After Matt's poor starts a month or so ago I saw a difference in his demeanor on the mound.

Matt has got a bad rap. He's been amazing, but no matter how good his numbers are people still say his stuff isn't good enough. His fastball seems flat, no movement, his breaking balls are nothing too special. He croaks in playoff games and so on.

But I believe the new Matt Harrison has emerged. I think he got pissed, and I think he took his confidence to a new level. Before he was so calm on the mound, he was controlling his emotions to the point where it was hindering his aggressiveness. He showed an almost artificial calm on the mound last year. And it worked, dont get me wrong. He pitched well but it wasn't enough to bring him to the next level.

I believe he finally got a little pissed. He started throwing in such a way that harnesses his emotions, that uses them to be more aggressive.

Now hes not over pyschologized Matt anymore, hes just badass Matt Harrison and I don't think it matters that his stuff isn't THAT far above average because its the pitcher who pitches, not the stuff.

If he pitches like this for the rest of the year hes going to get the contract he deserves and the respect he deserves as well.

The moral of the story:

Don't sit around waiting for people to give you the respect you deserve.

MAKE them respect you by your actions. People don't earn respect from others, its not something you wait around for once you think you have earned it.

Respect from others results from interior inspiration, from badassry.

Demeanor on the mound should not be dismissed as insignificant, but I think it has more to do with Matt Harrison fixing his delivery. As reported last month, Maddux worked with Harrison because he was moving his head too much and was becoming somewhat erratic, and therefore predictable (when he did find the zone).

That is the reason for Matt's resurgence since mid-May, IMO - not his demeanor.

Matt Harrison is an improved pitcher because he's "pissed" and now he's a "badass".

Looking forward to seeing these metrics employed on FanGraphs: Matt Harrison ranks 8th in the AL in POTMI (pissed on the mound index).

I'm not sure to what we can best attribute his success of late, but whatever it is, I hope he doesn't lose it. He looks great.

This is what I see in Matt lately, it seems new to me. I describe it with one word...

Badassry

Yu showed a nice POTMI last night.

Love it.

Definite POTMI. Pound Astro!

TranslatedYu ‏@TranslatedYu
Today victory column! Tighten the female dog! Broom Astro tomorrow that day! #poundAstro

https://twitter.com/TranslatedYu/status/203341473842868224/photo/1

I took a look at Harrisons 2012 and 2011 stats, and Harrison is not pitching very differently this season than he did in 2011.

I rated each performance as either Excellent (1), Good (2), Average (3), Poor (4). In 2011 his average performance rating was 2.10 and the median was 1. The complete 2011 tally for Games , % Games, Game WHIP, Game ERA:

Rating……………Games……….%.........WHIP…..ERA
Excellent………...17 games, …..54.8,.....0.985,…..1.35
Good………….….2 games,…….6.4, ….0.923…...4.15
Average…………. 4 games,…...12.9,….1.521……3.80
Poor………………8 games,…...25.8,….1.538,…...9.68

2012
Excellent………….6 games,…..46.1,…..1.125,…..0.79
Good……………...3 games,…..23.1,…..0.952,…..3.86
Average…………...2 games,…..15.4,…..1.50…….5.56
Poor……………….2 games,…..15.4,…..3.00,..…15.12

In 2011 Harrison had a pretty bad stretch in August. 4 of 5 starts is August were poor games, with one excellent start and one excellent 2 inning relief appearance, which I counted as deserving of a ranking data point. I was one of the posters expressing concern about Harrison, but so far he is not pitching worse—in fact it can be argued he is pitching better.