Shortly earlier than Walter Pennington was acquired by the Texas Rangers from the Kansas Metropolis Royals eventually month’s commerce deadline, Eric Longenhagen wrote that the 26-year-old left-hander had “caught some helium of late after hanging out 35% of the hitters he’s confronted in Triple-A.” Our lead prospect analyst went on to notice that Pennington had not too long ago made his MLB debut, including that he “has a center aid profile with little margin for error because of his underwhelming velocity.” Longenhagen assigned the 2020 non-drafted free agent out of the Colorado College of Mines a not-overly-enthusiastic 35+ FV.
By his first seven big-league appearances — one with the Royals and now six with the Rangers — Pennington has fanned 10 batters and allowed three earned runs whereas attacking hitters with an array of sinkers, sliders, and cutters (he’s additionally thrown a smattering of four-seamers) in eight-and-two-thirds innings of labor. Down on the farm, he’d closely featured his slider whereas fanning 82 batters and permitting 43 hits in 63-and-a-third frames.
His velocity is certainly underwhelming. And never solely has Pennington been averaging simply 91.7 mph along with his heaters, his arsenal doesn’t embody a breaking ball that sweeps or dips in eye-catching trend. Your stereotypical energy pitcher he’s not.
Asking Pennington how he profiles on the mound elicited some intriguing solutions.
“I’m not [a power pitcher], however I believe I’m the very best pitcher on the earth,” Pennington advised me when the Rangers visited Fenway Park earlier this month. “It’s a must to inform your self that at all times. Proper? It’s a must to be assured on the market. However I wish to say that I’m a motion man who mixes his pitches properly. Once I throw the ball, I see the ball transfer. The best way I understand myself throwing isn’t actually what the numbers say, although.”
Pennington has a level in mechanical engineering, so it’s not as if he lacks reasoning abilities. I requested if he may elaborate.
“Once I throw the ball, I see my slider transfer sideways when the numbers say it’s zero-zero; it’s normally round there horizontally and vertically,” defined Pennington, who throws from a low three-quarters slot. “However whereas the numbers say it’s nothing particular, once I speak to hitters they are saying it’s actually misleading. Michael Massey known as it trying like a lacrosse ball popping out of my hand. So, I don’t actually know why my slider is sweet apart from there being one thing in the best way that my physique works and the way I throw. I’ve heard that I conceal the ball properly.”
As you would possibly anticipate, the distinction in motion between his sinker and go-to slider is an enormous a part of why every pitch is efficient. Pennington advised me that his sinker sometimes will get “negative-nine vertical and between 10 and 15 horizontal,” giving him a superb little bit of separation from the zero-zero slider. There’s velocity separation as properly, with the slider averaging 83.9 mph.
That Pennington as soon as thought that it could be essential so as to add motion to his slider is one other a part of the story.
“Once I was first throwing with a Rapsodo we didn’t know a lot and it was like, ‘This factor’s not shifting in any respect; it’s like a straight knuckleball,’ recalled Pennington. “We thought we wanted to vary some stuff, so I began attempting to throw it extra like a curveball. However once more, despite the fact that metrically it isn’t something particular I’m nonetheless getting swing-and-misses. It doesn’t make sense — why does my stuff play properly when numerically it’s nothing particular? — but it surely works. So long as hitters can’t determine it out, I’m going to maintain going with it.”
———
RANDOM HITTER-PITCHER MATCHUPS
Cliff Pennington went 2 for 25 in opposition to Doug Fister.
Moose Skowron went 0 for 14 in opposition to Dan Pfister.
Admiral Schlei went 0 for 11 in opposition to Jack Pfiester.
Spike Shannon went 3 for 31 in opposition to Large Jeff Pfeffer.
Bobby Pfeil went 2 for 4 in opposition to Bob Moose.
———
Why Josh Hader’s fastball is elite is pretty well-known. The 30-year-old, left-handed nearer throws a high-velocity two-seamer which, thanks largely to his arm slot and launch peak, doesn’t act like a two-seamer. As Travis Sawchik wrote at FiveThirtyEight again in 2019, Hader’s heater is “one thing of a ghost pitch: It’s very troublesome to hit however not for any of the standard causes.”
