Chris Sale in Crisis: Rookie Andrew Abbott's Emergence Sparks Pitching Revolution
Last year, Buehler threw the four-seam inside to righties 14% of the time. That has jumped to 39% this year. Jamming hitters inside could be a big reason why the batting average and ICR allowed to righties have fallen considerably. He has also added both vertical and horizontal movement to his four-seam fastball, which has tweaked the vertical approach angle enough to make this pitch succeed up in the zone more than it did last year.
However, the fastball inside to righties has also freed up the outside part of the plate for Buehler’s sweeper, which was been a big usage change for him this year. As you can see above, he used the sweeper 15% of the time against the White Sox and has used it 14% of the time on the season, which is up from just 4% last year. The pitch also has 2.5 more inches of horizontal movement and now comes in with over 18 inches of horizontal break and very little vertical break. It has graded out as his best pitch so far and has a staggering 28.3% SwStr% to righties. It also has a 70% strike rate on the year, and has been a real difference-maker for him.
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