Lotte’s foreign pitcher Dan Streeley, 35, was a man in crisis. Lotte manager Larry Sutton shrugged off Straylor’s early struggles, calling him a “typical slow starter”. But the struggles continued through April and into May.
Straylor had a 4.62 ERA in his first nine games of the season. This was due to a very poor April. In five April games, he had a 5.82 ERA and didn’t have a single quality start (6+ innings or less). His command was clearly off, and he was walking too many batters. “I wasn’t throwing a lot of strikes,” Straily admitted in a postgame interview about his struggles.
That changed on the 26th. Staley pitched six innings of three-hit ball with two walks and eight strikeouts. His velocity was up from his previous outings, and his aggressive pitching patterns effectively shut down the Kiwoom bats, leading to a 2-0 victory and his second win of the season.
After admitting that she hadn’t been throwing strikes, Streeley said after the game, “It’s simple. “It’s simple. I threw strikes.” So what was the key to throwing so many strikes? Straylor pointed to his catcher, Kangnam Yoo, as a driving force.
She spoke with him before the game to refine her game plan. “Why don’t you try using your curveball more instead of your slider, depending on the batter?” he asked, and she responded that she would follow his lead.
In fact, the curveball has become his fourth pitch. This season, he has thrown his four-seam fastball (40.8%), slider (29.5%), changeup (19.3%), and curveball (9.4%). He does throw pitches, but they’re often for show. However, Yoo’s thorough power analysis helped him identify hitters who would be more effective with a curveball, and Straylor followed Yoo’s lead and performed well with a different pattern on this day.
In fact, on May 14 against KT, Straylor threw his slider 26.4% of the time and his curve 10.4% of the time. Today, his slider dropped to 18.3%, while his curveball was 17.2%. Add to that his changeup (21.5%), which he dropped to hitters left and right, and he was mixing up his pitches in ways that hitters weren’t expecting.
Catchers know their hitters’ tendencies better than pitchers do. They analyze power more thoroughly, and smart and experienced catchers can read the subtle movements and timing of batters during the game to make their pitches. Some observers have cited Yoo’s stable and varied pitches as the key to Lotte pitchers’ success this year. Of course, it is the pitcher who throws the ball, but it is very important for the catcher to have faith in him.메이저사이트
Straylor, who was on a downward spiral if his April performance continued, has found his footing in May. He’s gone five or more innings in all four of his May starts and has a 2.31 ERA in May, which isn’t bad. He’s faced mostly weak hitting teams, but his velocity is up and his overall performance is improving. Straily’s rebound is closely tied to Lotte’s farming this season. A win on the 26th is a good start.