I not too long ago requested Hader when he first realized the why behind the “wow.”
“I realized the vertical strategy stuff most likely my second yr in professional ball,” replied Hader, who was drafted by the Baltimore Orioles in 2012 earlier than happening to dominate hitters with the Milwaukee Brewers, San Diego Padres, and now the Houston Astros. “However it’s not one thing the place I needed to chase something, as a result of I already knew that I obtained plenty of swings-and-misses on the high of the zone. I already threw the ball up, so nothing modified.”
Hader’s slider has modified. That occurred previous to final season, the intent being to assist it play higher off of his fastball.
“We made it extra of a gyro,” defined Hader. “I’ve a man I speak to named Ben [Brewster] — he’s at Tread — and what I’ve realized is that when you will have a big-shaped slider it offers the hitter a little bit extra time to regulate to that pitch. It’s simpler for them to attend on it.”
Hader added that he wished to have a slider much like Jacob deGrom’s, and whereas he “has no concept how comparable it truly is,” he did achieve altering the form in a productive method. A child spike along with his index finger helped him create the gyro spin he was searching for.
———
A quiz:
From 1967-1974, a right-hander led all MLB pitchers in wins, strikeouts, and residential runs allowed. (A touch: He walked simply 1.9 batters per 9 innings over that eight-year span.) Who’s he?
The reply will be discovered under.
———
NEWS NOTES
John Russell registered his 1,000th managerial win on the skilled stage earlier this week. At present on the helm of the Triple-A Tacoma Rainers, Russell has 186 managerial wins in MLB, with the remainder coming at numerous ranges within the minors.
Pete Daley, a catcher who performed for the Boston Purple Sox, Kansas Metropolis Athletics, and Washington Senators in a big-league profession that spanned the 1955-1961 seasons, died on August 22 at age 94. A local of Grass Valley, California, Daley hit the penultimate of his 18 profession dwelling runs in a sport that noticed the Purple Sox rating eight runs within the ninth inning, all with two out, to stroll off the Senators 13-12.
——-
The reply to the quiz is Fergie Jenkins, who was with the Chicago Cubs for first 5 of these seasons, and with the Texas Rangers for the sixth.
———
Which of Francisco Lindor, Ketel Marte, Shohei Ohtani, or Marcell Ozuna would get your Nationwide League MVP vote as of proper now? I requested that query in a Twitter ballot on Friday, and the end result was a landslide win for the Los Angeles Dodgers celebrity. Ought to it have been?
Listed below are a couple of of their numbers as of the time the ballot went up:
Lindor: 6.3 WAR, 133 wRC+, 25 HR, 73 RBI, 25 SB.
Marte: 5.4 WAR, 152 wRC+, 30 HR, 81 RBI, six SB.
Ohtani: 6.0 WAR, 169 wRC+, 39 HR, 88 RBI, 39 SB.
Ozuna: 4.4 WAR, 165 wRC+, 37 HR, 94 RBI, no SB.
As for the ballot outcomes, Ohtani garnered a hefty 73.0% of the votes solid, whereas Lindor obtained 17.0%, Marte 6.0%, and Ozuna 4.0%. Whereas I anticipated Ohtani to return out forward — and it’s comprehensible that he did — the margin of victory was considerably greater than I anticipated. The inevitability of 40/40, which he proceeded to succeed in on Friday night, actually performed an enormous function. Historic achievements carry plenty of weight.
———
FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Kazuma Okamoto has hit 20 or extra dwelling runs in every of the previous seven seasons. The 28-year-old Yomiuri Giants nook infielder, who hit a career-best 41 dwelling runs final yr, is slashing .260/.344/.466 for the NPB membership.
Dallas Keuchel threw seven shutout innings for the Chiba Lotte Marines on Friday. The 36-year-old erstwhile MLB southpaw has allowed two runs over 14 innings in two begins since becoming a member of the NPB membership earlier this month.
Raidel Martínez has an NPB-best 34 saves to go together with a 1.13 ERA and 46 strikeouts over 48 innings for the Chunichi Dragons. The 27-year-old right-hander from Pinar del Rio, Cuba has 105 saves and a 0.84 ERA because the begin of the 2022 season.
