bellyitcher

That's how Mulder described his pitches. We noticed. Duncan explained what's going on:

"He's doing a lot of things differently," Duncan said. "His delivery is a lot longer than it used to be and it's taking him a long time to correct it. How it happened, I don't know. It probably happened over the course of the past couple years. He's developed some bad habits and it's hard to get out of them ... He knows it. He sees it. He feels it. But in the heat of battle, it's harder to" make adjustments.

Mulder added,

"Location was terrible," Mulder said. "It's been on and off like that all year, and it gets frustrating after a while. It's tough, because I know I'm not a pitcher like this. I'm better than this. And, like I said, it wears on you, and it gets to be frustrating."

His mechanics are screwed up, which is actually good to know. If Duncan was at a loss, I'd be worried (especially about some unvoiced owie) more than annoyed. I don't know if he's as stubborn as Marquis, but I think it sounds like Mulder's pretty fed up with himself. Can he get back on track before the problem really gets in his head? I have no doubt he wants to, and if anyone can help it's Duncan - Mulder just has to buy into the plan (something I'm not convinced Marquis has done completely yet). Maybe he's like an addict who has to hit rock bottom before seeking help. Admission is the first step to recovery, Mark.

Now, if he's adamant about getting fixed, there are going to be more rocky outings as things get sorted out. I'm perfectly willing to ride them out. I'll be happy to. Pitchers don't change their mechanics overnight. I just want some reassurance that Mulder is working on this very seriously. But, sigh, I suppose progress reports printed up in the P-D are too much to ask. I guess we'll have to rely on seeing him out there. For me, though, watching him pitch over several starts in a row may prove difficult - a lot of his games have fallen on days without Extra Innings.