Kyle Harrison was pitching for the Double-A Richmond Flying Squirrels when he was first featured right here at FanGraphs in August 2022. Then a fast-rising prospect within the San Francisco Giants system, the now-22-year-old southpaw had damaged down the early evolution of his arsenal for me previous to a sport at Portland, Maine’s Hadlock Subject. Quick ahead to this previous week, and we had been reacquainting at a far-more-fabled venue. Harrison was making ready to take the mound at Fenway Park for his 14th big-league begin, his seventh this season.
As I’m wont to do in such eventualities, I requested the dark-horse rookie-of-the-year candidate what’s modified since our 20-months-ago dialog. Not surprisingly, he’s continued to evolve.
“I’ve added a cutter, though I haven’t thrown it as a lot as I’d prefer to,” Harrison informed me. “Aside from that, it’s the identical pitches. The slider has been feeling nice, and the changeup is one thing that’s actually come alongside for me; it’s a pitch I’ve been counting on loads. I actually hadn’t thrown it that a lot within the minors — it felt like I didn’t actually have the management for it — however then rapidly it clicked. Now I’ve bought three weapons, plus the cutter.”
Together with his Thursday effort in Boston, Harrison has thrown his new cutter — Baseball Savant categorizes it as a slider — simply six occasions all season. Which brings us to his different breaking ball. Once we’d talked in Portland, the lefty known as the pitch a sweepy slider. Savant categorizes it as a slurve.
What’s it?
“It’s bought a two-plane break, so I feel slurve might be one of the best ways to explain it,” Harrison replied to my query. “That’s why I added the cutter, to get extra strikes. In Triple-A, I wasn’t in a position to land that huge slurve as a lot on the ABS [automated ball-strike system] strike zone.”
The motion profile of his breaker differs from his Double-A days, an evolution that was extra natural than by design. The underside line is that two-plane is now the norm.
“I’m getting anyplace from negative-five to most likely negative-eight vert on it,” defined Harrison. “It’s type of getting that depth level, like a curveball, nevertheless it’s additionally preserving the horizontal, anyplace from eight to 16. I haven’t misplaced any horizontal general, though I’ve misplaced some in a few begins. We’ve been speaking about it, arm angle and all that. Having methods to repair it in between begins is big for me. I must get it extra dialed in, get that constant 13-to-16 sweep.”
His changeup additionally differs from the one he was throwing within the Jap League. Harrison nonetheless holds the ball with a modified Vulcan grip, however he’s now spreading his fingers wider to be able to take off extra velocity. As an alternative of 88-90 mph, the pitch is now coming in 86-87.
“Having just a little extra cut up with the fingers permits me to kill just a little extra velocity,” defined Harrison. “Within the minors, I used to be throwing it too arduous and never seeing the velocity differential. I additionally wasn’t seeing sufficient motion differential. Now I’ve extra of a split-finger really feel, in a way, and am in a position to kill extra spin.”
As probability would have it, solely 14% of the 95 pitches he threw in Boston had been changeups, whereas 20% had been slurves — primarily a flip-flop of his seasonal averages (28.9% changeups and 12.6% slurves). After I requested him about that following the sport, he stated that he didn’t really feel his changeup was pretty much as good as traditional, partly as a result of the Fenway Park mound felt “just a little flatter, per se.” Conversely, he felt that his slurve and fastball had been taking part in properly.
Harrison’s heater — the one pitch in his repertoire that has remained unchanged — was certainly good in his five-inning, one-run-allowed effort. Solely 5 of his fastballs had been put into play, whereas 10 elicited a whiff, 11 went for a known as strike, and 13 had been fouled off. Motion and deception are keys to the 93-mph providing’s effectiveness, as is consistency of arm motion.
“I wouldn’t say trip,” Harrison stated of his fastball’s motion profile. “I don’t suppose that’s the correct time period, as a result of that requires induced vert, and if my induced vert will get too excessive, meaning my arm slot is creeping up too excessive and I lose my vertical strategy angle. It’s loopy how a lot I’m studying about all this. In a few begins, my heater wasn’t pretty much as good as I needed it to be, as a result of my arm slot was just a little decrease and I used to be up-shooting the ball just a little. It’s a wonderful line. You’ve bought to remain constant to get outcomes up right here.”
Harrison has a 3.79 ERA, a 3.87 FIP, and a 23.9% strikeout charge in 38 innings this season. Three months shy of his twenty third birthday, he’s one of many youngest pitchers in MLB. The outcomes, and his persevering with evolution, are coming alongside fairly properly.
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RANDOM HITTER-PITCHER MATCHUPS
Pedro Guerrero went 11 for 15 towards Dennis Rasmussen.
