“We just have a great mix of guys that execute pitches,” pitching coach Josh Miller said.
. Hope for a World Series hinges on this hodgepodge of homegrown talent, a couple hired hands and two pitching coaches tasked with how to deploy them.
during the stretch but never deviated from a style that once seemed conducive to long balls. Verlander presumed deadened baseballs have helped, but it's clear he's been able to exploit a league that thought it adapted to his style of pitching. The results are, too, but the path there is far different. Verlander generated just an 18.1 percent whiff rate against his four-seamer this season. It eclipsed 29 percent during each of his first two seasons in Houston. The .194 batting average against Verlander's four-seam fastball is the lowest of his Astros tenure. The 40.3 percent hard-hit rate is the second-lowest.hellbent on attacking the four-seam fastball and reaping the rewards. Efficiency has never been better — Verlander's 3.
"That pitch has been super important for me this year," Javier said through an interpreter."The spin rate I've been getting on the ball, just staying behind the ball with my fingers, I think has helped me get a lot of swings and misses with it. I'm staying closed off a little more when I'm throwing to the plate, and just staying behind the ball and working on my mechanics has helped me a lot.
"It was almost his only usable weapon that was consistent in '18 and '19," Miller said."The last couple years, his other pitches have helped him, and landing the curveball has also helped his other pitches. They have to respect three or four other offerings, but it's harder to hit when a pitcher is unpredictable."
Lance McCullers’ slider has morphed into one of baseball’s best pitches, one he now throws more often than either his sinker or curveball.On Oct. 12, 2020, Tampa Bay Rays outfielder Manuel Margot lifted Lance McCullers Jr.'s 0-1 curveball over the center-field fence at Petco Park for a three-run homer in Game 2 of the American League Championship Series.McCullers' curveball had carried him to that point, paired with a changeup and sinker.
Few can form a counterargument. McCullers' slider has morphed into one of baseball's best pitches, one he now throws more often than either his sinker or curveball. Righthanded hitters are 26-for-185 against it since McCullers debuted it last season. This year, it is generating a 31.5 percent whiff rate while hovering around 85 mph.
Bryan Abreu’s slider generates a swing-and-miss 50.6 percent of the time and is responsible for 68 of his 88 strikeoutsNo pitcher on Houston's staff blossomed more than Bryan Abreu. He stopped flying open in his delivery and started to showcase better command. Walks went down, strikeouts skyrocketed, and he now has the most lethal pitch in Houston's bullpen.
Ryne Stanek finished with the lowest ERA of any reliever in franchise history, a 1.15 mark made possible by the best-performing fastball of Stanek’s career.Twenty-one of Stanek's four-seam fastballs touched 100 mph this season. He averaged 98.3 mph while authoring a record-setting campaign. The flamethrower finished with the lowest ERA of any reliever in franchise history, a 1.15 mark made possible by the best-performing fastball of Stanek's career.
"My whole game is predicated off selling fastball line, whether it be the slider or the splitter," Stanek said."Everything I do is predicated off of the lines being off of each other. For me, it's huge. If you execute and throw a well-located fastball, there is going to be something you throw that plays off of that. If you can get anyone in between a little bit, you've done yourself a good service to get yourself in a better position.
Elevating the four-seamer has rendered opponents unable to diagnose either of Pressly's breaking pitches. All three come off the same line, leaving hitters milliseconds to recognize whether the ball coming toward them will stay straight, dart down and in, or fall off the table. Lefthanded hitters slashed .206/.287/.308 against righthanded Astros relievers this season. The .308 slugging percentage is the lowest allowed by any group of righthanded relievers to lefthanded batters this season. Houston did acquire Will Smith from Atlanta on Aug. 2, but its best options in leverage situations against lefthanded batters remain righthanded.
"I can pitch to the lefthanders, especially with that pitch, because it affects their eyes and the balance of the lefty," Neris said."It looks sometimes like it's a lefty throwing against a lefty — not a righthander — if I execute that pitch. It changes their eye back and forth, up and down. Especially with the bullpen like we have, if a guy throws a pitch like that, it helps.
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