The Pomeranian Devil

[Darnell's Son]

iayork broke down Pomeranz's repertoire at the .com today.

In previous seasons, Pomeranz has almost entirely relied on just two pitches – four-seam fastball (“FF”, in the charts here) and curve (“CU”) – occasionally mixing in a changeup when starting games, but not in relief. It’s difficult for a starter to be effective with just two-and-a-bit pitches, and in 2016 Pomeranz has added a third pitch, a cutter, to his toolbox.

 

[In my lifetime]

Ian - you have really outdone yourself in the article. Very well done, thanks for the research and amazing graphics.

 

[LogansDad]

Awesome article, once again. As the guy who picked Pomeranz in something like the 4th round of the SoSH Real Fantasy Draft back in 2013 I am now even more excited to see his first start for the Sox tonight.

Just checked... okay, it was the 12th round... he might be my biggest steal at this point!

 

[Darnell's Son]

And the man who knows his minors, Cuzittt, has a piece today putting the trade in perspective.

 

[Jnai]

In keeping with the way he's pitched all year, he primarily threw to one side of the plate, and got beat when he went away from that plan and left the ball out over the arm side:

This is really evident when you look just at how he pitched LHH, where he was throwing really to one quadrant.

Just to reiterate, this is completely predictable from how he's pitched all year:

Often you see a guy throw only away (to both LHH and RHH), or often you see a guy throw one type of fastball to one side of the plate and another to the other side of the plate. Hadn't noticed that he's had success mainly throwing to one half of the plate, though.

 

[phenweigh]

I suspect Brian Bannister will share his observations with that pitching pattern with Drew.

 

[Soxfan in Fla]

So that begs the question: why did he go away from was working yesterday and all season.

 

[NoLastCall125]

So that begs the question: why did he go away from was working yesterday and all season.

Could the 8-0 lead have changed his approach? Coupled with the 30 minute wait time? I assume pitchers are typically more aggressive when staked to a larger lead after a big inning to move the game along and get the offense back on the field, so it's not exactly shocking that he started giving up a few hits and runs when he finally returned to the mound. It was alarming that he seemed to lose it completely though.

 

[Soxfan in Fla]

Could the 8-0 lead have changed his approach? Coupled with the 30 minute wait time? I assume pitchers are typically more aggressive when staked to a larger lead after a big inning to move the game along and get the offense back on the field, so it's not exactly shocking that he started giving up a few hits and runs when he finally returned to the mound. It was alarming that he seemed to lose it completely though.

I'd expect him to be more aggressive. Just wouldn't expect him to switch sides of the plate. Did not see the game so don't know if he was just missing his target.