Forget This Pitch! Week 3
Sticking it to his Former Team
Freddie Freeman the long-time Atlanta first-baseman is now an LA Dodger. This week Freeman squared off against his former team. This is clearly one of the hardest series of his career. He greatly misses Atlanta and never thought he’d be playing anywhere else. Anyways, he’s gotten off to a slow start in terms of home runs. Turns out “showing your ex what they’re missing” is the cure. For the second consecutive game, Freeman hit a dinger.
Charlie Morton is a big-time pitcher. Unfortunately, this time Morton gets Freeman in a 1-0 count and throws a 97 mph fastball low and inside. A tough pitch no doubt. However, Atlanta’s catcher called for the fastball to be low and outside. So, Freeman says #ForgetThisPitch and hits Morton’s ninth pitch out of the ballpark (112 mph exit velocity) for a two-run home run. Morton’s spin rate (2381), whiff% (19.4), or Put Away% (18.5) are not career lows. So, this is just a pitcher missing his spot with good stuff and the good stuff couldn’t save the pitcher.
How many storylines in one April series between the @Dodgers and @Braves?! ⚾️ @MLBNetwork pic.twitter.com/R3v4UOvVNY
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) April 20, 2022
Houck Be a Tanner Today
Ok, so this one doesn’t jive with what #ForgetThisPitch is all about. However, it’s a good example or foreshadowing of a future nominee. Boston’s Tanner Houck vs Toronto gets away with a couple of mistakes. Coincidentally it’s two fastballs high and to the pitcher’s right-hand side. The first victim is Raimel Tapia. Boston’s catcher wants the 95 mph fastball middle of the plate. Houck says “I don’t want to be featured on Forget this Pitch” so goes up and away. Blowing Tapia away for strike three but not by much.
Houck’s next victim is rising star Bo Bichette. This time Boston’s catcher wants Houck to throw his fastball knee high and a foot off the plate away from Bichette. Again, Houck misses his location badly. His 97 mph fastball ends up high and inside, with Bichette swinging underneath the ball. My thought is Bichette was wanting to put Houck in #ForgetThisPitch for being taken deep. Instead, Houck gets the better of Bichette in this at-bat. If Houck continues to miss his spots this poorly he will be a repeat visitor.
Tanner Houck ⛽️ pic.twitter.com/n3VdUi2ykZ
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) April 21, 2022
Next: Page 3 – Couple of Middle Infielders