STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Felipe Vazquez's 2019 can be best described as a nightmare that opposing hitters simply cannot wake up from. The scary truth is that the dawn is nowhere in sight.
Not when he keeps evolving.
In years past, observers would point to Vazquez as a classic flamethrower-type who could always fall back on his other-worldly velocity should other pitches fail. It's kind of hard not to imagine that Vazquez would default to this mode, as any human being who could throw a baseball more than 100 miles per hour would be tempted.
However, in 2019, Vazquez has flat-out become a complete pitcher, for reasons I hope you'll soon see.
First, let's take a look at Vazquez against the league rate for relievers in some key peripherals:
Vazquez has seen a steady increase in his strikeout rate -- defined here as the percentage of batters faced that he strikes out -- since he came to the Pittsburgh Pirates from the Nationals in the Mark Melancon trade. His 38.9 percent rate is nearly 50 percent better than the average MLB reliever. It's no wonder, then, that he has a much better called-strike rate than most. That particular statistic feeds what might be the single most important peripheral for any reliever -- pitches per out. Vazquez makes markedly quicker work of his foes than most.
Let's now key in on why this is happening, as this -- from this perspective, anyway -- has been the catalyst for his lights-out performance in 2019. Vazquez now can rely on deception and called strikes nearly as much as he can the swing-and-miss ability he has always had: 31.4 percent of his 35 total strikeouts have ended on a called strike. Though sample size is still a bit small to completely trust this, we can point to his 2018 rate of 22.2 percent -- previously a career best percentage -- as a sign that this is likely a newfound ability. The overall called strike rate -- meaning called strikes in any plate appearance, not just those that end a strikeout -- has risen to 19.9 percent, up from 14.6 percent in 2018.
Here's a compilation of all of Vazquez's 2019 strikeouts that ended on a called strike:
You may have noticed that there were quite a few sliders mixed in there. Is there a particular reason for this? More deception, perhaps? Well, yes of course -- the results alone bear that out. But there are other forces at play that have resulted in Vazquez using the pitch in two-strike counts at such an increased usage.
In fact, here's a look at all of his two-strike pitches year-over-year:
FF- Fastball; SL - Slider; CH - Changeup; CU - CurveballWe can point to the fact that the slider is now a more consistently used weapon for him in a wider-range of counts and situations, without being seen alongside less fastball usage. The southpaw is also clearly more comfortable with landing the slider in the zone, with a five percent increase in the pitch resulting in a strike.
The pitch is largely unchanged, carrying nearly identical spin and velocity. But one key difference is at play.
Let's take a look at the slider mechanics year over year:
On the left, 2018's version of the slider. Notice how Vazquez flies open at the end of his motion compared to this season. This season, Vazquez's arm motion takes him a bit further out, while his plant foot stays sturdy. The result? Better control.
Seen in another fashion, here are the changes in horizontal release point for Vazquez's slider, historically:
Courtesy of Brooks BaseballThe impetus for Vazquez's sterling start to 2019 are not limited only to mechanical changes on his best secondary pitch. We could point to myriad reasons, from an increased efficiency in getting to two-strike counts -- Vazquez averages 4.01 pitches to get a two-strike count, a few degrees better than MLB relievers' rate of 5.9 -- and a still-lively four-seam fastball.
Yet now, with a secondary pitch that seems fully formed, Vazquez is well-equipped to keep hitters from waking up.
