Mining the News (7/5/23)

American League

Angels

• Tommy Henry thinks his slider is why he has seen recent improvement.

In his past two starts, Henry has allowed only three runs over 11 2/3 innings. One of the biggest keys for him over that stretch has been the improvement of his slider.

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“Now it’s becoming a pitch I’m throwing to both sides, can throw in any count I feel like and I think hitters having to consider that opens up other doors. So if I had to put my thumb on it, without diving into it too deep, that’s probably my hunch.”

Probably the key to his improvement is not slider (14% SwStr%) but moving away from his four-seamer (7% SwStr%). Before June 17, the was throwing his fastball 50% of the time. From June 17th and on, it’s just 41% of the time.

Athletics

• Kyle Muller’s fastball was up over 1.5 mph in his last start.

Another noticeable difference was Muller’s increased fastball velocity, which he said was the result of mechanical adjustments as well as long toss and weighted ball workouts in the Minors. Through his first nine starts of the season, Muller averaged 92.7 mph with his fastball. Against Chicago, that heater averaged 94.3 mph and maxed out at 97.2 mph.

Armed with extra ticks on his fastball, Muller threw it more than he ever had in a single start over his big league career: 53 of his 86 pitches. The uptick in velocity helped his secondary pitches appear more deceptive, particularly the curveball, which generated 14 swinging strikes and six whiffs on its 18 offerings.

“My fastball and slider were starting to blend and there wasn’t a big speed difference my last couple of starts in the big leagues,” Muller said. “Getting my heater back to where I could attack guys was huge. Not having to rely on my slider as much and picking and choosing advantageous spots where I could throw it makes the pitch better as well.”

While more swings-and-misses are nice, it is his walk rates of 4.7 BB/9 in the majors or 4.4 BB/9 in AAA, that are the bigger issue.

Mariners

• Bryan Woo will likely be slow-rolled out of the All-Star break and demoted at some point in the season.

The Mariners have made it no secret that Woo, who surpassed his 2022 innings total (56) in his recent start against Washington on Tuesday, will be monitored far more closely as the club presses into summer, much like Logan Gilbert and George Kirby each of the past two seasons.

The good news is that the All-Star break looms, and with it, baked in off-days and the chance to re-slot the rotation entirely entering the second half. It’s highly likely that Woo will be optioned to the Minors at some point for abbreviated outings to curb his workload, too, much like Kirby last summer.

Rangers

• Will Smith will be the closer even after the team traded for Aroldis Chapman.

By acquiring Chapman, the Rangers have more than enough high-leverage relievers down the stretch this season, but Bochy didn’t commit to the lefty being named the official closer in the near future.

“I think we’re going to use [Chapman] like the Royals used him,” Bochy said. “He can go the seventh inning, eighth inning. I think they even used him in the sixth. I’ve talked to [Smith]. He’s still going to be closing games. If he needs a day off or something, Aroldis can do that, too. I just haven’t had a chance to talk to him yet, so I won’t go into it too much.”

Red Sox

• Masataka Yoshida is still dealing with jet lag.

But a peculiar and persistent challenge has been jet lag.

“I’m still working on it,” Yoshida said through interpreter Keiichiro Wakabayashi during Boston’s three-game set in Toronto. “Every single time I’m thinking, ‘Should I sleep on the flight to get used to the time [of] where I’m going to go?’ So that’s what I do.”

Royals

• Brady Singer is now throwing a split change.

Singer’s changeup will be key in helping him get back to the pitcher he was last year. He changed the grip of the pitch earlier this season, so getting used to that and gaining confidence in throwing it has been a work in progress. But the way he’s throwing it is better suited for him; the righty is throwing more of a split-change that’s similar to his sinker grip — basically using his sinker grip and splitting his fingers apart on the ball. That helps Singer feel more natural throwing it.

On the season, Singer has thrown his change 83 times and the pitch has only generated one swing-and-miss.

Tigers

• Matt Manning got zero swings-and-misses on his secondaries in his debut.

Manning threw 58 percent fastballs Tuesday, though Hinch said the ballpark radar read some of Manning’s changeups as fastballs. The heater has always been his calling card — his four-seamer had a run value of minus-8 last season, one of the best marks in baseball — but the rest of his arsenal has always been the big question in Manning’s development.

Tuesday night, Manning threw 25 percent curveballs and 15 percent sliders. Neither pitch netted a whiff from a Rangers batter. Only three fastballs and one slider landed for called strikes, though Manning did induce some weak contact with his secondaries.

Those secondaries need to miss some bats for Manning to be a successful pitcher.

National League

Dodgers

• Tony Gonsolin’s slider has not been effective.

“I think the thing that stands out most is he just hasn’t had a slider,” Roberts said. “With [right-handed hitters], the equalizer has been the slider, and he just hasn’t had it. It doesn’t have the bite. It’s been up in the zone and he’s not getting the swing and miss that we’re accustomed to.”

The swinging-strike rate on the pitch has dropped for four straight seasons (27% to 21% to 19% to 15%).

• The team has suggested they might platoon Miguel Vargas and Michael Busch at second base.

Roberts suggested that Michael Busch at second base is something the Dodgers could consider later on in the season. With Vargas hitting right-handed and Busch hitting left-handed, they could form a natural platoon. But Busch might have as many or more defensive concerns at second base than Vargas, and while he’s torched Triple A, it’s been a mixed bag in a limited sample in the majors.

Phillies

• Once Bryce Harper starts playing first base, Darick Hall might be out of a job.

But what happens when Harper is ready to play first base? It is expected that Kyle Schwarber will move from left field to DH. If not exclusively, then enough that playing time for Hall will become more limited.

The Phillies optioned Hall to Triple-A soon after Harper rejoined the Phillies last August, but Thomson said there is a way for Harper and Hall to co-exist.

“Possibly,” he said. “We’ll see where we’re at, at that point.”

Reds

• Pitch classification systems are mixing up Graham Ashcraft’s cutter and sinker.

“I felt like I was able to put the ball where I wanted to today,” Ashcraft said. “I felt like I was able to get that chase pitch when I needed to. I mean, the slider was really good today. I felt like what helped me out the most was the two-seam. It reads as cutter a lot up on the board and on the iPads when we see it and all that, but we know it’s a sinker.”
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“The profile is completely different than what the four-seam or cutter shows up for people to see,” he said. “It kept guys honest. It allowed that slider to get that swing-and-miss because it was keeping those righties off the plate.”