Fernando Having Trouble Locating His Spots : Pitcher Also Can’t Find a Solution for Slump After Struggling Against Cubs

Fernando Valenzuela was hit hard for the second straight outing Sunday, but is he having troubles?

No, Fernando insists.

Yes, he concedes.

It was a contradiction in the same conversation, almost like the way he has switched gears on the mound. A win over Cincinnati, a loss to Pittsburgh, a loss to St. Louis, a shutout victory over the Pirates and a pasting by the Cardinals, all in the last month, and now another poor performance in the Dodgers’ 7-6 win over the Chicago Cubs Sunday.

Six runs, nine hits, three walks and only one strikeout in 5 innings could be grounds for talk of inconsistency to turn into actual concern. After all, his last start, last Tuesday against the Cardinals at Dodger Stadium, resulted in similar non-Fernando-type numbers--six runs, six hits, seven walks and four strikeouts in six innings.

“Last time, my control was really bad,” Valenzuela said. “Today, it was a little better, but I kept getting men on base. . . . I made good screwballs, but they hit the ball.”

And then. . . .

“We’ll see what happens the next start,” he said. “Something’s wrong, but I don’t know what.”

Chicago Manager Gene Michael: “He didn’t have good velocity, and I know he wasn’t hitting his spots.”

Dodger Manager Tom Lasorda, agreeing, said: “It’s his location. That’s what made him one of the premier pitchers in baseball, that he can spot the ball. But he’s having trouble now.”

And, from a pitcher’s point of view, Lee Smith, the Cubs’ best reliever: “I’ve seen him have a lot better stuff than today. . . . Give the hitters a little credit. Anytime Fernando gives up six runs, people wonder what’s wrong. But this just might be struggling for him.”

The Cubs, who leave town having hit Dodger pitchers for six runs in two of the three games, got to Valenzuela for two runs in the second inning, two in the third and two in the sixth, when he was replaced by Brian Holton. Beyond that, there were also well-hit balls that didn’t amount to runs, namely Bob Dernier (first inning) and Manny Trillo (third) sending Pedro Guerrero to the warning track in left field for outs.

The big blow that counted was Andre Dawson’s two-run home run in the second inning, his 27th of the season. It came on a Valenzuela screwball.

“He threw that pitch the same as always,” said Dawson, discounting the what’s-wrong-with-Fernando talk. “I saw only a couple of fastballs, so I don’t know if his power is going good or not. But he changed speeds on the screwball and worked the ball in and out well.”

Fernando’s concern was with his fastball, or rather what people were saying about it. He even got defensive with Mike Brito, the Dodger special assignment scout who not so long ago was a surrogate-father type when Valenzuela came to the United States.

“I’ve never thrown over 90,” said Valenzuela, 8-8 overall with a 4.25 earned-run average and 157 hits in 148 innings. “People were telling me that Brito said my fastball was no good. Well, I’m always in the low 80s. Sometimes, you just have a bad game. My fastball didn’t hit the spots.”

Actually, Brito was signaling the speed of pitches to the radio booth, as done before. Eight-one m.p.h., he would flash, a message that came across plain and simple at the time to announcers but was turned all around by the time it got to Valenzuela.

To be sure, this is not 1981. What we have here is the under-side of Fernandomania, in numbers and atmosphere.

FERNANDO’S UP-AND-DOWN MONTH

Date Opponent Dec. Score IP H R ER BB SO June 28 Cincinnati W 4-2 9 5 2 2 1 7 July 3 at Pittsburgh L 6-0 5 9 5 5 2 4 July 8 at St. Louis L 6-3 5 8 6 6 2 3 July 16 Pittsburgh W 7-0 9 7 0 0 4 8 July 21 St. Louis L 6-1 6 6 6 5 7 1 July 26 Chicago ND 7-6 5 9 6 6 3 1