Matt Davidson leads all KBO hitters with 37 dwelling runs. The 33-year-old NC Dinos first baseman, whose final MLB season was 2022, is slashing .291/.363/.609 with a 140 wRC+ in 454 plate appearances.
Do Yeong Kim continues to be the KBO’s high participant. The 20-year-old Kia Tigers third baseman is slashing .340/.413/.634 with 32 dwelling runs and a 163 wRC+ in 519 plate appearances. He has 35 stolen bases.
———
A random obscure former participant snapshot:
Kewpie Pennington’s lone big-league look got here in a notable sport. His personal efficiency was unremarkable — the right-hander surrendered a single to Completely satisfied Felsch, then retired the following three batters — however the knock he allowed was yet another than his teammates logged all day. The April 14, 1917 contest noticed Chicago White Sox hurler Eddie Cicotte, who was later banned from baseball because of the Black Sox scandal — toss a no-hitter. Pennington had neither glory nor infamy in his profession, though he did have a handful of strong seasons down on the farm. He went 16-10 with a 1.60 ERA for the Hartford Senators in 1920, and he adopted that up by going 18-12 with a 1.84 ERA in 1921. His given identify was George.
———
Dan Wilson is now managing the Seattle Mariners and Grady Sizemore is now managing the Chicago White Sox. Each are former gamers, and whereas their careers differed in some ways, they had been strikingly comparable in a handful of classes.
Wilson had 1,097 hits, 519 RBIs, and a .262 batting common.
Sizemore had 1,098 hits, 518 RBIs, and a .265 batting common.
———
FARM NOTES
Moises Ballesteros is slashing .280/.349/.470 with 17 dwelling runs between Double-A Tennessee and Triple-A Iowa. The 20-year-old left-handed-hitting catcher is No. 8 on our Chicago Cubs High Prospects checklist.
Roman Anthony is 15-for-44 with three dwelling runs since being promoted to Triple-A Worcester. The 20-year-old outfielder, who’s No. 1 on our Boston Purple Sox High Prospects checklist, slashed .269/.367.489 with 15 dwelling runs for Double-A Portland.
Bubba Chandler has allowed three runs over 18 innings with 23 strikeouts in three begins since being promoted to Triple-A Indianapolis. The 21-year-old right-hander, who’s No. 4 on our Pittsburgh Pirates High Prospects checklist, had a 3.70 ERA with Double-A Altoona.
Noah Cameron has fanned 36 batters whereas permitting 22 hits and 6 runs in 31-and-a-third innings over 5 begins since being promoted to Triple-A Omaha. The 25-year-old left-hander, who’s No. 16 on our Kansas Metropolis Royals High Prospects checklist, had a 3.63 ERA with Double-A Northwest Arkansas.
Bryce Eldridge is slashing .283/.369/.492 with 17 dwelling runs between Low-A San Jose and Excessive-A Eugene. Drafted sixteenth total a yr in the past, the 19-year-old first baseman got here into the season No. 3 on our San Francisco Giants High Prospects checklist.
———
Craig Counsell shared an insightful perspective when addressing expectations for particular person gamers. He used Justin Steele for example.
“The character of the sport is that it’s a must to show it, it’s a must to show it, it’s a must to show it,” the Chicago Cubs supervisor mentioned previous to the southpaw’s final begin. “You’re at all times required to do this. Justin goes to be required to do it once more. Like, OK, so what? Do it once more. That’s form of how it’s a must to have a look at it.”
Steele made 30 begins final season and logged a 3.06 ERA and a 3.02 FIP. Up to now this season — together with Thursday’s outing — he has made 21 begins and logged a 3.07 ERA and a 3.18 FIP.
———
Plenty of nice quotes are attributed to Yogi Berra, equivalent to “It ain’t over till it’s over” and “You’ll be able to observe so much simply by watching.” Previous to Wednesday night time’s sport in opposition to the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Area, Detroit Tigers supervisor A.J. Hinch equipped a Yogi-ism of his personal when addressing what he desires to see from his younger gamers within the last month-plus of the season.
