Tighter curve constraints, more cutters saved

By Hanam Jik Reporter = Despite giving up a home run and getting no help from his team’s bats, Ryu Hyun-jin, 36, of the Toronto Blue Jays, once again showed how pitchers with slower pitches can survive in the major leagues.

A slow 100.6-mile-per-hour curve followed by a 145.5-mile-per-hour fastball increased his “perceived velocity” and led to a groundout.

It was also impressive that he increased the proportion of cut fastballs (cutters) instead of fastballs (four-seam fastballs).

Ryu started the 2023 Major League Baseball (MLB) game against the visiting Oakland Athletics at the Oakland Coliseum in Oakland, California, USA, on July 7, giving up two runs on five hits over five innings. He walked one and struck out five.

After giving up a two-run homer to Carlos Perez with two outs in the bottom of the fourth inning with a 1-0 lead, the Toronto bats went silent and Ryu suffered his second loss of the season. Toronto fell to 2-5 on the day.

Despite the disappointment, there were some impressive moments.

The highlight of the night came in the bottom of the second inning, when Ryu threw back-to-back 109.9 mph (strike) and 100.6 mph (foul) curveballs to Jordan Diaz on a 2-ball-1 strikeout, then followed it up with a 145.5 mph fastball for a groundout.

This season, Ryu Hyun-jin has been recognized for his ‘slower curve’.

According to BaseballSabermetrics, out of 617 pitchers in the majors this year who threw at least 100 pitches and included a fastball in their arsenal, Ryu’s fastball ranks 607th at 88.3 miles per hour (142 km/h).

His curveball is 69.3 miles per hour (111.5 kilometers per hour), which ranks 349th.

Already throwing the slowest curveball in the majors, Ryu has been working on getting “slower”.

His lowest curveball velocity per game this season was 69.4 miles per hour (111.7 km/h) against the Baltimore Orioles on August 2, 66.8 miles per hour (107.5 km/h) against the Cleveland Indians on August 8, 64.5 miles per hour (103.8 km/h) against the Chicago Cubs on August 14, 65.5 miles per hour (105.4 km/h) against the Cincinnati Reds on August 21, and 64.6 miles per hour (104 km/h) against the Cleveland Indians on August 27.

In September, he threw his slowest fastball since entering the majors at 62.4 miles per hour (100.4 km/h) against the Colorado Rockies on Sept. 2, followed by a “very slow” 62.5 miles per hour (100.6 km/h) against Oakland on the same day.

However, Ryu knows that as his curveball velocity increases, so will his opponents.바카라사이트

Against Oakland, Ryu used his curve less and less as the innings went on.

On the day, Ryu threw his curveball 14% of the time (11 pitches), which is lower than his season average of 18%. Instead, he threw his cutter 30 percent of the time (23 pitches) after averaging just 13 percent all season.

Cutters were the pitch Ryu threw the most against Oakland. He threw 21 fastballs (27%), 18 changeups (23%), and four sinkers (5%).

Oakland batters swung at Ryu’s cutter 15 times, resulting in seven swings and misses (47% swing rate). Two of his five strikeouts were on the cutter.

Ryu’s versatility with his pitches has allowed him to switch up his arsenal and continue to pitch solidly.