Article: Trevor May And Pitching From The Stretch

[Parker Hageman]

Off the field, pitcher Trevor May likes to create music and spin tracks. However, while on the mound with the Twins this season, this DJ has been unable to find the right rhythm.After an impressive season in Triple-A -- where he had his lowest walk rate since 2010 -- May was called up to the Twins in August. May’s minor league success did not transfer to the major league level. So far, starting in six of his seven appearances, May has pitched 29.2 innings while turning in a 24/19 K/BB ratio to go along with 41 hits to which have cumulated in a rotund 8.38 ERA.

 

His biggest foe, besides people who do not enjoy his sick beats, has been pitching with runners on base.

 

To this point in his major league career, ESPN/Trumedia says he has thrown 279 pitches in both the windup and the stretch. With the bases empty, he has kept opponents to a passable .269 average with a 17/9 K/BB ratio but when he puts a runner on, opponents have lambasted him to the tune of .479 with a disheartening 7/13 K/BB ratio. To be fair, a sizable number of those walks occurred during his debut in Oakland (6 walks from the stretch), but his performance has been shakiest when the bases are clogged.

 

An American League scout who had observed May told the Star Tribune’s LaVelle Neal that May’s “got the ammo. He needs to locate it. And his fastball is pretty flat.” May has a four-pitch mix but has yet to show he can locate his fastball consistently enough to make the other pitches effective.

 

For most of May’s tenure in professional baseball, his ability to repeat his mechanics has been questioned as his release point will occasionally vary and his arm slot will drop. This keeps his pitches up in the zone where they can flatten out and it seems to happen to him more often from the stretch.

 

Overall, May’s fastball has been turned into hits at a high rate from both the windup and stretch. The biggest difference is the type of contact hitters are making. Consider this: When runners are on, opponents have posted a 46% line drive rate with a .276 hard-hit average compared to a 20% line drive rate and a .135 hard-hit average from his full windup. This makes sense when you consider the locations of his fastballs when in the windup (top) versus the stretch (bottom):

 

Download attachment: May_FB.png

 

Getting strike one while working in the stretch has been an on-going struggle for May as he has hit the zone with fewer than half of his first-pitch pitches (46%), a far cry from when there are no baserunners (63%). What’s more, hitters have become more conservative once May is pitching from the stretch, chasing far fewer pitches out of the zone (16%) than when he is in the windup (35%). That puts the 24-year-old at quite the disadvantage.

 

Broadcasters and media-types often talk about things “snowballing” for pitchers. Each of May’s outings so far has been more avalanche than snowball once runners step on to the bases. Every pitcher has some discrepancy between the windup and the stretch, but May’s splits are more pronounced than most thus far in his small sample size. Obviously, the stats will normalize over time as his .404 batting average on balls in play is sure to come down and he is able to corral that grotesque walk rate.

 

Look for improvements out of May in his next start on Sunday in Chicago.

 

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[glunn]

Thanks Parker.  You do an amazing job explaining things.

[Parker Hageman]

Thanks Parker.  You do an amazing job explaining things.

 

 

Would you mind calling my wife and telling her that?

[Willihammer]

Why not tell him to pitch from the stretch for the rest of the year, regardless of whether runners are on base? It was a problem for him in AAA too. He'll need to deal with it sooner or later, and what better time than now?

[Parker Hageman]

Why not tell him to pitch from the stretch for the rest of the year, regardless of whether runners are on base?

 

 

That would be a good idea. I'm interested to find out what sort of bullpen sessions he goes through.

[jay]

A .404 BABIP seems pretty reasonable considering the 46% LD rate with runners on.  

[Brandon]

He's now won 3 games straight basically pitching like Correa in those starts with strikeouts.  8 ER in 16 innings with 19 strike outs.  He's getting there.  I think he is starting to relax a little.