Vladimir Guerrero went 11 for 19 towards Chris Younger.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is 8 for 10 towards Shawn Armstrong.
Wilton Guerrero went 8 for 11 towards Mark Clark.
Mario Guerrero went 9 for 13 towards Rick Honeycutt.
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I had a enjoyable alternate with Craig Counsell previous to final Sunday’s sport at Fenway Park. The Chicago Cubs supervisor informed reporters that Hayden Wesneski, upon being knowledgeable that he was getting the beginning — Jordan Wicks was scratched resulting from a forearm pressure — responded by saying “My job is to get the primary man out.” Counsell favored Wesneski’s mindset, partly as a result of the younger right-hander had confronted seven batters in a reduction outing three days prior. How lengthy he could possibly be anticipated to go was an open query.
What prompted my alternate with Counsell was his stating that “Beginning gives a special problem. With relieving, we decide the hitters you face. With beginning, they decide the hitters you face.”
I urged {that a} caveat was so as. If the starter is an opener, a supervisor does get to select the hitters.
“That’s correct,” stated Counsell. “Thanks for that clarification.
“Not likely, although,” he then added. “After I identify the pitcher, [the opposing manager] will get to react with who he desires the hitters to be. So, that’s truly false, David. Until I might not inform them who’s pitching till I took the lineup card up.”
Level properly taken, I proceeded to ask what the traditional process is.
“That you just inform the opposite crew who’s pitching,” Counsell replied.
Which brings us to the how and when. This previous Wednesday, I requested Bob Melvin about his alerting the Purple Sox that Erik Miller could be serving as an opener that night. The San Francisco supervisor informed me that he’d texted Alex Cora within the morning. Might he have waited till nearer to sport time? Apparently there is no such thing as a rule stipulating when the data must be shared along with your opponent.
There’s a associated rule in place, because of Earl Weaver. In 1980, the legendary Baltimore supervisor started filling out his lineup card with a pitcher he wasn’t planning to make use of within the DH spot, most frequently within the six-hole (Steve Stone, who received the Cy Younger award that yr, had 12 such appearances). Weaver would then pinch-hit for his pitcher/DH on the first alternative, matching up accordingly. MLB proceeded to ban the phantom DH.
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A quiz:
Two pitchers in San Diego Padres franchise historical past have received 20 or extra video games in a single season. Certainly one of them is Randy Jones, who did so twice. Who’s the Padres’ different 20-game-winner? (A touch: he was a five-time All-Star who performed solely two seasons in San Diego.)
The reply might be discovered beneath.
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NEWS NOTES
The Baltimore Orioles introduced on Friday that Terry Crowley and Nick Markakis have been inducted into the crew’s Corridor of Fame. Crowley performed components of 12 seasons with the Orioles, primarily as a DH and a PH, and later spent 16 seasons because the hitting coach. Markakis performed 9 seasons with the Orioles and ranks among the many franchise’s all-time leaders in hits, doubles, and complete bases.
Benjamin Cowles was named Jap League Participant of the Month for April after slashing .351/.433/.623 with the Double-A Somerset Patriots. The 24-year-old infield prospect out of the College of Maryland was known as “a sleeper within the New York Yankees system” in my February 18, 2024 Sunday Notes column.
Tara Krieger, Todd Lebowitz, Allison Levin, and Roberta J. Newman had been elected to function SABR’s Board of Administrators. Extra data might be discovered right here.
Joe Shipley, a right-handed pitcher who appeared in 21 video games for the San Francisco Giants from 1958-1960, and in three video games for the Chicago White Sox in 1963, died earlier this week at age 88. The Morristown, Tennessee native retired Corridor of Famers Henry Aaron and Eddie Mathews in his first big-league inning.
A Tribute to the Negro Leagues All-Star Sport will happen at Doubleday Subject in Cooperstown, New York on Could 25. A variety of Corridor of Famers will take part, together with Ken Griffey Jr., Fergie Jenkins, Jim Rice, Ozzie Smith, and Dave Winfield. Extra data might be discovered right here.
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The reply to the quiz is Gaylord Perry, who went 21-6 with the Padres in his 1978 Cy Younger season. If you happen to guessed Kevin Brown, he was a six-time All-Star who went 18-7 in 1998, his solely season with the Padres.
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A small plaque on the riverwalk inside PNC Park commemorates the 1935 Pittsburgh Crawfords, who received that yr’s Negro Nationwide League’s championship sequence with a dramatic Sport 7 come-from-behind win over the New York Cubans. The plaque states the Crawfords are sometimes in comparison with the 1927 Yankees, and may need been baseball’s finest crew ever. That assertion isn’t a stretch.
