There have been a number of good causes for me to meet up with Tanner Houck this previous week. One is that he has arguably been the perfect beginning pitcher in baseball over the primary half of the season. Together with a 2.18 ERA and a 2.20 FIP, the 27-year-old Boston Crimson Sox right-hander boasts the very best WAR (3.6) amongst huge league hurlers. One other is that I’ve been attributable to ask him in regards to the pitch he depends on most. Per Statcast, Houck has thrown 41.8% sliders, 30.8% sinkers, 24.8% splitters, and a couple of.6% cutters.
Again in 2019, when he was pitching in Double-A, Houck was featured right here at FanGraphs in an interview that centered on his sinker. Two years later, a second interview explored a creating splitter that, as my colleague Kyle Kishimoto detailed simply over a month in the past, has turn out to be an particularly efficient weapon. Which brings us to the right here and now. Excited about each how Houck’s slider has advanced and the way it performs inside his three-pitch arsenal, I approached him to get some solutions.
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David Laurila: How does the slider you’re at present throwing differ from the one you had final yr?
Tanner Houck: “It’s a unique grip, technically. Final yr, I used to be operating up the horseshoe a bit an excessive amount of and never getting as a lot side-to-side motion. This yr there’s a focus of making extra east-to-west, side-to-side motion with the pitch, in addition to on prioritizing throwing it extra in greater conditions. It’s my greatest pitch by far, so I’m leveraging it each time I can in these huge moments.”
Laurila: Has the phrase ‘sweeper’ labored its method into the dialog?
Houck: “I suppose you possibly can categorize it as a sweeper, however I nonetheless have a look at all the pieces as sliders. I suppose that’s simply the older college a part of me; I don’t actually know the distinction on the way you classify sweeper versus slider, or something like that. It’s no matter you need to name it.
“The primary dialog I had with [new Red Sox pitching coach] Andrew Bailey was to get extra side-to-side motion on the slider. I’m an east-west man anyway. I’m very rotational, which is sort of my bread and butter. That’s why I throw a sinker. I can’t generate the verticality with a four-seam the identical as I can create the destructive depth with the sinker.”
Laurila: How a lot has the motion of your slider modified? Together with extra sweep, I assume the vertical has modified as properly.
Houck: “I undoubtedly gained a variety of horizontal. The depth… if something, I’d say that it typically will get a bit bit extra vertical within the sense that it sits [from] +2 to -4. That’s the place my vary is. With sweepers, most individuals now try to get it within the constructive vary. I don’t thoughts it being a bit bit extra depth-y, however not getting previous the -5 mark.”
Laurila: The splitter has clearly been an enormous pitch for you this yr. How do you play your splitter off your slider?
Houck: “I feel you simply sort of deal with it just like the two-seam. You’ll be able to sort of tunnel all three of my pitches off of one another actually properly. I consider throwing all the pieces beginning arm-side third and taking part in all three pitches off that line. I’m trusting that the sweeper goes to get all the way in which throughout the zone, the splitter goes to be down, after which the two-seam goes to be down with extra arm-side run.
“With that mixture, all three popping out of the identical window, and with the velo distinction — the fastball will likely be anyplace from 91-94, the splitter will likely be 86 to 90, after which the slider is coming in at 81 to 85 — that’s a variety of 10 or so miles an hour with three totally different motion profiles popping out of the identical window.”
Laurila: your Baseball Savant web page not too long ago, I noticed that Logan Webb is listed as being just like you in velocity and motion. Have you ever seen that?
Houck: “No, however I’ll say that with [Bailey] coming over from San Francisco, it was sort of a simple adjustment with the splitter grip. This yr, I’ve sort of gravitated to extra of what [Webb] throws. He calls it a changeup, I name it a splitter, but it surely’s comparatively the identical grip, producing extra seam-shifted downward motion. Bales coming over from San Francisco was an excellent, as a result of he labored with a man who’s sort of like me. I imply, to have the success Logan Webb has had, that’s one thing you hope to copy.”
Laurila: Did Bailey point out Webb when the 2 of you began working collectively?
Houck: “He did. In our a few of our earlier conversations, he used that comparability within the sense of us each being very east-to-west guys, huge sinker, slider, after which a complementary changeup/splitter. Three pitches, and for some time there I need to say that Webb was additionally throwing a four-seam, however then scrapped it throughout [Bailey’s] tenure there. Working with him this yr has been nice. I really feel like I’ve discovered loads. I really feel like I’ve gotten higher. I really feel like I’ve matured as a pitcher loads.”
Laurila: And also you’re undoubtedly a mix of old skool and new college in your method to pitching. That’s one thing I’ve discovered from the handful of conversations we’ve had through the years.
Houck: “Yeah. I undoubtedly perceive analytics, as a result of I do know that it’s a main a part of our recreation. I really feel obligated to not less than perceive the entire lingo, and the entire conversations we’ve, as a result of it’s a part of our job. On the identical time, I grew up watching a variety of old skool baseball. I cherished watching earlier than all of the analytics. I cherished watching the [Adam] Wainwright’s and Chris Carpenters. A.J. Burnett was all the time a favourite. So, I grew up watching old skool guys, but it surely’s enjoyable. [Analytics] are a device that may provide help to solely get higher in my view.”
Laurila: Any remaining ideas on pitching, or on the season you’re having?
Houck: “I feel the largest factor for me this yr is that I’ve simply caught to my strengths. I don’t essentially command the glove-side two-seam as properly, in order that’s a pitch I haven’t actually thrown a ton this yr. I’ve a handful of instances, and I’ve gotten swings-and-misses and a few weak contact, but it surely’s a pitch I’m nonetheless attempting to command at the next clip. That might be helpful for me. That goes again to the tunneling side, trusting your greatest stuff off of 1 lane and commanding the zone.”
Laurila: What about your splitter to the glove facet? Are you able to command that moderately properly?
Houck: “I really do it on accident greater than something. However I generate a variety of swings and misses off of it. Usually, each time I do misfire it extra glove-side, I consider that I catch a bit bit higher seam. Usually, I really feel like these are my greatest ones. That’s one thing I’m attempting to command a bit bit higher, too. However once more, I’m principally sticking to my strengths.”