Back from paternity leave, I got a spicy take for you in the form of Aaron Sanchez. At the trade deadline, he was acquired by the Astros and to the surprise of no one writing this article he went out there dominated his first start wearing the star. He went 6 no-hit innings with 2 BBs and 6 Ks as part of a combined no-hitter, yeah that’ll play. What is it with the Astros and their pitching coach Brent Strom, or should I say King Midas? On the surface, they seem to simply tell their new pitchers to stop throwing their worst pitch, and throw their best pitch more often. Surely it can’t be that simple, and why isn’t everyone doing that? But there’s a bit more going on here. Let’s dive in!
Sanchez has used a pitch repertoire (word of the day) of a 4-Seamer, Sinker, Curve, and Changeup. His Sinker has been pretty awful. For instance, this year it was getting blasted at a career-high .370 clip with a .558 SLG against. That is not successful. Especially in the Age of the Launch Angle Revolution, sinkers often lineup perfectly for an uppercut swing if they catch too much of the plate. So it would make sense then for him to scratch it… especially when you see he was throwing it over 37% of the time!!! What the actual F. Let’s look at the board.
| USAGE | 4Seamer | Sinker | Curve | Change |
| 2018 | 26.6% | 37.9% | 12.0% | 23.5% |
| 2019 | 21.3% | 37.0% | 22.1% | 19.6% |
| Aug 3 | 52.2% | – – | 30.4% | 17.4% |
So prior to the trade and last year, you can see Sanchez’s primary pitch was easily the Sinker. He threw it nearly 50% more than his 4Seamer over the last 2 years. Then we see in his first start for the Astros, he completely scrapped the pitch and transitioned to throwing substantially more 4Seam Fastballs at 52.2%, over half of his offerings. You also see his Curve usage jumped up to 30.4%. Over 80% of his pitches thrown that start were Fastball/Curve. You can also see the change represented HERE.
In order to understand this approach, you have to first understand his Curve. Sanchez throws a wipeout Curve, meaning one with a lot of movement that sweeps off the plate. Via Statcast: his Curve has 15in of horizontal movement, 50% more than the league average and 8% more drop that average. Of all starting pitchers this year, the Sanchez Curve owns the third-fastest spin rate at 2,875 rpm behind only Sonny Gray and Charlie Morton (2,943 and 2,880 respectively). That is some impressive filth, and we can see a pattern. Charlie Morton was also an Astros pitching disciple until this year, and what did they do for him? He’s throwing more 4Seamers than he has ever before (prior to joining the Astros in 2017 he barely used it at 5% or less for the 2 years previous), fewer Sinkers than ever, and more Curves than ever. Perhaps the best comparison is their reclamation project of Gerrit Cole, who looks to be the leader in the clubhouse for the #1 pitcher going into next year:
| USAGE | 4Seamer | Sinker | Curve | Slider | Change |
| 2017 | 43.2% | 16.5% | 12.1% | 17.4% | 10.7% |
| 2018 | 53.5% | 2.8% | 19.4% | 19.7% | 4.6% |
| 2019 | 53.8% | 0.5% | 16.3% | 22.8% | 6.7% |
The Astros acquired Cole in 2018, notice the same pattern. Virtually scrapping his Sinker, a pitch often meant to get weak contact but has now become a pariah (double word of the day), and throwing more heat in conjunction with true breaking balls has become his primary weapon. But wait, there’s more!
Pitch location. Sanchez’s fastball location prior to the Astros HERE and his location from Aug 3rd HERE. This goes for Gerrit Cole’s Astro approach too. Houston likes their pitchers to throw fastballs up in the zone primarily and inside to lefties. And when you put it together with the Curve usage, you get a concept called Pitch Tunneling. Fastballs up in the zone and overarm thrown curveballs from the same arm slot (like the one Sanchez throws) follow the same ball path to the plate for roughly 1/3 of the distance — making it that much harder to discern between the 2, and having much less time to identify them. This is a philosophy that the Astros have embraced as the core of their pitching instruction and, to help you visual learners out there, I have a diagram HERE. If Cole and Morton are any proof, it’s a philosophy that seems to be working well for them.
Aaron Sanchez could very well be their next success story. He has exactly the type of breaking ball they look for and wish to exploit. At 6’4″ he also has the frame and extension needed to get the most out of his curveball and fastball combo, up in the zone with the heat and big sweeping curve down and out of the zone. August 3rd was an extreme example of success, but he’s clearly bought into their teachings. There’s good reason to believe he can be a quality SP down the stretch, and even into next year given an offseason and spring training with the club, as well as fellow starters like Verlander and Cole to glean knowledge from. Of course, it’s only one start; but maybe the start of something special. Aaron Sanchez could be reborn as Dirty Sanchez thanks to the Astros and tunneling; Brent Strom just might hold the key. Trust the Midas touch.