Making the standard of the ’35 Crawfords much more superb is that an in-his-prime Satchel Paige had departed the crew in spring coaching, opting to as a substitute spend the season taking part in semipro ball in Bismarck, North Dakota (!). Had Paige remained — and he did return the next yr — the Crawfords would have had 5 future Corridor of Famers. Oscar Charleston was a participant/manger, Judy Johnson was the third baseman, Cool Papa Bell was within the outfield, and Josh Gibson was behind the plate. A left-hander not within the Corridor of Fame, Leroy Matlock, was one of many sport’s prime pitchers all through the Nineteen Thirties.
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FARM NOTES
Chase Meidroth has drawn 26 walks and fanned simply 12 occasions in 115 plate appearances for the Triple-A Worcester Purple Sox. The 22-year-old infielder — Boston’s fourth-round decide within the 2022 draft — is slashing .259/.443/.306 with a 119 wRC+.
Tink Therefore has 31 strikeouts and has allowed 13 hits and 6 earned runs in 25-and-two-thirds innings for the Double-A Springfield Cardinals. The 21-year-old right-hander was St. Louis’s second-round decide within the 2020 draft.
Jacob Wilson is slashing .429/.443/.679 with three residence runs in 88 plate appearances for the Double-A Midland RockHounds. The 22-year-old shortstop was drafted sixth-overall final yr by the Oakland Athletics out of Grand Canyon College.
Blake Mitchell is slashing .244/.417/.449 with three residence runs in 103 plate appearances for the Low-A Columbia Fireflies. The 19-year-old, left-handed-hitting catcher was drafted eighth-overall final yr by the Kansas Metropolis Royals out of Sinton (TX) Excessive College.
Chase Dollander has 33 strikeouts, and has allowed 9 hits and 5 runs in 19-and-a-third innings, with the Excessive-A Spokane Indians. The 22-year-old right-hander was drafted ninth-overall final yr by the Colorado Rockies out of the College of Tennessee.
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Bob Melvin has three a long time of big-league expertise between his taking part in and managerial careers, so it’s uncommon that he finds himself starstruck. A kind of moments occurred on Thursday at Fenway Park. Giants outfielder Mike Yastrzemski walked into the visiting supervisor’s workplace accompanied by his 82-year-old grandfather.
“There aren’t too many issues higher than that, particularly in the event you’re a fan of baseball and the historical past,” Melvin stated of being launched to Carl Yastrzemski, who performed all 23 of his Corridor of Fame seasons with the Purple Sox. “You lookup there [on the right-field facade] and see his [retired] quantity. I actually didn’t have a lot to say, as a result of I used to be type of in awe. I respect Mike bringing him in… There are particular guys who get your consideration greater than others, and him right here at Fenway Park is about pretty much as good because it will get.”
What number of former gamers would elicit that sort of response from the 62-year-old skipper?
“Not too many,” Melvin replied to my query. “I imply, I’ve performed with guys like George Brett — you go to Kansas Metropolis, and so forth and so forth — so I do know [them]. However right here at Fenway Park, it doesn’t get any higher than that… There are some cool days in baseball, and I’ve had a variety of them. This was considered one of them.”
Carl Yastrzemski’s ledger contains 3,419 hits, 452 residence runs, seven Gold Gloves, three batting titles, and 18 All-Star video games. His 3,308 video games performed are second-most in MLB historical past.
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FOREIGN AFFAIRS
The Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks have NPB’s finest report at 19-9. The Seibu Lions have NPB’s worst report at 11-19.
Shoki Murakami is 2-1 with a 1.06 ERA and 28 strikeouts in 34 innings fir NPB’s Hanshin Tigers. The 25-year-old right-hander captured final yr’s Central League MVP award after going 10-6 with a 1.75 ERA.
José Osuna is slashing .285/.333/.488 with six residence runs in 132 plate appearances for the Yakult Swallows. The 31-year-old first baseman performed for the Pittsburgh Pirates from 2017-2020 earlier than becoming a member of the Tokyo-based membership in 2021.
Do Yeong Kim is slashing .329/.371/.616 with 11 residence runs in 160 plate appearances for the KBO’s Kia Tigers. The 20-year-old third baseman batted .303 with seven residence runs a yr in the past.
Ji Min Choi has appeared in 17 video games and allowed simply 9 hits and one earned run in 16 innings for the Tigers. The 20-year-old southpaw has 11 strikeouts and a pair of saves.
