Fried's new pitch

Enscheff said:
We have seen Fried debut a new pitch......
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These are easily my favorite posts of yours. Thanks for putting in the work to make them.

I agree with several others that the elite slow stuff should allow the flat fastball to play up somewhat, as long as it maintains plus velocity. If he instead managed to fulfill your desire for a sinker, he could be the best pitcher this team has had this century. Potential is exciting stuff.
 
Sav, I would be willing to triple the membership fee I've been paying if these pitcher analytic threads were archived someplace they could be easily found.
 
brian22 said:
Any data on last night’s performance? I’d love to see how his fastball graded out.
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Recap of the stuff we saw from his short first outing:

FA: Velo = 95.0 mph (Grade 61.8), X-Mov = -1.1" (Grade 27.1), Z-Mov = 7.2" (Grade 33.9)
CU: Velo = 76.3 mph (Grade 41.7), X-Mov = -4.5" (Grade 50.9), Z-Mov = -13.8" (Grade Broken)
SL: Velo = 83.4 mph (Grade 44.9), X-Mov = -8.6" (Grade 80), Z-Mov = -3.7" (Grade 74.8)

And what we saw in a much longer outing last night:

FA: Velo = 94.6 mph, X-Mov = 1.7", Z-Mov = 6.9"

Still the same flat FA, but it's good to see him maintain the velocity for 80+ pitches.

CU: Velo = 74.8 mph, X-Mov = -5.6", Z-Mov = -11.3"

CU went from broken drop to 80 Grade drop. This is still a hammer. We may want to monitor the shape of it in case it starts to flatten out and starts moving more horizontally than vertically.

SL: Velo = 84.5, X-Mov = -6.1", Z-Mov = -1'4"

SL backed up quite a bit, appearing to lose quite a bit of movement on both axes. Still a definite 65/70 pitch, but I think we are starting to see why it's so hard for SPs to maintain both a CU and a SL. CUs are supposed to have more of a vertical shape, while SLs are supposed to move more horizontally. I imagine it is a challenge to keep both pitches dialed in so they don't start to look like each other.

CH: 10.4 mph delta (Grade >60), X-Mov = 7.3" (Grade <50), Z-Mov = 3.2" (Grade ~55)

He is still only flashing the CH (6 times so far in 2019), but it is flashing as an above average pitch.

I have been hesitant to trade Fried for a while now because I wanted to see him drop the FA and add the SI. The spin rate he gets on the CU (2800+) is obviously very very good, but the spin rate he gets on the FA (~2100) is very bad. With the new CU/SL combo it may not matter much, but I would love to see how that low spin rate he gets on the FA correlates to a SI.
 
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Weather seemed to play with pitch selection. I would not think Max would rely so heavily on his fastball like he did last night.
 
It was quite a performance for the kid. He could pretty much throw whatever he wanted wherever he wanted. 96 on the outside corner witht he fastball. The next hitter same spot with a changeup. The Cubs had no chance.
 
If Fried were to have the command on his fastball in every outing that he had last night, I'd have no concerns about that pitch at all. Almost any pitch is effective when you're able to place it like Fried was last night.
 
If Fried can stay healthy he’s going to be excellent. I think our future rotation will have Fried, Wright, Folty, and Muller as the main healthy 4... I go back and forth about Anderson’s future and Touki has a shot if he can continue to improve his control. Soroka and Gohara are the 2 real wild cards. Possibly our 2 best arm talents with so much uncertainty regarding health
 
Fried was awesome last night. Can't knock that performance at all. However, I'm not ready to make up my mind on him. Not even close.

Fried has had command issues in the past. One night with his A+ command doesn't erase that. If he shows he can have good command consistently, he could be really, really good.
 
striker42 said:
Fried was awesome last night. Can't knock that performance at all. However, I'm not ready to make up my mind on him. Not even close.

Fried has had command issues in the past. One night with his A+ command doesn't erase that. If he shows he can have good command consistently, he could be really, really good.
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This is very true.

My post was about his stuff, but his control is still very much an issue that needs to be resolved. He may not quite be Newk-bad, but he isn't exactly Soroka out there.

I still have him pegged as the Braves Mike Montgomery, but the stuff is there to be much more if the command comes around and both breaking balls continue to be weapons.
 
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Enscheff said:
This reminded me to check statcast on a few of his FAs last night.

Sure enough, he threw 3 at 96.8, 97.0, and 97.2, so the velocity numbers we saw in tv last night were legit.
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I think he means is the bump in velocity legit. Not whether the radar gun was off.
 
It’s funny how having a night of good control will trick you into thinking his stuff is at its peak.Thanks for the info, Enscheff.
 
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