Sunday Notes: Kyle Harrison’s Repertoire is Coming Alongside Well

Kyle Harrison was pitching for the Double-A Richmond Flying Squirrels when he was first featured right here at FanGraphs in August 2022. Then a fast-rising prospect within the San Francisco Giants system, the now-22-year-old southpaw had damaged down the early evolution of his arsenal for me previous to a recreation at Portland, Maine’s Hadlock Field. Fast ahead to this previous week, and we had been reacquainting at a far-more-fabled venue. Harrison was making ready to take the mound at Fenway Park for his 14th big-league begin, his seventh this season.

As I’m wont to do in such eventualities, I requested the dark-horse rookie-of-the-year candidate what’s modified since our 20-months-ago dialog. Not surprisingly, he’s continued to evolve.

“I’ve added a cutter, although I haven’t thrown it as much as I’d like to,” Harrison informed me. “Other than that, it’s the same pitches. The slider has been feeling great, and the changeup is something that’s really come along for me; it’s a pitch I’ve been relying on a lot. I really hadn’t thrown it that much in the minors — it felt like I didn’t really have the control for it — but then all of a sudden it clicked. Now I’ve got three weapons, plus the cutter.”

Including his Thursday effort in Boston, Harrison has thrown his new cutter — Baseball Savant categorizes it as a slider — simply six instances all season. Which brings us to his different breaking ball. When we’d talked in Portland, the lefty known as the pitch a sweepy slider. Savant categorizes it as a slurve.

What is it?

“It’s got a two-plane break, so I think slurve is probably the best way to describe it,” Harrison replied to my query. “That’s why I added the cutter, to get more strikes. In Triple-A, I wasn’t able to land that big slurve as much on the ABS [automated ball-strike system] strike zone.”

The motion profile of his breaker differs from his Double-A days, an evolution that was extra natural than by design. The backside line is that two-plane is now the norm.

“I’m getting anywhere from negative-five to probably negative-eight vert on it,” defined Harrison. “It’s kind of getting that depth point, like a curveball, but it’s also keeping the horizontal, anywhere from eight to 16. I haven’t lost any horizontal overall, although I have lost some in a couple of starts. We’ve been talking about it, arm angle and all that. Having ways to fix it in between starts is huge for me. I need to get it more dialed in, get that consistent 13-to-16 sweep.”

His changeup additionally differs from the one he was throwing within the Eastern League. Harrison nonetheless holds the ball with a modified Vulcan grip, however he’s now spreading his fingers wider with a purpose to take off extra velocity. Instead of 88-90 mph, the pitch is now coming in 86-87.

“Having a little more split with the fingers allows me to kill a little more speed,” defined Harrison. “In the minors, I was throwing it too hard and not seeing the speed differential. I also wasn’t seeing enough movement differential. Now I have more of a split-finger feel, in a sense, and am able to kill more spin.”

As probability would have it, solely 14% of the 95 pitches he threw in Boston had been changeups, whereas 20% had been slurves — primarily a flip-flop of his seasonal averages (28.9% changeups and 12.6% slurves). When I requested him about that following the sport, he stated that he didn’t really feel his changeup was pretty much as good as normal, partially as a result of the Fenway Park mound felt “a little flatter, per se.” Conversely, he felt that his slurve and fastball had been enjoying effectively.

Harrison’s heater — the one pitch in his repertoire that has remained unchanged — was certainly good in his five-inning, one-run-allowed effort. Only 5 of his fastballs had been put into play, whereas 10 elicited a whiff, 11 went for a known as strike, and 13 had been fouled off. Movement and deception are keys to the 93-mph providing’s effectiveness, as is consistency of arm motion.

“I wouldn’t say ride,” Harrison stated of his fastball’s motion profile. “I don’t think that’s the right term, because that calls for induced vert, and if my induced vert gets too high, that means my arm slot is creeping up too high and I lose my vertical approach angle. It’s crazy how much I’m learning about all this. In a couple of starts, my heater wasn’t as good as I wanted it to be, because my arm slot was a little lower and I was up-shooting the ball a little. It’s a fine line. You’ve got to stay consistent to get results up here.”

Harrison has a 3.79 ERA, a 3.87 FIP, and a 23.9% strikeout price in 38 innings this season. Three months shy of his twenty third birthday, he’s one of many youngest pitchers in MLB. The outcomes, and his persevering with evolution, are coming alongside fairly effectively.

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RANDOM HITTER-PITCHER MATCHUPS

Pedro Guerrero went 11 for 15 in opposition to Dennis Rasmussen.

