9-3-24 – By Michael Castrignano – @412DoublePlay on X
From Whiskey to Gin, the Pirates trade out facing Jameson Taillon yesterday for Kyle Hendricks today, whom they faced last week with an offensive outburst as they notched 6 runs off 8 hits over just 1.2 innings during that previous outing.
If the Pirates want to repeat that production, they’ll need to get more lift on the ball than they’ve produced against the past two starters faced where they put the ball on the ground 23 times over 13.2 combined innings facing Taillon and Guardians starting pitcher Alex Cobb.
Despite the hot bats against Hendricks last time, he still generated 10 swings-and-misses in 70 pitches with most of that courtesy of his changeup and it’s 54% whiff rate.
He was able to work the changeup on the corners and that’s the only pitch he has been able to consistently locate and avoid barrels against this season with the lowest xBA (.251) and xSLG (.386) among his offerings.
If hitters can waste the changeups on the edges and lay off the ones out of the zone, they can force Hendricks to lean more on his sinker, which opponents are batting .339 against and slugging .526.
Stay on the changeup to force Hendricks to change up his approach. Get ahead early and hold the lead this time around.
Let’s Go Bucs
Steel City Pirates 