“We need to see constant efficiency, and that doesn’t at all times imply 2-for-4 each sport,” Hinch advised a small group of reporters. “It doesn’t imply field scores. It means baseball aptitude. It means baseball consciousness. They’re studying easy methods to play, and make profitable performs.”
The veteran supervisor went on discuss seeing how younger gamers reply to success and failure, in addition to the changes they make each on their very own and thru the assistance of coaches. Then got here the Yogi-ism.
“The success part of it’s not simply meant for the field rating,” mentioned Hinch. “We would like as a lot field rating success as we are able to get, as a result of we’ll have scoreboard success after we get field rating success.”
———
LINKS YOU’LL LIKE
At Sports activities Data Options, Mark Simon wrote about Bobby Witt Jr. and Defensive Runs Saved on particular person gamers’ batted balls.
Pitcher Checklist’s Renee Dechert had a dialog with Colorado Rockies outfielder Brenton Doyle.
Danny Jansen will formally be enjoying for 2 groups in the identical sport when Boston hosts Toronto tomorrow afternoon within the continuation of a suspended sport. Ian Browne has the story at MLB.com.
World Baseball’s Yuri Karasawa checked out the pitchers in rivalry for the 2024 Sawamura Award (NPB’s equal to the Cy Younger Award).
The Athletic’s Evan Drellich wrote about how gamers in Japan need to attain free company sooner and plan to quickly file a authorized problem to Nippon Skilled Baseball’s reserve system (subscription required).
———
RANDOM FACTS AND STATS
Following their sport on Wednesday, the Chicago Cubs and Detroit Tigers each had data of 62-65. The Cubs had scored 527 runs and allowed 527 runs. The Tigers had scored 527 runs and allowed 526 runs.
From 1906-1910, the Cubs went 530-235 with seasonal win totals of 116, 107, 99, 104, 104. Their .692 profitable proportion is the best ever in MLB historical past over a five-year span. They performed in 4 World Collection, profitable two and shedding two.
The Chicago White Sox have misplaced 21 of the 22 video games Michael Soroka has appeared on this season. The 27-year-old right-hander is 0-10 with a 5.23 ERA.
The New York Yankees scored 10 or extra runs 41 instances in 1936. They went 40-1 in these video games with the one loss a 12-11 walk-off in Philadelphia in opposition to the Athletics.
Stephen Smitherman smacked his lone big-league dwelling run on right this moment’s date in 2003 because the Cincinnati Reds dropped a 10-6 resolution to the Milwaukee Brewers. The dinger, which was additionally his first hit — Smitherman went 7-for-44 in his 21-game MLB cameo — got here as a pinch-hitter.
On right this moment’s date in 1922, the Philadelphia Phillies scored eight instances within the eighth inning and 6 instances within the ninth inning… and misplaced to the Chicago Cubs 26-23. The groups mixed for 51 hits, 21 walks, and 9 errors. Time of sport was 3:01.
The St. Louis Cardinals and Houston Astros performed to a 3-3, rain-shortened 10-inning tie on right this moment’s date in 1975. Cliff Johnson homered within the high of the eleventh to provide the Astros a 4-3 lead, solely to have the blast negated; per the foundations in place at the moment, if an inning was not but full the rating would revert again to the final accomplished inning. Had it counted, Johnson would have had a house run in his sixth consecutive sport.
Gamers born on right this moment’s date embody Dick Rudolph, who was the profitable pitcher in each Recreation 1 and Recreation 4 because the Boston Braves swept the Philadelphia Athletics within the 1914 World Collection. The correct-hander went 26-10 with a 2.35 ERA for The Miracle Braves (they had been in final place on the Fourth of July) that season.
Additionally born on right this moment’s date was Rufus Meadows, who in 1926 retired the one batter he confronted in what was to be his lone big-league sport. Eighteen years outdated when he took the mound for the Cincinnati Reds, the southpaw from Chase Metropolis, Virginia induced a ground-ball out in an 18-1 loss to the Chicago Cubs.
The Pennington Hole Lee Bears gained the 1937 Appalachian League championship, beating the Elizabethton Betsy Purple Sox within the finals.
