Archive for Philadelphia

In the moment Jose Alvarado owners yearned for, a save chance, things did not go as planned in New York. Alvarado last recorded a save on April seventh against the Giants on the road. He’s also registered five holds and two losses in 12 outings since. After Diego Castillo retired the Yankees in order in the eighth with two strikeouts, Alvarado entered to face Luke Voit, a known southpaw killer. Voit hit his 11th home run, and second off a lefty, leading off the inning. Alvarado allowed a single to Gary Sanchez, another hitter who fares better versus lefties, before striking out Kendrys Morales. But, a Gleyber Torres double put the go ahead run at second base. Struggling a bit with command, Alvarado uncorked a wild pitch after intentionally walking Clint Frazier scoring the tying run. Read the rest of this entry »

“What makes a man, Mr. Lebowski? … Is it being prepared to do the right thing? Whatever the cost? Isn’t that what makes a man?”

I know how that exchange ends, and you probably do too. Perhaps the Dude’s response to the other Jeffrey Lebowski, the millionaire, was, indeed, right. But maybe there’s something else — something I’ve concocted to make myself feel better. Perhaps what makes a man is the capacity to admit he is wrong.

I was wrong. About Jeremy Hellickson, specifically. In late April, I pegged Hellickson as someone who would regress in his strikeout rate (K%) based on his zone contact rate (Z-Contact%). Technically, I was right — Hellickson’s 75.7% zone contact rate as of April 24 has converged almost all the way back to his career rate of 84.6% (it currently sits at 83.1%).

It’s the change-up I was wrong about. Hellickson’s change-piece posted some filthy outcomes through the end of April. I claimed nothing about the pitch changed. I looked at velocity and movement. I didn’t look at location. Hellickson is spotting the ever-loving crap out of his change-up, and it has worked wonders for him.

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I already wrote about Aaron Nola this year. So, too, have Eno Sarris, August Fagerstrom and Jeff Sullivan. He’s been a big deal.

When I wrote about Nola — barely a month ago, at this point — he kind of took the backseat to rotation-mate Vincent Velasquez, who had recently struck out 16 hitters in a dominant complete game. However, since VV’s first two starts, during which he struck out a combined 25 hitters, he hasn’t struck out more than six hitters in a single game and has shown lapses in command.

Meanwhile, Nola has, somewhat quietly, turned in one of the season’s best first six weeks. He ranks third in pitcher WAR (wins above replacement) behind Clayton Kershaw and the underrated Jose Quintana. But WAR is partly a function of playing time, so this might be an unfair comparison for, say, Kyle Hendricks, who has started two fewer games than Nola.

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