Anthony DeSclafani Needs a Pitch Mix Fix - Caretaker Exclusive

[Lucas Seehafer PT]

The Minnesota Twins acquired starting pitcher Anthony DeSclafani from the Seattle Mariners on Monday evening. While his superficial numbers aren’t particularly eye-popping, DeSclafani provides solid rotation depth. He may also have some potential waiting to be unlocked.

Image courtesy of © D. Ross Cameron - USA Today Sports

Anthony DeSclafani was once considered among MLB’s up-and-coming starting pitchers before injuries began to hamper his career. He has spent significant time on the injured list, due to a right UCL sprain (all of 2017), right flexor-pronator strain (2023), right ankle inflammation (2021) and surgery (2022; peroneal tendon repair), right shoulder fatigue (2021), right teres major strain (2020), and two left oblique strains (2016 and 2018).  

However, when healthy, DeSclafani has proved he’s a viable MLB starter. He has posted ERAs of 3.17, 3.89, and 4.05 in the three seasons in which he’s made at least 30 starts, and 3.28 and 4.93 in the two seasons in which he started between 20 and 30. He's a traditional five-pitch mix, but has largely relied on his sinker and slider over his past two seasons with the San Francisco Giants. (The Mariners traded for DeSclafani earlier this offseason, before flipping him to the Twins.)

DeSclafani’s best and most-thrown—44.8% usage rate last summer—pitch is that slider. It sits at 87-89 mph, with poor spin efficiency (43% active) and a 60-minute deviation in observed versus spin-based movement. In English: DeSclafani’s slider features more gyroscopic spin than active (i.e. movement-causing) spin. Thus, it relies more on gravity and seam-shifted wake to create drop, rather than on the Magnus effect to create run.

 

As a result, his bullet slider is a ground-ball machine, with the average launch angle against it in 2023 registering at 10 degrees; he’s only surrendered 34 home runs across 4,578 career offerings. It’s a legit weapon, though it works in defiance of the Twins’ sweeper-crazed ethos last year.

DeSclafani’s second most-utilized pitch is a sinker. (Notice I said second-most utilized, not second-best. More on that in a second.) To be blunt: It’s nothing special. It does exactly what you’d expect of a sinker. It has decent arm-side run (16 inches; basically league average) and a modest 2,128 RPM spin rate (same). It’s used for inducing ground balls, and that’s about it.

 

Those two pitches became his bread-and-butter during his tenure by the Bay, but there might be much more to him than what the Giants have tapped into recently.

View full article

[h2oface]

Fa. Get the fa right. 

[Hawkeye Bean Counter]

This is a caretaker article I would love to have been able to read the full article.  

[Karbo]

All players need to be constantly adjusting in todays game due to the advanced scouting and video. If making adjustments will improve a player they had best be made.

[Matthew Trueblood]

10 minutes ago, Hawkeye Bean Counter said:

This is a caretaker article I would love to have been able to read the full article.  

If it nudges you at all, our goal going forward is to deliver two Caretakers articles per week. Great value! This premium content lets us get deeper into some subjects and supports expanding coverage on all fronts. Totally understand if it's not in the budget; I have to eschew a lot of subscriptions I'd very much like to have. Just want to put it out there. We're going to keep the good stuff coming on this front, and we hope to add another couple of names to the rotation of writers for these pieces soon.

[Hawkeye Bean Counter]

10 minutes ago, Matthew Trueblood said:

If it nudges you at all, our goal going forward is to deliver two Caretakers articles per week. Great value! This premium content lets us get deeper into some subjects and supports expanding coverage on all fronts. Totally understand if it's not in the budget; I have to eschew a lot of subscriptions I'd very much like to have. Just want to put it out there. We're going to keep the good stuff coming on this front, and we hope to add another couple of names to the rotation of writers for these pieces soon.

Wife says no go on spending money  :).  

[rv78]

If fixes were easy they'd have been made already in a 33 year old pitcher. I find it comical that when the Twins acquire a player that has issues the writers here at Twins Daily think the Twins can just "fix" their problems and turn them into a player that is better than who they were previously. If that was really the case, their coaches would be so highly sought of that they'd be bought out by other teams. If I remember correctly, the last pitching coach Wes Johnson, went back to coaching in college.

[CRF]

I'd rather have him find his "fix" with another team. 

[Cory Engelhardt]

37 minutes ago, rv78 said:

If fixes were easy they'd have been made already in a 33 year old pitcher. I find it comical that when the Twins acquire a player that has issues the writers here at Twins Daily think the Twins can just "fix" their problems and turn them into a player that is better than who they were previously. If that was really the case, their coaches would be so highly sought of that they'd be bought out by other teams. If I remember correctly, the last pitching coach Wes Johnson, went back to coaching in college.

