2024 Starting Rotation - Is It Good Enough?

[*TheLeonardLeap*]

(08-24-2023, 12:52 PM)The D.O.Z. Wrote: If memory serves me though, Chapman had a nice slider and change up he could throw to keep hitters off balance. He didn’t use them nearly as often as the fastball, but they were effective and it kept his fastball effective. Greene doesn’t have that, and he’s getting tattooed due to it, in my opinion.

Sort of side thought / question here but why aren’t we drafting, developing, and signing pitchers better suited for GABP? Instead of the high strikeout guys, why aren’t we looking for more “career groundball rate” guys? Why aren’t we working with players like Greene, to develop a sinker / downward movement on those high-spin-rate fastballs? Maybe we are, and I’m just not seeing the behind the scenes work?

His 5th year (technically 4th year according to service time) of 2014 is when he started mixing in the change up. That still remains the year he had his highest strikeout rate of his career (17.7 K/9) and lowest hits allowed rate of his career (3.5 H/9).

Threw it for 2 years, then threw it half as much for 2 more years as the Yankees had him phase it out, which is weird because the 2 years he threw it at least 5% of the time he had a 1.80 ERA with a 1.008 WHIP and it was graded as a positive pitch.

The Yankees do some weird stuff like that, though. Like how they had Sonny Gray suddenly throwing a Cutter 20% of the time to terrible results when it was never really a pitch he threw much prior in his career.