USA TODAY International Edition
ASTROS PITCHERS DEFY TRENDS WITH SLIDERS
Team hopes approach won’t spoil dreams of winning World Series
BALTIMORE It’s possible there’s only one thing standing in the way of the Houston Astros making a run to their first World Series since 2005.
They own the best record in the American League, have more home runs than any other team in the big leagues and their pitchers lead the majors in strikeouts, on pace to blow away their 2016 total.
The issue, though, is whether the Astros’ breaking- ball loving pitchers can spin their way through October, a month typically dominated by hard stuff.
Astros pitchers have struck out 1,006 batters in 890 innings, even though they throw fastballs just 47% of the time, almost identical to their 49% mark in 2016 and well below the major league average of 56%. Both this year and last, only the New York Yankees threw fewer fastballs, and it’s no coincidence.
“We have guys — and I think they’ve probably done it on purpose in this organization — who can spin the ball well,” Astros right- hander Collin McHugh said. “Whether it’s me or ( Brad) Peacock or Lance ( McCullers Jr.) or whoever you’re gonna run out there — ( Mike) Fiers is throwing a really, really good breaking ball these days — you kind of know what you’re gonna get.
“You’re gonna get some spin, you’re gonna mix pitches, and I think that’s how we know we’re most effective. Lance likes to say the four- seam fastball is a dying pitch, but there’s still a place and time for it, for sure.”
Whether the fastball is dying or not, the Astros’ approach has been effective.
For much of his career, Peacock, 29, has been unremarkable, and entering this season had pitched 11 games in the majors over the two previous seasons.
As it turns out, that was a blessing in disguise. That’s how Peacock came to know Jordan Jankowski. The two were teammates on Houston’s Class AAA affiliate in Fresno, and Jankowski taught Peacock his slider near the All- Star break in 2016.
“I had a slider going into that season, but it was getting crushed,” he said. “I’d just try to throw it hard, but it really wasn’t moving much. I kind of just said, ‘ I need something new,’ and I asked one of my buddies who had a good slider on the team.”
Since then, that slider has changed everything. Peacock, who has a 4.13 career ERA, has dropped to 2.51 this season, and he’s striking out 12.2 batters per nine innings. And what pitch is he throwing more than any other? The slider.
Perhaps Jankowski — who has appeared in two games with Houston this season — deserves a larger playoff share.
The obvious concern, however, is that one pitch — no matter how effective and despite its impact on a person’s career — does not equate to a shutdown pitcher.
And the Astros’ best candidate for that role has been struggling of late. McCullers, 23, opened the season with a 2.58 ERA and 89 strikeouts through 13 starts before being placed on the disabled list with lower back discomfort June 12. Since then, he hasn’t been the same.
“The last couple outings, what’s been helping me be extremely effective this season was my fastball command,” said McCullers, who gave up six runs in 42⁄ innings Sunday vs. the Baltimore Orioles. “And being able to go out, being able to go in, that would be able to play my curve- ball and changeup off of that.
“When you’re facing a lineup like this that’s been hot and has some of the top hitters in baseball, you can’t be coming at them with one pitch the whole game. You’re going to get beat eventually.”