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A random obscure former participant snapshot:
Les Cain had two strong seasons with the Detroit Tigers, then had his profession finish in controversial vogue at age 24. A left-handed pitcher who had double-digit win totals in 1970 and 1971, Cain made 5 appearances in 1972 earlier than being shut down with a shoulder harm. From that time ahead, his skilled profession comprised simply 11 innings, all of them within the minors. Cain later received a workman’s compensation swimsuit towards the Tigers, efficiently arguing that Detroit supervisor Billy Martin had successfully compelled him to pitch whereas he was injured.
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EARLY-MAY STAT NOTABLES
The Minnesota Twins received their twelfth consecutive sport yesterday, equalling the second-longest profitable streak in crew historical past. The longest is 15 video games, by the 1991 Twins, who went on to win the World Sequence.
The Colorado Rockies have trailed in all 33 of their video games this season. They’ve gone on to lose 25 of them.
The Kansas Metropolis Royals are 20-14. Final season they had been 8-26 by 34 video games.
The Oakland Athletics are 17-17. Final season they had been 8-26 by 34 video games.
The Cleveland Guardians performed 4 consecutive extra-inning video games this previous week, profitable two and shedding two. The final time Cleveland performed 4 consecutive extra-inning video games was from Could 1-5, 1910. The then-named Naps received three and had a 14-inning tie. Cy Younger went the gap within the 14-inning affair.
Steven Kwan’s final strikeout (his eleventh on the season) got here on April fifteenth. He has recorded 22 hits since he final Ok’d.
Mike Trout got here into this yr with a profession .346 BAPIP, the best amongst certified hitters since his 2011 debut season. His BABIP this season is .194.
Juan Soto has a .324 BABIP and a .318 BA. Tim Anderson has a .329 BABIP and a .219 BA.
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LINKS YOU’LL LIKE
Larry Lester was a pioneer in chronicling the historical past of the Negro Leagues. MLB’s official historian, John Thorn, wrote about Lester at his Our Sport weblog.
Rintani Sasaki was the top-rated highschool participant in Japan, however he bypassed the NPB draft and is now enrolled at Stanford College the place his prodigious bat has him sure for MLB. Andrew Baggerly frolicked with the 19-year-old phenom and has the story at The Athletic (subscription required).
Livan Moinelo is having fun with success as a starter after spending a number of seasons as considered one of NPB’s prime relievers. Jim Allen talked to the 28-year-old, Cuban-born, Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks southpaw for The Kyodo Information.
Pitcher Listing’s John Foley wrote about how Brady Singer is beginning to elevate.
The Rating’s Travis Sawchik gave us a statistical breakdown on the significance of first-pitch strikes.
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RANDOM FACTS AND STATS
Luis Arraez, who turned 27 final month, got here into this season with a .328/.379/.427 slash line and a 124 wRC+. Tony Gwynn slashed .326..377/.427 with a 128 wRC+ by his age-26 season.
Smoky Burgess, a catcher recognized for his pinch-hitting prowess, performed for 5 groups in a profession that spanned the 1949-1967 seasons. He batted .294/.362/.446 in residence video games, and .296/.362/.446 in street video games.
Matt Williams had 7,595 PAs, 378 HRs, a .268 BA, a .489 SLG, and 182 GDPs.
Rocky Colavito had 7,559 PAs, 374 HRs, a .266 BA, a .489 SLG, and 182 GDPs.
Purple Ruffing went 10-25 with a 104 ERA+ for the Boston Purple Sox in 1928. He went 19-11 with a 104 ERA+ for the New York Yankees in 1934.
The primary-ever sport between the Purple Sox and Yankees franchises occurred on Could 7, 1903 at Boston’s Huntington Avenue Baseball Grounds. The Boston People beat the New York Highlanders 6-2 in entrance of 5,462 followers.
On right now’s date in 1950, Hank Sauer hit a game-tying, two-out, three-run homer within the backside of the ninth inning, then Randy Jackson hit a walk-off solo shot within the tenth, because the Chicago Cubs beat the Brooklyn Dodgers 7-6. Johnny Vander Meer bought the win, his first of three sporting a Cubs uniform.
Gamers born on right now’s date embody Bruno Haas, who made his MLB debut on June 23, 1915 and walked 16 batters whereas throwing an entire sport for the Philadelphia Athletics in a 15-7 loss to the New York Yankees. Haas took the mound 5 extra occasions that season — his just one within the huge leagues — then spent the following 20 years as an outfielder within the minor leagues, taking part in primarily with the St. Paul Saints.
Additionally born on right now’s date was Tom Gregorio, a catcher whose big-league profession comprised 12 video games for the Anaheim Angels in 2003. Gregorio stroked singles in every of his first two at-bats, solely to complete his temporary MLB stint a modest 3-for-19. He went 0-for-9 towards the Texas Rangers.