Vladimir Guerrero went 11 for 19 in opposition to Chris Young.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is 8 for 10 in opposition to Shawn Armstrong.

Wilton Guerrero went 8 for 11 in opposition to Mark Clark.

Mario Guerrero went 9 for 13 in opposition to Rick Honeycutt.

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I had a enjoyable change with Craig Counsell previous to final Sunday’s recreation at Fenway Park. The Chicago Cubs supervisor informed reporters that Hayden Wesneski, upon being knowledgeable that he was getting the beginning — Jordan Wicks was scratched on account of a forearm pressure — responded by saying “My job is to get the first guy out.” Counsell appreciated Wesneski’s mindset, partially as a result of the younger right-hander had confronted seven batters in a reduction outing three days prior. How lengthy he could possibly be anticipated to go was an open query.

What prompted my change with Counsell was his stating that “Starting provides a different challenge. With relieving, we pick the hitters you face. With starting, they pick the hitters you face.”

I prompt {that a} caveat was so as. If the starter is an opener, a supervisor does get to choose the hitters.

“That’s accurate,” stated Counsell. “Thanks for that clarification.

“Not really, though,” he then added. “When I name the pitcher, [the opposing manager] gets to react with who he wants the hitters to be. So, that’s actually false, David. Unless I would not tell them who is pitching until I took the lineup card up.”

Point effectively taken, I proceeded to ask what the conventional process is.

“That you tell the other team who is pitching,” Counsell replied.

Which brings us to the how and when. This previous Wednesday, I requested Bob Melvin about his alerting the Red Sox that Erik Miller can be serving as an opener that night. The San Francisco supervisor informed me that he’d texted Alex Cora within the morning. Could he have waited till nearer to recreation time? Apparently there isn’t any rule stipulating when the data needs to be shared together with your opponent.

There is a associated rule in place, because of Earl Weaver. In 1980, the legendary Baltimore supervisor started filling out his lineup card with a pitcher he wasn’t planning to make use of within the DH spot, most frequently within the six-hole (Steve Stone, who gained the Cy Young award that 12 months, had 12 such appearances). Weaver would then pinch-hit for his pitcher/DH on the first alternative, matching up accordingly. MLB proceeded to ban the phantom DH.

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A quiz:

Two pitchers in San Diego Padres franchise historical past have gained 20 or extra video games in a single season. One of them is Randy Jones, who did so twice. Who is the Padres’ different 20-game-winner? (A touch: he was a five-time All-Star who performed solely two seasons in San Diego.)

The reply may be discovered under.

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NEWS NOTES

The Baltimore Orioles introduced on Friday that Terry Crowley and Nick Markakis have been inducted into the crew’s Hall of Fame. Crowley performed elements of 12 seasons with the Orioles, primarily as a DH and a PH, and later spent 16 seasons because the hitting coach. Markakis performed 9 seasons with the Orioles and ranks among the many franchise’s all-time leaders in hits, doubles, and whole bases.

Benjamin Cowles was named Eastern League Player of the Month for April after slashing .351/.433/.623 with the Double-A Somerset Patriots. The 24-year-old infield prospect out of the University of Maryland was known as “a sleeper in the New York Yankees system” in my February 18, 2024 Sunday Notes column.

Tara Krieger, Todd Lebowitz, Allison Levin, and Roberta J. Newman had been elected to function SABR’s Board of Directors. More data may be discovered right here.

Joe Shipley, a right-handed pitcher who appeared in 21 video games for the San Francisco Giants from 1958-1960, and in three video games for the Chicago White Sox in 1963, died earlier this week at age 88. The Morristown, Tennessee native retired Hall of Famers Henry Aaron and Eddie Mathews in his first big-league inning.

A Tribute to the Negro Leagues All-Star Game will happen at Doubleday Field in Cooperstown, New York on May 25. A variety of Hall of Famers will take part, together with Ken Griffey Jr., Fergie Jenkins, Jim Rice, Ozzie Smith, and Dave Winfield. More data may be discovered right here.

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The reply to the quiz is Gaylord Perry, who went 21-6 with the Padres in his 1978 Cy Young season. If you guessed Kevin Brown, he was a six-time All-Star who went 18-7 in 1998, his solely season with the Padres.

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A small plaque on the riverwalk inside PNC Park commemorates the 1935 Pittsburgh Crawfords, who gained that 12 months’s Negro National League’s championship collection with a dramatic Game 7 come-from-behind win over the New York Cubans. The plaque states the Crawfords are sometimes in comparison with the 1927 Yankees, and may need been baseball’s greatest crew ever. That assertion isn’t a stretch.

