Listening to the pod and had to piggyback on your thoughts. I am not as into cutters as you but thought you would like this. I am not a fan of him throwing fastballs low; I get why it worked last night with teams laying off low stuff and he needs something to clip the zone, but I worry about bad misses down there. I also worry about residual misses when he goes back upstairs. I would rather see him attack high with the fastball, and maybe it is time he mixes in a cutter he can throw low in the zone.
No, I think diversifying the fastball mix makes sense. Obviously, if the four-seamer returns to the 2023 form, we may not need to worry about that but if not, adding a cutter and/or a sinker gives him some more shapes, ones that have natural movement that should take them out of the heart of the zone, would be great.
I wrote somewhere before, maybe SI, about potentially adding a sinker into his repertoire. The worry there is that it is eating away at your other pitches from a shape standpoint, but I think his gyro slider shape is distinct enough to potentially be able to add a cutter and keep the shapes separate.
In essence, push him one of two ways: The elite FB/SL guy, but also now throwing a curveball, or a kitchen sink guy that has all three fastballs, the curveball, an okay changeup, and still has the devastating slider
I think that’s definitely a concern. I’d imagine it’s very hard to train yourself to pronate enough to be effective with a sinker/2 seam while still staying behind the fastball enough to keep the elite shape he wants. A cutter or a “second slider”, maybe one that sits around 88-90 (big ask) could be interesting.
But you’re also right in the sense that if he just becomes dominant again nobody is having this conversation and I couldn’t be less worried about a non position player in the entire MLB.
This is coming from a guy that thought Soroka would win 5 cy youngs so great track record here 😆
Your first paragraph is the likely reason that he doesn't add those other pitches. I remember briefly talking to him in '24 spring training after a start and he discussed needing to deliberately work at getting around the ball - can he still effectively do that if also not focusing on that for the sinker? I doubt it
I feel a bit better about Spencer's chances now. And, like you, I don't find him to be a guy to bet against.
I wonder how he fits in to the FO plans for next season. They're tied to him financially, and he will get every opportunity to stick in the rotation. But how they view him, uncertainty and all, could dictate other roster decisions.
Do they need to feel better about their 3rd starter? If so, someone like Cease could be in play. If they feel good about him, they probably shop for depth rather than upgrades.
One quick note. I swear I read that the Braves call the pitches from the dugout. I am not finding it now, so I could be wrong.
If you do find that, I'd love to see it. The understanding I've always had is that the catcher calls the game, for the most part. Max Fried called his own game via pitchcom when he was here, but I've understood it as most of the current rotation just throwing what the catcher puts down (especially Chris Sale, who never shakes).
I'm not saying you're wrong, not at all. I'm just curious to learn more because I've always assumed it's done that way.
I think I was wrong. After doing some research, only select defensive players can utilize the technology, and only while on the field. Calls can and do come from the bench via physical signals - and sometimes those are are pitch calls - but it wouldn't make sense to call the majority of pitches that way, in my opinion. That feels way too risky.
Yeah, it feels like a good way to have your signs be stolen, if they're visible from the opposing dugout.
I'm sure that situationally, there are applications for it, but I've always assumed when they come out for a mound visit that sometimes they're relaying a desire to have a certain pitch be thrown
Listening to the pod and had to piggyback on your thoughts. I am not as into cutters as you but thought you would like this. I am not a fan of him throwing fastballs low; I get why it worked last night with teams laying off low stuff and he needs something to clip the zone, but I worry about bad misses down there. I also worry about residual misses when he goes back upstairs. I would rather see him attack high with the fastball, and maybe it is time he mixes in a cutter he can throw low in the zone.
Feel free to push back.
No, I think diversifying the fastball mix makes sense. Obviously, if the four-seamer returns to the 2023 form, we may not need to worry about that but if not, adding a cutter and/or a sinker gives him some more shapes, ones that have natural movement that should take them out of the heart of the zone, would be great.
I wrote somewhere before, maybe SI, about potentially adding a sinker into his repertoire. The worry there is that it is eating away at your other pitches from a shape standpoint, but I think his gyro slider shape is distinct enough to potentially be able to add a cutter and keep the shapes separate.
In essence, push him one of two ways: The elite FB/SL guy, but also now throwing a curveball, or a kitchen sink guy that has all three fastballs, the curveball, an okay changeup, and still has the devastating slider
I think that’s definitely a concern. I’d imagine it’s very hard to train yourself to pronate enough to be effective with a sinker/2 seam while still staying behind the fastball enough to keep the elite shape he wants. A cutter or a “second slider”, maybe one that sits around 88-90 (big ask) could be interesting.
But you’re also right in the sense that if he just becomes dominant again nobody is having this conversation and I couldn’t be less worried about a non position player in the entire MLB.
This is coming from a guy that thought Soroka would win 5 cy youngs so great track record here 😆
Your first paragraph is the likely reason that he doesn't add those other pitches. I remember briefly talking to him in '24 spring training after a start and he discussed needing to deliberately work at getting around the ball - can he still effectively do that if also not focusing on that for the sinker? I doubt it
This is really good stuff--thank you.
I feel a bit better about Spencer's chances now. And, like you, I don't find him to be a guy to bet against.
I wonder how he fits in to the FO plans for next season. They're tied to him financially, and he will get every opportunity to stick in the rotation. But how they view him, uncertainty and all, could dictate other roster decisions.
Do they need to feel better about their 3rd starter? If so, someone like Cease could be in play. If they feel good about him, they probably shop for depth rather than upgrades.
One quick note. I swear I read that the Braves call the pitches from the dugout. I am not finding it now, so I could be wrong.
If you do find that, I'd love to see it. The understanding I've always had is that the catcher calls the game, for the most part. Max Fried called his own game via pitchcom when he was here, but I've understood it as most of the current rotation just throwing what the catcher puts down (especially Chris Sale, who never shakes).
I'm not saying you're wrong, not at all. I'm just curious to learn more because I've always assumed it's done that way.
I think I was wrong. After doing some research, only select defensive players can utilize the technology, and only while on the field. Calls can and do come from the bench via physical signals - and sometimes those are are pitch calls - but it wouldn't make sense to call the majority of pitches that way, in my opinion. That feels way too risky.
Yeah, it feels like a good way to have your signs be stolen, if they're visible from the opposing dugout.
I'm sure that situationally, there are applications for it, but I've always assumed when they come out for a mound visit that sometimes they're relaying a desire to have a certain pitch be thrown