What Can We Learn From Jordan Balazovic's Statcast Data?

[Matt Braun]

An outing in the majors means a day under camera’s watch; let’s see what the machines had to say about the new Twin.

Image courtesy of Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports

Typically, observing stats from one appearance is a bad idea—what with small samples and all that—but raw data does not require such patience, and we can parse through some of Jordan Balazovic’s Statcast information to understand his game better. Let’s not beat around the bush: here’s what caught my attention from his page.

The most impressive pitch in Balazovic’s arsenal is his curveball. It’s a yakker, folks. The scouting reports were accurate. It doesn’t get too much extra vertical break; just 1.7 inches above average places him around Marco Gonzales and Lucas Sims—quality veteran arms who typically acquire outs through other means. What’s notable is his lack of horizontal movement; -5.7 inches of horizontal break places him amongst the top 20 of pitchers with vertical downers. You’d think the pitch may help neutralize platoons, but Balazovic has struggled with opposite-handed batters throughout his minor league career (although that could be for separate reasons). He’s death to righties at his peak, though. Here’s Javier Báez learning that Balazovic’s curve has an endless bottom to it:

It appears that, if Balazovic is to stick at the major-league level, his curve will be the main contributor to his success.

And that’s because his heater is nothing too special. He gets a little vertical movement on it, but not enough to stand out from the pitching quagmire around him; his outs in the minors have typically been from its location, not its pure bully factor. He does mirror his curveball’s movement perfectly, possibly allowing the offering to play above its raw characteristics—and the Twins have done well in developing vertical specialists in their pitching staff.

That prior paragraph may sound like damning with faint praise, but having one average MLB selection and a second potentially plus pitch is enough for anyone to accrue outs these days, especially if they’re wise about usage. That’ll be crucial for Balazovic, as his slider doesn’t stand out too much. His changeup is interesting—owning almost no horizontal break, just like his curveball—so if he can command the pitch, he may have the three/two-and-a-half-ish pitch mix that turns him from tweener reliever to legitimate starter.

And that’s the crucial aspect of talking about pitching: pitches are tools, but they’re only that, and it takes a Pitcher to separate themselves from the pack. The pitching industrial complex spits out a thousand arms scientifically built to miss bats and get outs; beating those hurlers requires something beyond just stuff, and whether Balazovic possesses that nebulous thing will soon be seen. At least he has a great curveball to help guide him.

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