At the end of March, I watched some highlights of spring training games. In a highlight, a pitcher who was a rookie last season struck out the side in an inning. In that inning, his slider was absolutely fantastic.
As the regular season already began, I’m just wondering which pitchers have best utilized his slider to punch out batters.
To understand a little bit more, I decided to check on the statcast website.
Dylan Cease was traded to the Padres in mid-March. By far, he already made 5 starts, posting a 1.82 ERA and a 0.74 WHIP over 29.2 innings. Cease currently has 35 strikeouts this season and among those 35 strikeouts, 21 of them come via his slider. It’s not a surprise to see this result. In 2023, Dylan Cease punched out 119 batters via his slider and he used his slider 38.6% of the time. So far this season, Cease throws his slider nearly 40% of the time.
In 2023, Tanner Houck used his slider 38.4% of the time and struck out 49 batters. This season, Houck’s slider usage is more than 40%. Houck certainly relies more on his slider this year and now 21 strikeouts come via Houck’s slider. Houck has a great 1.65 ERA and a 0.98 WHIP thus far.
Jared Jones was selected by the Pirates in the 2020 draft. And this year, he made it into the big leagues. Jones’ performance certainly satisfies the Pirates fans. He owns a 2.79 ERA and a 0.83 WHIP over 29 innings. Jones now has 39 strikeouts this season and 19 strikeouts come from his slider. By far, Jones uses his slider nearly 40% of the time.
In addition, Brady Singer finished the 2023 season with an ERA over 5. Nevertheless, this season, he has a 2.76 ERA and a 0.95 WHIP over 29.1 innings. Singer already punched out 17 batters via his slider. At the same time, Jesus Luzardo was named the 2024 Opening Day starter of the Marlins. Well, Luzardo currently has an ERA over 6 and a WHIP over 1.40 in 26 innings. The numbers don’t look very impressive so far this season. However, Luzardo’s slider is still pretty good. Luzardo now uses his slider 30.6% of the time and opponents only hit .179 against Luzardo’s slider. And so far, 16 strikeouts come from his slider.
Finally, Luis Castillo and Michael Grove each punched out 14 batters via sliders. Castillo’s usage is 23.5% of the time this year and opponents’ batting average is only .100. Meanwhile, Michael Grove’s slider usage goes up to more than 50% of the time this season. Grove has 18 strikeouts in 2024 thus far.
Back in 2023, Spencer Strider threw 139 strikeouts via his slider. Furthermore, Cease and Luzardo each threw 100+ strikeouts via slider. Nonetheless, Strider will miss the remainder of the 2024 season because of elbow injury. Well, it’s a pity that we won’t see Strider pitch again this season. But it will be worth watching to see if Luzardo and Cease will be able to throw 100+ strikeouts by throwing sliders this year. Moreover, Tanner Houck is an important starter for the Red Sox. His slider truly has fooled many batters. Additionally, it will be interesting to watch Jared Jones’ slider and see if he can pitch consistently in a long season.
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