I admit I wonder there, deeg. I haven't seen him much, other than the World Series which I realize is not super representative. But I'm not sure a guy totally flips his approach...
So, what I seemed to see him using was basically curveball/breaking ball, with an occasional fastball thrown in as a change-of-pace. But it looked to me as if he didn't have much confidence in the fastball, and used that only as his 3rd or 4th pitch. Yes, of course I understand that a great curve is harder to hit than a fastball, and a lot of hitters would prefer 93-94 mph fastballs rather than spin. But I guess just from brief appearance, it looked like he believed his fastball was an ineffective pitch that he was scared to throw.
I don't know the guy, and I understand that his fastball velocity is good.
So, my question is, is he always scared of his fastball, or was that just in the playoffs?
I guess I'm thinking that for curve and offspeed and spin to be most deadly, and for stuff to be "elite", that a guy still needs an excellent fastball that he can locate and throw for strikes without getting killed; and that can be used to keep guys off-balance on the curve, or to overpower guys if they do insist on just sitting curveball.