Kyle Wright's Return Start: Adjustments, Usage Changes, Explaining Command Woes
As we often hear when a pitcher struggles, goes to Triple-A and later returns, the Braves talked about positive results and adjustments made by Kyle Wright as he came back from the alternate site for Tuesday’s start.
Obviously nothing changed in the results at the major league level. Wright gave up five runs on seven hits in four innings, including three home runs. His ERA is now over 8.
But is there anything positive that can be taken from this outing when considering Wright’s future? Yes and no.
The first obvious change was foot placement on the rubber. Wright previously worked left-middle on the rubber, basically in the middle. In this outing, he was extreme left side with pretty much just his toes on the rubber. This goes hand in hand with the next observation.
Wright was noticeably trying to work inside more and establish the inner half. Working from the first base side of the rubber allows him to create angle going inside on right-handed batters. This is a declaration to hitters that I’m going to try to own the arm side. It potentially opens up half the plate and allows hitters to key in on fewer zones, but it works when the pitcher commands his fastball to that corner and has the secondaries to play off it by tunneling and working down with off-speed.
This approach also requires a lively fastball that runs underneath the barrel, similar to Mike Soroka’s power sinker. Wright’s two-seamer has not consistently been that pitch in the past, because it shows early and the sink lacks effective, late bite. However, in Tuesday’s start, it appeared tighter, and the sink was more explosive and came later in its path. It was perhaps the most lively two-seamer I’ve seen from Wright, resulting in a 75 mph average exit velocity and a max of just 91 among 29 pitches thrown (compared to 85 mph average exit velocity in his previous start). The four-seamer, on the other hand, had the same average velo of 95 as the two-seamer but was timed more easily and hit harder, likely the result of lack of movement and not working it to the glove side (which I’ve been yelling for him to do since spring).
Wright’s start only lasted four innings, but there was a noticeable change in pitch usage as the outing progressed. Instead of abandoning his fastball as his pitch count increased, he stuck with the four- and two-seamer both late in the start and in tough spots. He recognized it was his best pitch, it had more life than usual, and he worked to establish it and rely on it. He threw the two-seamer 35 percent of the time and the four-seamer 28 percent. In his previous start Aug. 14, he threw his slider 29 percent, four-seamer 26 percent and two-seamer 18 percent. And, as you can see in the zone maps, it’s clear that the approach was simplified to work the plate with the fastballs. His Tuesday map is much tighter around the zone.
While it was clear that Wright wanted to establish the two-seamer and his fastballs overall, part of this was the result of a lack of slider. The pitch is normally his best, typically sitting above average to plus, but it came out flat with a severe lack of vertical tilt and bite. He only threw six and two were blasted for home runs. In its place was the changeup, which he threw 18 percent of the time and induced consistently weak contact by playing it off the two-seamer well and keeping it on the knees. This isn’t a horrible play, because Wright has a major league changeup. Perhaps it’s a way to keep Wright off the slider. Perhaps it’s a change in approach to simplify his usage and try to work the fastballs and changeup together. Time will tell.
But why was Wright’s slider so ineffective? It could be that he just didn’t have it that night, but it could also be tweaks rendering it less effective. Notice the change in release point from Aug. 14 to Tuesday. The massive horizontal shift is the result of changing his placement on the rubber. But he also came out looking slightly taller during his stride. His vertical point is a touch higher, and it was especially higher in the first couple innings. When I think of trying to stay taller and coming from a touch higher slot, I think of trying to stay on top of the ball and limiting the rotation in the upper half. Wright has a tendency to drop his slot, get on the side of the ball and become erratic as an outing progresses. This could be an attempt to fix that. But is it affecting his slider? Maybe, but I can’t say for sure.
Which brings me to what I think could be Wright’s issue as he gets deeper into his outings. Look at his vertical release point inning by inning mapped over the course of his career dating to his Aug. 14 start. For his four- and two-seamer, his release is all over the map. It tends to stay consistent over the first couple innings, but look how erratic it gets starting with the third inning. No one can expect to maintain major league level command with such a volatile release unless the pitcher has elite-level feel to pitch and can change slots on purpose. If you want to compare Wright’s inning-by-inning release point to get a sense of its inconsistency, check out Jacob deGrom’s or Mike Soroka’s. Obviously it’s unfair to compare Wright to the best pitchers in the game, but it provides context.
A varied release point causes command and control to suffer. Wright has maintained a consistent enough release early in his outings, but it starts to spray the longer he stays on the mound. This can probably be chalked up to arm action and rotation in the upper half of the motion. When he falls into his third- and four-inning bouts of wildness, he struggles syncing his upper half with his arm, and his release suffers.
Can this be fixed? I think trying to get taller during his stride and a touch higher on the release can help. The problem is that he fell back into the same habit as his outing went on Tuesday. When Wright says after the game that he feels close, I understand where he’s coming from. His two-seamer was more explosive with more effective bite, he established inside better, and he seemed to find a comfort in working the changeup off the fastballs. If he thinks he can avoid falling into the same habit as he gains more comfort in his adjustments, it’s understandable for him to feel optimism.
But, as I said on Twitter after his Tuesday start, it’s all about repeating. At some point he has to prove he can repeat his motion to maintain more consistent command. This season is the best chance for him to get reps on a major league mound and try to work through things. But the Braves have a window and, come 2021, patience may start wearing thin.
Data and maps courtesy of Baseball Savant and Brooks Baseball.