GDT 8/20/25 - Braves vs White Sox - Getting More Waldrep Data

msstate7 said:
I started calling strider done when I heard the radio broadcast the other night. I've never heard a pro athlete basically say they have no answers. Radio painted a grim picture after talking to him. They were talking about how he may have to learn another pitch to stick around bc the fastball just isn't good anymore... and the main point was it wasn't the velocity, it's the rise. The rise is gone
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Again, he is the only pitcher with a 50% swing and miss rate on 2 different pitches. Not even Skenes or Skubal can claim that.

He is struggling with command as of late, but there is still plenty enough there to believe he can be a quality pitcher, even a TOR pitcher again. He just has to regain that command. Command is typically the last thing to return after a major arm injury.

Yes, the fastball is mediocre now in terms of movement, but if he could spot it, it would still play up because of the velocity. The problem is that he isn't spotting it.
 
Carp said:
Again, he is the only pitcher with a 50% swing and miss rate on 2 different pitches. Not even Skenes or Skubal can claim that.

He is struggling with command as of late, but there is still plenty enough there to believe he can be a quality pitcher, even a TOR pitcher again. He just has to regain that command. Command is typically the last thing to return after a major arm injury.

Yes, the fastball is mediocre now in terms of movement, but if he could spot it, it would still play up because of the velocity. The problem is that he isn't spotting it.
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Then that's his 2 pitches bc the fastball is BP time.
 
In 2023, strider had 2.5" of vertical rise on his fastball. This season, he has 0.1". Is an offseason gonna help this? God, I hope so, or he won't be worth a crap again
 
Carp said:
Strider is far more likely to pitch well than Bryce Elder. Over the last 2 years, Elder has the highest ERA (6.36) in baseball with a minimum 150 innings. The next closer pitcher is someone named Slade Cecconi, whose ERA is nearly a full run lower at 5.50

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Thanks for ruining the joke.

Our last two losses have come with Strider pitching.
 
msstate7 said:
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Well if strider doesn't show improvement to end this season, how can you plan on him being a starter in 2026? I don't think you can.
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If he pitches terribly from here to the end you can't pencil him in for 2026. And if he doesn't pitch at all you can't count on him for next year either.

My gut feeling is he has a better chance of being successful next year if he takes the rest of this year off to get healthy and fix his fastball without the pressure (internal or external) of winning a game.

The bottom line is he needs to be viewed as a luxury. If he regains his fastball, great, but we need other options in case he doesn't.
 
msstate7 said:
Then that's his 2 pitches bc the fastball is BP time.
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His fastball is BP time because he is locating it poorly (i.e. he's struggling with command). The straightest fastball in the world can still get people out if you are locating it well, particularly when it's coming in at 97 mph.


Logan Gilbert has nearly the exact same fastball as Strider currently does in terms of movement and velocity. But opponents don't square it up very well because he has excellent command of it.
 
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You know, I could tinker with stuff and change the way the ball behaved, and could throw about six different pitches, and figured out a lot of stuff after getting shelled...at much lower levels of competition, of course. I know Strider can throw a curve and a change, I can teach a cutter and a sinker in about five minutes, and the guy still throws 97. He's got to figure out a lot of stuff but he's incredibly intelligent, brutally honest and very self-aware. He will figure it out. It may take a minute, but no time like the last six weeks of a lost season. I'm still very bullish on Strider and yes, I saw him get rocked last two outings.
 
Looking on Fangraphs Schwellenbachs stuff+location is rated 118 and Waldreps 114. Schwellenbachs splitter rated 123 to Waldreps 133. Curiously Waldreps slider is rated 104. The question to me isnt is Waldrep for real its can he maintain his mechanics.
 
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