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Nate Pearson Thread:
Tonight is my first pre-game show with Pearson starting so wanted to dive into how he's looked through 3 starts.
First off, the stuff is great & his breaking stuff is nearly unhittable for righties.
(Poor Tyler Flowers has a tough run in the montage below)
Tonight is my first pre-game show with Pearson starting so wanted to dive into how he's looked through 3 starts.
First off, the stuff is great & his breaking stuff is nearly unhittable for righties.
(Poor Tyler Flowers has a tough run in the montage below)
But, Pearson has struggled somewhat against lefties.
Take a look at the excel screen grab below.
Righties whiff as often as they put the ball in play against Pearson, while lefties don't struggle nearly as much, and that reveals itself in the OPP AVG.
Take a look at the excel screen grab below.
Righties whiff as often as they put the ball in play against Pearson, while lefties don't struggle nearly as much, and that reveals itself in the OPP AVG.
Why is that? One obvious answer is that his changeup remains a work in progress. He hasn't been able to locate it consistently yet.
(I would put a lot of money that the pitch to Freeman in the montage below is Pearson's-and Pete Walker's-favourite pitch of Nate's 2020 to date)
(I would put a lot of money that the pitch to Freeman in the montage below is Pearson's-and Pete Walker's-favourite pitch of Nate's 2020 to date)
But something else popped up when I looked at hard hits Pearson gave up vs lefties.
Primarily fastballs up and over the plate.
(The Freeman HR was just a call I didn't like: breaking ball down & in to a lefty on an 0-2 count. That pitch will go away once the change improves)
Primarily fastballs up and over the plate.
(The Freeman HR was just a call I didn't like: breaking ball down & in to a lefty on an 0-2 count. That pitch will go away once the change improves)
And when you look at Pearson's Heat Map for fastballs vs lefties, what I noticed was a gap: He doesn't really have the ability to place a fastball on his arm side/outside corner vs lefties.
So I tried to find pitchers who profile like Pearson: Big righties w/ big fastballs--BUT--who have had success vs lefties
Two guys stand out: Lance Lynn (LHB OPP AVG .121) & Brandon Woodruff (LHB OPP AVG .193)
Look at how they can locate fastballs arm side compared to Pearson
Two guys stand out: Lance Lynn (LHB OPP AVG .121) & Brandon Woodruff (LHB OPP AVG .193)
Look at how they can locate fastballs arm side compared to Pearson
Now Woodruff has a great changeup, which as we mentioned, Pearson doesn't have that club in his bag just yet. But Lynn is primarily fastballs and breakers/cutters against lefties.
But these guys can LOCATE!
But these guys can LOCATE!
So, if Pearson can develop that changeup a bit more, but also, critically, learn to locate that arm-side fastball against lefties (especially down and away), I think that will go a long way towards pushing him up into the elite tier of big league pitchers.