Making the standard of the ’35 Crawfords much more wonderful is that an in-his-prime Satchel Paige had departed the crew in spring coaching, opting to as an alternative spend the season enjoying semipro ball in Bismarck, North Dakota (!). Had Paige remained — and he did return the next 12 months — the Crawfords would have had 5 future Hall of Famers. Oscar Charleston was a participant/manger, Judy Johnson was the third baseman, Cool Papa Bell was within the outfield, and Josh Gibson was behind the plate. A left-hander not within the Hall of Fame, Leroy Matlock, was one of many recreation’s prime pitchers all through the Thirties.

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FARM NOTES

Chase Meidroth has drawn 26 walks and fanned simply 12 instances in 115 plate appearances for the Triple-A Worcester Red Sox. The 22-year-old infielder — Boston’s fourth-round decide within the 2022 draft — is slashing .259/.443/.306 with a 119 wRC+.

Tink Hence has 31 strikeouts and has allowed 13 hits and 6 earned runs in 25-and-two-thirds innings for the Double-A Springfield Cardinals. The 21-year-old right-hander was St. Louis’s second-round decide within the 2020 draft.

Jacob Wilson is slashing .429/.443/.679 with three dwelling runs in 88 plate appearances for the Double-A Midland RockHounds. The 22-year-old shortstop was drafted sixth-overall final 12 months by the Oakland Athletics out of Grand Canyon University.

Blake Mitchell is slashing .244/.417/.449 with three dwelling runs in 103 plate appearances for the Low-A Columbia Fireflies. The 19-year-old, left-handed-hitting catcher was drafted eighth-overall final 12 months by the Kansas City Royals out of Sinton (TX) High School.

Chase Dollander has 33 strikeouts, and has allowed 9 hits and 5 runs in 19-and-a-third innings, with the High-A Spokane Indians. The 22-year-old right-hander was drafted ninth-overall final 12 months by the Colorado Rockies out of the University of Tennessee.

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Bob Melvin has three a long time of big-league expertise between his enjoying and managerial careers, so it’s uncommon that he finds himself starstruck. One of these moments passed off on Thursday at Fenway Park. Giants outfielder Mike Yastrzemski walked into the visiting supervisor’s workplace accompanied by his 82-year-old grandfather.

“There aren’t too many things better than that, especially if you’re a fan of baseball and the history,” Melvin stated of being launched to Carl Yastrzemski, who performed all 23 of his Hall of Fame seasons with the Red Sox. “You look up there [on the right-field facade] and see his [retired] number. I really didn’t have much to say, because I was kind of in awe. I appreciate Mike bringing him in… There are certain guys who get your attention more than others, and him here at Fenway Park is about as good as it gets.”

How many former gamers would elicit that kind of response from the 62-year-old skipper?

“Not too many,” Melvin replied to my query. “I mean, I’ve played with guys like George Brett — you go to Kansas City, and so forth and so on — so I know [them]. But here at Fenway Park, it doesn’t get any better than that… There are some cool days in baseball, and I’ve had a lot of them. This was one of them.”

Carl Yastrzemski’s ledger consists of 3,419 hits, 452 dwelling runs, seven Gold Gloves, three batting titles, and 18 All-Star video games. His 3,308 video games performed are second-most in MLB historical past.

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FOREIGN AFFAIRS

The Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks have NPB’s greatest document at 19-9. The Seibu Lions have NPB’s worst document at 11-19.

Shoki Murakami is 2-1 with a 1.06 ERA and 28 strikeouts in 34 innings fir NPB’s Hanshin Tigers. The 25-year-old right-hander captured final 12 months’s Central League MVP award after going 10-6 with a 1.75 ERA.

José Osuna is slashing .285/.333/.488 with six dwelling runs in 132 plate appearances for the Yakult Swallows. The 31-year-old first baseman performed for the Pittsburgh Pirates from 2017-2020 earlier than becoming a member of the Tokyo-based membership in 2021.

Do Yeong Kim is slashing .329/.371/.616 with 11 dwelling runs in 160 plate appearances for the KBO’s Kia Tigers. The 20-year-old third baseman batted .303 with seven dwelling runs a 12 months in the past.

Ji Min Choi has appeared in 17 video games and allowed simply 9 hits and one earned run in 16 innings for the Tigers. The 20-year-old southpaw has 11 strikeouts and a pair of saves.

