a hoard of Brewers pitchers working on a cut fastball.
"I won't want to work on a new pitch before I feel good with my other pitches," he said following Day 3 of mandatory workouts for Brewers pitchers and catchers. "I expect in the next two weeks to start playing around with it."
Why has the "cutter" become such a popular pitch in Milwaukee?
"Mostly because guys have had success with it," Capuano said. "[Pitching coach Mike] Maddux used to have success with it. Doug Davis has had a lot of success with it. Tomo [Ohka] throws it. We've all seen that it can be an effective pitch for a lot of guys."
It's also a relatively easy pitch to learn, Capuano said. When thrown well by a left-handed pitcher, a cut fastball has late action inside on right-handed hitters and away from lefties.
Davis has enjoyed great success with a "back-door" cutter, a pitch that starts off the plate away from right-handed hitters and then breaks back over the corner.
"It's not a whole lot different from throwing a regular fastball," Capuano said. "It's not like a split-fingered [fastball] or something else that is typically rough on the arm. ... I just want to mess around with it and see if it helps."
Capuano was 18-12 last season with a 3.99 ERA. The last Brewer to win at least 18 times was Teddy Higuera in 1987.
Moving forward: Pitching prospect Manny Parra is ramping up his rehabilitation and hopes to resume throwing early next week.
Parra, one of the team's top left-handed prospects, has not thrown a baseball since the second week in January but is scheduled to see Dr. William Raasch on Saturday. Parra hopes Raasch gives the go-ahead to resume workouts.
"It's kind of hard right now because we're out there doing [fielding] drills and I'm the only one not throwing," Parra said. "But at the same time, I have to remember that this way is probably smarter."
He can't throw. He can't lift weights. He couldn't even join roommate and fellow pitching prospect Mike Jones for a round of golf Tuesday.
Parra was limited to 16 starts at Double-A Huntsville last season and underwent arthroscopic shoulder surgery last August. He had been throwing successfully before the Major League Baseball Players Association Rookie Career Development Program in mid-January. But after resuming workouts, Parra felt some discomfort in his shoulder and was shut down.
"We're just letting things calm down," he said. "When I get back throwing, my goal is to be totally healthy for a whole season -- no setbacks."
Time off: Brewers bullpen coach Bill Castro will travel on April 2 to Kissimmee, Fla., along with other members of the Dominican Republic's entry into the World Baseball Classic.
Castro has been asked to serve as the team's pitching coach under manager Manny Acta and is anxious to assemble a staff. The Dominican squad plays first-round games in Orlando and enters the tournament as one of the favorites.
Castro also said that Brewers left-hander Jorge De La Rosa will be on Team Mexico's final roster when it is announced. De La Rosa is on Mexico's provisional roster, but the nation has yet to announce its final 30-man squad.
Higuera is expected to serve as a coach for Mexico.
Plugging away: There were no major developments during the Brewers' workout on Tuesday, and that was just fine with manager Ned Yost. He calls the first week, "boring, fundamental work."
In past seasons, Brewers hitters who reported early would take batting practice off Brewers pitchers, who were told to throw at about 80 percent of full strength. This year, that will not happen until the second week of camp.
"Hitters don't like it," Yost said. "They'd rather get their feet underneath them and work into [hitting] off of coaches."
Hit him up: Yost will answer questions in an online chat at MilwaukeeBrewers.com on Thursday afternoon at 3 p.m. CT. Fans must be registered ahead of time to participate.
Is he next? Teammates have already told newcomer Zach Sorensen about the Brewers' success with waiver claims.
The team plucked Sorensen away from the Angels on Nov. 18, and he will compete for a job as a backup infielder and outfielder. Last year the Brewers found waiver-wire success with closer Derrick Turnbow, who also came from the Angels, and before that it was center fielder Scott Podsednik, who came from the Mariners.
"If they picked you it means they want you around," Sorensen said. "I look at it as a good thing."

Source: http://milwaukee.brewers.mlb.com/