Katie Stratman-Imagn Images
American League
Orioles
• Brandon Young added a sinker.
With a new sinker in the arsenal, which Young threw eight times (12%) against the White Sox, the right-hander kept Chicago guessing and generated weak contact before finishing with a strong 1-2-3 frame in the fifth. Not only was the pitch effective, but it also opened up the rest of his six-pitch repertoire.
“It’s just a little something different, another heater that I can throw to both sides,” Young said of the pitch. “Puts a little wrinkle in. Two-seam, sinker, I don’t even know what it is, really, but just something different to keep them off. It’s been good to me. Started in Spring Training throwing it, so I had the encouragement to throw it tonight. I think it’s going to be a big pitch for me.”
Our STUPH models love the sinker, grading it as his best pitch (56 botOvr, 127 Pitching+).
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Rangers
• The manager is looking for any reliever who can be productive in high-leverage spots.
“I think it’s a conversation that we’ll have with the staff,” Schumaker said of handling the back of the bullpen. “It’s six, seven games in. We still have a long way to go, but we need to get these guys right to get to where we want to get to. These are guys we’re going to go with because we think they are good. We are going to keep throwing them out there. As far as lanes and roles and stuff, I think we are all still trying to figure that out. … There are guys that can earn more leverage spots for sure.”
Of the relievers used so far, Jakob Junis is the top option. He has the team’s highest Leverage Index (1.59 gLI), Saves+Holds (3), and K%-BB% (21%).
• Jake Burger is experimenting with amber contact lenses even though he has 20/20 vision.
The guy with the bright red eyes is Jake Burger, who is experimenting with amber contact lenses to help him see the ball better in darker closed-roof stadiums.
“Houston and Seattle, especially with the roof closed, it’s dark and I feel like I can’t pick up spin in those places,” Burger explained. “I was like, ‘OK, let’s try and figure something out.’ And I came up with these. I’m trying to learn how to put contacts in and get comfortable with them. I thought about getting the Oakley Amber glasses, but I don’t like the nose piece when I’m hitting.”
Burger, who has 20/20 vision, was sent the contacts ahead of the Rangers’ exhibition games against the Royals on March 23-24. He’s not wearing them in games yet, though he continues to experiment during batting practice and fielding drills. The brightening effect is meant to help in those darker ballparks.
White Sox
• Simeon Woods Richardson is ditching his curveball and leaning into his splitter.
Woods Richardson has done it while largely phasing out his curveball and incorporating a splitter much more regularly, adjusting his arsenal on the fly in the Major Leagues. That’s not an easy task, but he relishes the challenge of problem-solving on the mound.
“That’s pitching,” he said. “At the end of the day, that’s what I grew up watching. I don’t have 100 [miles per hour]. I can look up on the board and see I don’t have 100. So you’ve got to get creative in different ways.”
Just looking at the STUPH models and pitch results, the move doesn’t seem like a major improvement. Probably the “best” part of the changes was getting rid of the curveball (career 7% SwStr%, 37 botStuff 89 Stuff+).
National League
Braves
• Bryce Elder added a cutter.
It was during these sessions that Elder developed the cutter he has finally started to find some comfort and success with. Maddux actually suggested the cutter when he and the current Braves hurler began talking.
Elder was initially hesitant because he felt it would mess with his slider, which he told Maddux was his “swing-and-miss” pitch.
“Oh, you’re a swing-and-miss pitcher?” Maddux sarcastically questioned.
Phillies
• Zack Wheeler’s velocity is not back, he’s down 10 pounds, …
For now, the team is not expressing concern about Wheeler’s slow-developing velocity. His fastball averaged 96.1 mph last season. It sat 93.3 mph in his first minor-league start on March 28 and dipped Friday night to a 92.7 mph average. Further indicative of the fastball’s lack of zip: Wheeler has thrown 35 four-seam fastballs in his two Triple-A starts. Hitters have swung and missed at only one of them.
…
There is an element of the unknown; Wheeler is not returning from a common injury. One byproduct of the blood clot that led to venous thoracic outlet syndrome: Wheeler lost a significant amount of weight. He was put on a specific diet while on blood thinners. He ended spring training at about 195 pounds, still down 10 from his typical 205 pitching weight.
… has problems throwing strikes, and will get just one more rehab start.
Wheeler threw 49 pitches, only 26 of which went for strikes. He threw 23 four-seam fastballs, a pitch that averaged 92.7 mph and topped out at 93.9 mph. That was down slightly from his first rehab start exactly one week ago, when his four-seamer topped out at 94.3 mph and averaged 93.3 mph.
Wheeler is expected to make another rehab start for Lehigh Valley on Wednesday, and in the interim, Thomson said the right-hander would go back to Citizens Bank Park and throw a bullpen either on Sunday or Monday. It’s possible he could rejoin the Phillies following Wednesday’s outing, or he could make another rehab appearance.
In six AAA innings, he has a 6.77 xFIP. I don’t like this situation at all. Right now, I see two outcomes. First, he gets “hurt” again and goes on another rehab assignment. Second, he goes to the majors and struggles worse than Taijuan Walker. The Phillies need him right, and he’s not there right now.
Pirates
• Oneil Cruz hired a left-handed batting-practice pitcher to work with him this offseason.
Cruz’s performance against lefties has been hard to ignore. Upset with his struggles in that situation last year, Cruz found and hired a left-handed batting practice pitcher this winter in the Dominican Republic.
So far, it seems to have worked with 1 K in 11 PA vs lefties.
