Vittas: Joe Ryan just scratching the surface

[Brock Beauchamp]

This piece is two years old now but it’s a really interesting and in-depth look at Joe Ryan, his history, an utterly dominant stretch of 2019, and his unusual approach to pitching. Absolutely worth a read.

http://baseballprospectjournal.com/rays-joe-ryan-just-scratching-the-surface/

[Original_JB]

Nice article. I've been watching his pitching from a number of articles/clips from around the web, and it appears to me that he's found an arm slot/rotation/angle for that fastball that from the batter's POV, his entire forearm and pitching hand "disappear" at one point in the motion, and then his release unfolds in a way that the hand and forearm are fully inline with his upper arm, which sort of hides the ball. Hard to describe, but it looks like the batter sees half the guy's arm disappear (the half with the ball), then the ball sort of pop straight out of the middle of his arm --already on the batter; you don't really see the arm "come around" as it were. It would make for odd ABs (sort of like knucklers just sort of mess with your head).

[GNess]

Ryan looks promising  looking forward to watching him. Twins will be in a way better place if Ober's performance to date is not an outlier and 1 or 2 young SP, like Ryan are able to take rotation spots next season.

[Cap'n Piranha]

Having any modicum of confidence in Ober and Ryan sticking in the 2022 rotation vastly improves the odds of competing in 2022.  If not, the FO legitimately needs to find 5 new starters in the next 7 months.

[Unwinder]

 

1 hour ago, Cap'n Piranha said:

Having any modicum of confidence in Ober and Ryan sticking in the 2022 rotation vastly improves the odds of competing in 2022.  If not, the FO legitimately needs to find 5 new starters in the next 7 months.

Not to mention depth for the inevitable injuries. ?

[Dodecahedron]

23 hours ago, Cap'n Piranha said:

Having any modicum of confidence in Ober and Ryan sticking in the 2022 rotation vastly improves the odds of competing in 2022.  If not, the FO legitimately needs to find 5 new starters in the next 7 months.

It would be a mistake for the Twins to determine if Ober and Ryan will work out for the team before opening day 2022.  Whether or not they are ready, they'll be in the mix.  

[Cap'n Piranha]

50 minutes ago, Dodecahedron said:

It would be a mistake for the Twins to determine if Ober and Ryan will work out for the team before opening day 2022.  Whether or not they are ready, they'll be in the mix.  

Right--I never said they should make a decision in the next 30 games.  But if Ober continues to put up good numbers, and Ryan makes 5 starts where he looks ready for MLB, that makes fielding a competent pitching staff in 2022 much less daunting.  If both Ober and Ryan look overmatched this month, the FO kind of has to assume they need 5 new starters at minimum should they wish to compete.  That necessity very much increases the odds the FO decides to look at 2022 as a transition year, doesn't seriously attempt to compete, and stockpiles ammo (read, prospects and payroll) for 2023.