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A random obscure former participant snapshot:

Les Cain had two strong seasons with the Detroit Tigers, then had his profession finish in controversial vogue at age 24. A left-handed pitcher who had double-digit win totals in 1970 and 1971, Cain made 5 appearances in 1972 earlier than being shut down with a shoulder damage. From that time ahead, his skilled profession comprised simply 11 innings, all of them within the minors. Cain later gained a workman’s compensation go well with in opposition to the Tigers, efficiently arguing that Detroit supervisor Billy Martin had successfully compelled him to pitch whereas he was injured.

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EARLY-MAY STAT NOTABLES

The Minnesota Twins gained their twelfth consecutive recreation yesterday, equalling the second-longest successful streak in crew historical past. The longest is 15 video games, by the 1991 Twins, who went on to win the World Series.

The Colorado Rockies have trailed in all 33 of their video games this season. They’ve gone on to lose 25 of them.

The Kansas City Royals are 20-14. Last season they had been 8-26 via 34 video games.

The Oakland Athletics are 17-17. Last season they had been 8-26 via 34 video games.

The Cleveland Guardians performed 4 consecutive extra-inning video games this previous week, successful two and shedding two. The final time Cleveland performed 4 consecutive extra-inning video games was from May 1-5, 1910. The then-named Naps gained three and had a 14-inning tie. Cy Young went the space within the 14-inning affair.

Steven Kwan’s final strikeout (his eleventh on the season) got here on April fifteenth. He has recorded 22 hits since he final Ok’d.

Mike Trout got here into this 12 months with a profession .346 BAPIP, the best amongst certified hitters since his 2011 debut season. His BABIP this season is .194.

Juan Soto has a .324 BABIP and a .318 BA. Tim Anderson has a .329 BABIP and a .219 BA.

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LINKS YOU’LL LIKE

Larry Lester was a pioneer in chronicling the historical past of the Negro Leagues. MLB’s official historian, John Thorn, wrote about Lester at his Our Game weblog.

Rintani Sasaki was the top-rated highschool participant in Japan, however he bypassed the NPB draft and is now enrolled at Stanford University the place his prodigious bat has him sure for MLB. Andrew Baggerly frolicked with the 19-year-old phenom and has the story at The Athletic (subscription required).

Livan Moinelo is having fun with success as a starter after spending a number of seasons as considered one of NPB’s prime relievers. Jim Allen talked to the 28-year-old, Cuban-born, Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks southpaw for The Kyodo News.

Pitcher List’s John Foley wrote about how Brady Singer is beginning to elevate.

The Score’s Travis Sawchik gave us a statistical breakdown on the significance of first-pitch strikes.

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RANDOM FACTS AND STATS

Luis Arraez, who turned 27 final month, got here into this season with a .328/.379/.427 slash line and a 124 wRC+. Tony Gwynn slashed .326..377/.427 with a 128 wRC+ via his age-26 season.

Smoky Burgess, a catcher recognized for his pinch-hitting prowess, performed for 5 groups in a profession that spanned the 1949-1967 seasons. He batted .294/.362/.446 in dwelling video games, and .296/.362/.446 in street video games.

Matt Williams had 7,595 PAs, 378 HRs, a .268 BA, a .489 SLG, and 182 GDPs.
Rocky Colavito had 7,559 PAs, 374 HRs, a .266 BA, a .489 SLG, and 182 GDPs.

Red Ruffing went 10-25 with a 104 ERA+ for the Boston Red Sox in 1928. He went 19-11 with a 104 ERA+ for the New York Yankees in 1934.

The first-ever recreation between the Red Sox and Yankees franchises passed off on May 7, 1903 at Boston’s Huntington Avenue Baseball Grounds. The Boston Americans beat the New York Highlanders 6-2 in entrance of 5,462 followers.

On as we speak’s date in 1950, Hank Sauer hit a game-tying, two-out, three-run homer within the backside of the ninth inning, then Randy Jackson hit a walk-off solo shot within the tenth, because the Chicago Cubs beat the Brooklyn Dodgers 7-6. Johnny Vander Meer received the win, his first of three sporting a Cubs uniform.

Players born on as we speak’s date embrace Bruno Haas, who made his MLB debut on June 23, 1915 and walked 16 batters whereas throwing an entire recreation for the Philadelphia Athletics in a 15-7 loss to the New York Yankees. Haas took the mound 5 extra instances that season — his just one within the massive leagues — then spent the following twenty years as an outfielder within the minor leagues, enjoying primarily with the St. Paul Saints.

Also born on as we speak’s date was Tom Gregorio, a catcher whose big-league profession comprised 12 video games for the Anaheim Angels in 2003. Gregorio stroked singles in every of his first two at-bats, solely to complete his temporary MLB stint a modest 3-for-19. He went 0-for-9 in opposition to the Texas Rangers.