The Random Evil Player program selected Danny Salazar for the next review. Salazar plays as a starting pitcher for the Cleveland Indians. Salazar is a solid start, producing 7.8 fWAR in his last three seasons. Interestingly, he walks rate rose in the last two years as he increased his strike out rate. His great control his first three seasons appears to be gone, as he sacrificed control for power. He also allowed a high BABIP in 2017, .343. In 2017 he started throwing his change-up more, as it appears to be a tougher pitch to hit than his slider.
I find it odd when a high strikeout pitcher gives up a high line-drive rate as well. Someone who misses bats should also be tough to square up. This could be random, or it could be that Salazar has a wide spread in the quality of his pitches.
Salazar pitched extremely well so far with runners in scoring position. During his career, the opposition produced a .214/.296/.384 slash line in that situation. It’s a bend, don’t break approach, where he appears willing to give up a walk to prevent a hit. He’s even more impressive with a man on third and less than two out. Opponents hit .214/.276/.243 in that situation, with 16 sacrifice flies in 98 PA. Both of those lines happen in small sample sizes, but it’s a nice indication that Salazar does not break under pressure.
from baseballmusings.com http://ift.tt/2GuB25v
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