SAN FRANCISCO >> Josh Fields regularly threw a slider and a changeup when he was traded to the Dodgers on Aug. 1. He still throws these pitches, but he tends to save them for his bullpen sessions.
That’s because Fields’ mid-90s fastball yielded a .202 batting average in 2015, making it an elite pitch. His spiked curveball was even more difficult for opponents to make contact with than his fastball. The Dodgers were acutely aware of this when they acquired him from the Houston Astros; Fields was not.
So from the time he arrived in Los Angeles, people in the Dodgers’ clubhouse – namely pitching coach Rick Honeycutt, bullpen coach Josh Bard and video advance scout Danny Lehmann – reminded Fields of his strengths and weaknesses.