Bryan Woo put together a remarkable stretch of consistency for the Seattle Mariners last season.
The right-hander pitched at least six innings in his first 25 starts, which included allowing three or fewer runs allowed 19 times.
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Through his first five starts of this season, Woo showed similar consistency, going at least six innings four times while allowing three or fewer runs in each start.
His past two starts, however, have featured some uncharacteristic struggles.
Woo allowed seven runs over just three innings against St. Louis on on April 25, then he surrendered six runs over six innings against Kansas City on Friday. It marked the first time the 26 year old had given up at least six runs in consecutive outings during his big league career. In total, he allowed 13 runs, 16 hits and six home runs over nine innings between the two outings.
What’s led to Woo’s recent struggles? Mariners analyst and former MLB pitcher Ryan Rowland-Smith shared his answer to that question with Seattle Sports’ Wyman and Bob on Monday.
Rowland-Smith sees it as a combination of how hitters are approaching Woo and lack of execution on the right-hander’s part.
He first pointed to how Woo and Mariners pitchers pound the strike zone. Four of the team’s starters are in the top 10 in MLB for first-pitch strikes thrown, three are in the top five for overall swing rate by opposing hitters, and three are in the top 10 for in-zone swing rate by opposing hitters.
Woo is among the Mariners’ pitchers who show up near the top of each category. He’s sixth in first-pitch strike rate (68.1%), fourth in overall swing rate (53.3%) and third in in-zone swing rate (76.9%).
“So the plan of attack (for the opposing team) is, well, if you’re gonna be in the strike zone a ton, I’m coming up hacking. I’m swinging, swinging, swinging,” Rowland-Smith said.
Batters swinging early and often is nothing new to Woo. He produced the second-highest swing rate and highest in-zone swing rate in MLB last season.
The difference Rowland-Smith sees is the quality of strikes Woo is throwing, particularly with the sinker.
“If you look at a heat map from Bryan Woo… especially to lefties too, (it’s) sinker in the middle of the plate or he’s missing in,” Rowland-Smith said. “He hasn’t quite got that feel for glove side with that sinker, that ball that kind of runs back out over the plate.”
Batters are hitting .316 with a .561 slugging percentage and three home runs off Woo’s sinker this season. Last year, they hit .258 with a .369 slugging percentage and four home runs off the pitch.
“He hasn’t got that pitch. That was a separator last year,” Rowland Smith said. “… When I’m watching Bryan Woo, the problem you run into if you are going to be in the strike zone a ton, the margin for error is so much less when they’re in swing mode.”
Hear the full conversation at this link or in the audio player in this story. Listen to Wyman and Bob weekdays from 2-7 p.m. or find the podcast on the Seattle Sports app.
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