The Simple Way MLB Teams Make Pitchers BETTER

[@dons337]

Glad this popped up on my feed. When the trade for Kikuchi was announced my family chat thread blew up (native Houstonians) about what a botched trade it was. I immediately went to Kikuchi's stats page to see what his pitch breakdown was. Sure enough it is in the numbers. I replied back and told the family to give him a few games to see how they mixed his pitches up. After the first game it was apparent that the Astros knew what they were doing. He has been fun to watch pitch.

[@LanceBroz]

Yeah! I think the general consensus being so against the trade was an indication that the public probably overvalued Bloss a bit. I like him, but the injury track record and body aren’t amazing. Loperfido feels like a platoon OF bat to me. Flags fly forever. If this pushes them further into the playoffs it could very well be worth it.

[@CarlosGarcia-zr2mx]

⁠@@LanceBrozloperfido had a 35+ K% he was not good in houston

[@grxengine]

@@LanceBroz We’ve won 2 championships here in 5 years with different GM’s & different managers & yet all my friends were yelling & screaming at me after Luperfido was traded. Only seeing that the team’s new toy was being traded for a guy with a 5.00 ERA. I so very much agree with you. Luperfido sparked the team hitting in the 7-9 slot, but Astros neeeeed pitching & had a surplus in the OF. Also like Gerrit Cole & Charlie Morton before him you could see in the latent numbers that Kikuchi possessed the type of stuff that the Astros usually hunt for in a pitcher. So….now that it has played out & Kikuchi has been lights out I have been very quiet. I’ll let you know if anyone calls to apologize.

[@jonathanadam8344]

Cannot believe I missed this channel all year!! Wild to just stumble upon legit fangraphs-esque on youtube. thank you.

[@LanceBroz]

Thanks for hopping aboard 🫡🫡🫡

[@cartermoss9775]

Most underrated baseball KZbinr by far

[@GlazingIs4Pedos]

🤖🤖🤖

[@cartermoss9775]

@@GlazingIs4Pedos what are you even on about

[@LanceBroz]

🫡🫡🫡

[@LanceBroz]

🫡🫡🫡

[@MrH.09]

🔥

[@btg009]

the hack to be a better pitcher go to Tampa or Houston

[@LanceBroz]

Yes lol

[@timmyg831]

Astros had some of the best pitching coaches like Brent Strom.

[@balapadmanabhan5705]

Houston's pitching staff really is not only their main strengths. Their scouting and pitching coordinator does the best to find hidden talent. Their analytics dept is even better. I would call it the best in the MLB.

[@MrRdparri56]

Well done thanks. I just subscribed. As a Houston fan since the days of the Colt 45s, it's good to have someone give data about why the Astros seem to be so magical of late that a non-baseball player can understand. I appreciate it

[@LanceBroz]

Thanks for the sub! They’ve been a fun organization to follow

[@sadatx101]

Man, this is some nerdy stuff and I love it. Good channel.

[@LanceBroz]

Thanks!

[@quintongarvin5756]

Pierce Johnson is a great example of this. The Braves traded for him at the 2023 deadline. They had him throw basically just his curveball since and his numbers are WAY better.

[@LanceBroz]

Yep. Good one! Lots of examples out there

[@matthewknauer7466]

Can you maybe make a video about spin axis? Might fit in with the kick change video, and how the axis of the changeup is really crucial to its success

[@LanceBroz]

Been thinking about a kick change video. Have a couple other things in the queue but I’ll get to that eventually for sure 👍

[@Tswiz7]

great vid man.

[@LanceBroz]

Thanks for watching!

[@marcusvalle47]

Great video. Very well researched.

[@LanceBroz]

Thanks!

[@degenerate82]

very cool info, subbed!

[@LanceBroz]

Thanks!

[@phoenix1826]

Great video!

[@LanceBroz]

Thanks 👍

[@tovatic6844]

Nice video as always🙌🏻, my question is, if the team makes adjustments to the pitcher to improve his performance and the pitcher doesn't perform well, will it depend on the team's philosophy (as you mentioned in the video) to give him time to adapt or could it also be a problem with the pitcher himself? In Kikuchi's case, he did very well, but I have seen other cases where the opposite happens.

[@LanceBroz]

Good question - I think in most cases the team will give the pitcher some time to figure things out with their new mix And likely add other adjustments if it’s not working. The only issue with the pitcher would be if he’s injured or if he doesn’t move in a way that facilitates throwing whatever pitch the teams want him to more (think a natural pronator throwing a bunch of sweepers)

[@jpet7044]

Great video

[@LanceBroz]

🫡🫡🫡

[@Eidenhoek]

xwOBAcon is best stat because bacon

[@LanceBroz]

My thoughts exactly 🥓🥓🥓

[@koningklootzak7788]

Is it possible it's just the compatibility with the catcher instead of team philosophy?

[@LanceBroz]

Nah, it’s a gameplanning thing more than catcher comfort. Analytics influencing gameplanning which influences pregame meetings which influences game calling

[@koningklootzak7788]

@@LanceBroz OK. And you have proof for your theory? I'm just trying to clarify if it's your speculation or it's based on evidence.

[@PapasTTU]

@@koningklootzak7788 it's every sports team ever that uses analytics to influence how they play opposing teams. That is the evidence lol.

[@koningklootzak7788]

@@PapasTTU shut

[@virajs.8864]

Mets simply had Blackburn ditch his FB for his cutter

[@LanceBroz]

Yep! Good one.

[@madxD144]

If it aint broke don't fix it, even if it can get better

[@Bnguyen276]

So basically the video is about the teams are playing to players strengths and not trying to fix them.

[@LanceBroz]

In a way, but towards the end I show some cases of where team philosophy wins out regardless of a pitchers “strength.” Civale and Paxton being the examples.

[@quicksandx54]

It took 3 years to fix Hunter Brown. What happened?

[@LanceBroz]

He had 1 bad season in the bigs at 24 years old. Dealing this year, sub 4 ERA with stellar peripherals.

[@neirad537]

Hunter brown has only pitch 2 years he was great and few game in late in 2022. He was great on the beginning and first half of the 1st full season then he felt while it was attribute to hit the rookie wall by pitching well over his career high. This year he started bad by allowing 1 big inning, he clean that and he is back to being a stud

[@vincenthammons-kd9du]

yeah you seem to forget hunters first season and he was the reason astros won the championship

[@doctorstrainlove6318]

Plz don’t do Trevor Rodger’s.. or actually do! I didn’t understand that one, I know pitching analysts have a boner for “extension” & that’s all Rogers really has to offer. He still needs to throw harder & add a strikeout pitch.

[@timpride6276]

The rays completely use analytics to coach and sign players.

[@LanceBroz]

Sure, they’re one of the more analytically-inclined teams, but they have had a top 10 team ERA 6 of the last 7 seasons Is this … bad? lol

[@piratessuckattrading4828]

Going along with your fork in the road metaphor, is there a third path? The team being good enough to weather any bad results while the pitcher tries a new approach. The dodgers, for me, are the poster child for this.

[@LanceBroz]

That metaphor made no sense, but I appreciate you entertaining it haha I think that’s almost a blend of both paths. Because it’s probably rooted in team philosophy to be more accepting of risk to let a guy do that. And it’s also just pure optimization, which is something I think LAD and HOU do a lot, whereas a team like BOS is optimizing to their tendencies.

[@danielcarmichael4596]

xwOBAcon !