Bobby V not a fan of pitching out of windup

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- As legend has it, manager Bobby Valentine created the wrap sandwich. By contrast, he'd like to "de-create" pitching out of the windup.

Yes, Valentine is of the belief that pitchers should throw out of the stretch all the time. He knows that it might never happen in his lifetime, but he still believes in it.

"I'm not a believer in the windup, period. I don't get it. You throw your most important pitches of the game out of the stretch, so you have to be more effective out of the stretch," Valentine said. "Men are on base when you're pitching out of the stretch, so if that's where you can throw your best pitches, why are you teaching yourself to throw twice, two different ways?

"It's a crazy thought, but I think if we were just starting the game right now, we wouldn't teach anybody a windup. You could break a hitter's rhythm with your stretch if there's no one on base. You could quick pitch, quick step, you could have a big step. You're always in the same cadence out of the windup. It's the easiest thing for a hitter to time. And it's difficult. There's a lot of moving parts.

"Take a guy like Daniel Bard, who throws 100 miles an hour out of the stretch. Is he going to throw 106 out of the windup? Probably not. But I know it's not going to happen. Another lifetime, it will all come to pass."

Valentine served two managerial stints in Japan, and he said it's commonplace there for starters to work exclusively out of the stretch.

"[Hideo] Nomo pitched a no-hitter at Coors Field out of a stretch. You know?" he said. "[Yu] Darvish might not pitch out of a windup [this season]. He doesn't necessarily need it.

"It's just one of those things. Just another stupid statement late at night. Somebody will say, 'Can you believe that idiot said that?'"