I mean, the Twins have actually lost quite a few coaches over the last 3-4 years to a number of organizations. I know the Mets pitching coach was with us, a few were taken by Boston and Kansas City. I'm probably forgetting a few.

Their coaching staff/organization is pretty highly thought of/sought after. I know you probably won't believe this, but it is true.

[Eephus]

For some reason I'm getting an uninspiring, we've been here before Jim Deshaies vibe. Probably triggered by the De- starting last name. Similar age and track record, although Deshaies was a lefty so not that. Deshaies did a stint with the Giants before we picked him up the 2nd time.  

[tony&rodney]

Great title and so true too. Hope springs eternal. In the 90's our men's team had a similar pitcher join our team in August after the Orioles had released him in April because he just couldn't keep the ball off of MLB bats enough. His wife told him that after three months of moping around the house he had to go out and join a men's team, pick up a serious hobby, or she was going to leave because he was driving her nuts. He was a good guy and explained that the simplest thing and the finest lost edge was enough to end a career. 

DeSclafani can still turn it around. He has some experience, a variety of pitches, and he pitched useful starting pitcher innings in 2015, 2019, and 2021. Hopefully, the injuries and struggles are gone. I'm sure DeScla would like nothing better than to get back to pitching in a regular cycle in an MLB rotation.

[saviking]

Holy Guacamole!!! Did you see that injury history. If he was a horse he'd be ready for the glue factory ..

[LA Vikes Fan]

Really interesting and it puts the Polanco trade into a greater perspective.  It looks like there is more to DeSclafani that can be "unlocked" and makes him a better candidate to become more of a mid-rotation starter. He also has a track record of that level of success in years past although he was not good last year. Of course, none of us know if the Twins can unlock the potential but they have had some success with that in the past so this makes this a reasonable gamble.

Look, I'm like everybody else. I somehow convinced myself that trading Polanco would get us a young starter with a high ceiling. As a result, I was a little less than thrilled with the trade when it was announced yesterday. I with the benefit of a good night sleep and a better understanding of what DeSclafani can be, I'm starting to like the trade more and more. We got a quality reliever in Topa, a possibly backend to mid rotation starter, a top 100 prospect and a pitching lottery ticket. That's a pretty darn good return for an aging second baseman who hits well and is a good leader but has significant injury issues. I love what Polanco did as a Twin and wish he could be that same guy forever but that's not the way the world works. Given our surplus at the position and our needs, this trade actually addresses what we had to get. I'm beginning to like it more and more

[Galen]

Good thing Twins pitching coaches are smarter than everyone else 

[tony&rodney]

38 minutes ago, Galen said:

Good thing Twins pitching coaches are smarter than everyone else 

Yah. There are not really any secrets in the business and it is the players who make the coaches, managers, and front office people look smart. I can't think of a coach, manager, or front office person who makes $12 million, which is what a #5 starting pitcher goes for today. The coaches do what they can and offer help where it is called for, sometimes a few words and other times a little more detail. The player needs to perform though.

 

[Major League Ready]

6 minutes ago, tony&rodney said:

Yah. There are not really any secrets in the business and it is the players who make the coaches, managers, and front office people look smart. I can't think of a coach, manager, or front office person who makes $12 million, which is what a #5 starting pitcher goes for today. The coaches do what they can and offer help where it is called for, sometimes a few words and other times a little more detail. The player needs to perform though.

 

Isn't this guy is being sold short just a little.  He had 4 season with an ERA from 3.17-4.05.  Why are so many people portraying him as the bottom rung?    Yes, he was not great last year but he was also coming off a major injury.  Is it that much of a stretch to believe he could deliver an ERA around 4.00 if he is healthy?

[ashbury]

"When healthy"

Like a lot of players, when healthy he has put up the numbers.  The question for me isn't a four-seamer but whether that shoulder benefits from an off-season of rest and the elbow responds to whatever mix of rest and rehab he's doing.  Two teams have now been willing to throw in some cash in order to part ways with him, and that is sobering; conversely that cash reduces the risk to the new team considerably.

[Brett]

Still not sold on this guy. I think the Twins got a better return on the trade because they took him off their hands.

With that said, and as my wife will tell you, I’ve been wrong before. Kinda hope I am here too.

[Lucas Seehafer PT]

24 minutes ago, tony&rodney said:

There are not really any secrets in the business

Very much disagree here. Front offices hire biomechanists, sports scienticists, analytic quants exactly because there are a ton of secrets waiting to be discovered. Baseball is not as figured out as people think.

