Forget This Pitch! Week 4 4/25-5/1

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May 1, 2022
Seattle Mariners injuries
Ty France, Seattle Mariners.

Every week we’ll be looking at some MLB pitches that get absolutely destroyed.

This weekly article will look at some poorly performing pitches that MLB batters take full advantage of. Not every selection is going to be a home run. It can be extra-base hits or hard-hit singles. Our criteria are that the pitch didn’t go as planned, with negative consequences.

We do our best to provide you with some information on the pitcher and the pitch. For example, how the pitch should have been executed and performed. Also, if possible, we’ll provide the spin rate of the pitch.

Does the pitcher have control issues, or is this a new pitch he’s working on, or did he just miss? We’ll also point out the location of the pitch, where the catcher wants it, and where it ends up.

Let’s get into it.

Viva la France!

Ty France earned Co-Player of the Week for Week 3 of the MLB season. Here’s one example of why he won the award. Facing Carlos Hernandez of Kansas City in the bottom of the first inning. France has himself in a 1-0 count and squaring off against Hernandez’s third pitch of the game. Kansas City’s catcher, Cam Gallagher, calls for a curveball low and away to France. Hernandez throws the curveball up and in for France to send out beyond the left-field fence. As of right now, Hernandez’s curveball’s spin rate (2248), and whiff (14.3), percentage are all down from last year (spin rate 2394 and whiff 30%). However, Hernandez’s put away percentage is up this year (28.6) compared to last year (19.1). So this may just be Hernandez not fully ready for the start of the year.

Trouting Around the Bases

When’s the last time you saw a check-swing go for a triple? Yeah, me neither. So here’s the situation. LA Angels Mike Trout is facing Cleveland’s Shane Bieber for the third time in the bottom of the sixth inning. Bieber has Trout 0-2 on the night and is currently ahead in the count 1-2. At this point, Bieber’s thrown 77 pitches already so he’s been fairly economical in the game.

Cleveland’s catcher calls for the 78th pitch to be an 86 mph cutter low and on the outer third of the plate. Instead, the cutter ends up low and off the outside part of the plate. However, it gets Trout to put a “check swing” on the pitch. Trout “accidentally” makes contact with the cutter and sends a bloop over the diving attempt of the first baseman. Trout busts it out of the box thinking “#ForgetThisPitch. I’m going for extra bases.” Thanks to the snail’s pace of Cleveland’s right fielder Trout slides into third with no throw.

Next: Page 2 – More Craziness and the first Repeat Customer

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