[Hubie29]

You all might think I'm crazy, but if you play fantasy baseball it helps you get a feel for almost every player in the majors. DeSclafani has been a fringe player in fantasy, and that's exactly what he is in real life. "Major League Ready" made the comment that he might be able to stay around the 4.00 era range.  I agree with that.  He is about a 50/50 chance pitcher to give you a quality start. Not bad for a #5 starter or depth starter.  I def don't hate the pickup.

[kroll]

Can you repeat the part where you said about the stuff? Yikes! Way to deep for me.

[JD-TWINS]

2 hours ago, Major League Ready said:

Isn't this guy is being sold short just a little.  He had 4 season with an ERA from 3.17-4.05.  Why are so many people portraying him as the bottom rung?    Yes, he was not great last year but he was also coming off a major injury.  Is it that much of a stretch to believe he could deliver an ERA around 4.00 if he is healthy?

He’s not bad - he had a couple decent years here in Cincinnati. He’s hurt 40% or more of his career - that’s the big problem. If he’s healthy, I figure that the organization (coaches/catchers) can optimize his pitch mix. Need 120 innings somehow.

To me, Topa is the guy that makes the trade worthwhile. If he’s 85% of the guy he was in ‘23 he positively affects 55 games or more over the course of the season.

The two prospects just make the deal more palatable.

I think a potential #5 starter - #5/#6 guy in the Pen that’s potentially very effective - $8M, these are the real values in the trade.

[tony&rodney]

2 hours ago, Major League Ready said:

Isn't this guy is being sold short just a little.  He had 4 season with an ERA from 3.17-4.05.  Why are so many people portraying him as the bottom rung?    Yes, he was not great last year but he was also coming off a major injury.  Is it that much of a stretch to believe he could deliver an ERA around 4.00 if he is healthy?

Misquote here. i was merely commenting on the idea that Twins coaches are miracle workers. All coaches do as much as they can. Some have better luck, some communicate better with some than others but it is the players who perform.

Desclafani has a chance like every other player who has underperformed or been injured to bounce back.

[Major League Ready]

24 minutes ago, tony&rodney said:

Misquote here. i was merely commenting on the idea that Twins coaches are miracle workers. All coaches do as much as they can. Some have better luck, some communicate better with some than others but it is the players who perform.

Desclafani has a chance like every other player who has underperformed or been injured to bounce back.

I meant in general as opposed to specifically what you were saying but I did not articulate that very well.

[LewFordLives]

There's a reason the M's basically paid the Twins to take him. I'm not expecting much. They still need to add another starter.

[gil4]

5 hours ago, Eephus said:

For some reason I'm getting an uninspiring, we've been here before Jim Deshaies vibe. Probably triggered by the De- starting last name. Similar age and track record, although Deshaies was a lefty so not that. Deshaies did a stint with the Giants before we picked him up the 2nd time.  

I went to Baseball Reference to refresh my memory, and I found this, which was good for a laugh.  (Yeah, I bet that question comes up all the time.) 

[arby58]

9 hours ago, Hawkeye Bean Counter said:

This is a caretaker article I would love to have been able to read the full article.  

It really is an excellent article.

[Twins_Fan_in_NJ]

I might be wrong on this, and it might just be because I have a healthy obsession with the Twins and don't pay attention to other teams, but it seems like they have a lot of confidence in their ability to fix pitchers - either mechanics, pitch selection, etc. - more than other teams do. If there's something holding Desclafini back and if the Twins can unlock it, then I'm not sleeping on him as a 5th starter.

[CoachDW]

Quote

DeSclafani’s best and most-thrown—44.8% usage rate last summer—pitch is that slider. It sits at 87-89 mph, with poor spin efficiency (43% active) and a 60-minute deviation in observed versus spin-based movement. In English: DeSclafani’s slider features more gyroscopic spin than active (i.e. movement-causing) spin. Thus, it relies more on gravity and seam-shifted wake to create drop, rather than on the Magnus effect to create run.

Oh, of course, the seam-shifted wake and the Magnus effect. Now I get it. 

 

[madtowntwin]

"Fixing" a pitcher and tweaking a pitcher's delivery after analysis of mechanics are worlds apart. Bio-Mechanic analysis and adjustment are common throughout the world of Sport. Several Twin's pitchers added the Sweeper last Spring - It's really not Rocket Science. The choice that Mr. Desclafini made in terms of off-season training could be hugely contributory. Strong Training / Coaching / Biomechanic Adjustment can often approach "Miracle Working" when properly performed. Let's hope our newest starting pitcher has a strong spring training / first half of the season and lets reanalyze this at the All Star Break.