Opposing pitchers

Scouting Reports from Brooks Baseball.

Adam Plutko: Adam Plutko has thrown 3,248 pitches that have been tracked by the PITCHf/x system between 2016 and 2020, including pitches thrown in the MLB Regular Season and Spring Training. In 2020, he has relied primarily on his Fourseam Fastball (91mph) and Slider (87mph), also mixing in a Curve (77mph). He also rarely throws a Change (85mph).

His fourseam fastball generates an extremely high number of swings & misses compared to other pitchers’ fourseamers, has less armside movement than typical, results in somewhat more flyballs compared to other pitchers’ fourseamers and has slightly below average velo. His slider is an extreme flyball pitch compared to other pitchers’ sliders, is much harder than usual and has less than expected depth. His curve is basically never swung at and missed compared to other pitchers’ curves and results in more flyballs compared to other pitchers’ curves. His change is basically never swung at and missed compared to other pitchers’ changeups, results in more flyballs compared to other pitchers’ changeups, has slight cut action and has a lot of backspin.

Sean’s note: Plutko gets the spot start in place of Clevinger. Plutko is a pitch to contact guy and is an extreme fly ball pitcher. With that profile, homers are a problem with 22 allowed in 109.1 innings in 2019.

Carlos Carrasco: Carlos Carrasco has thrown 18,692 pitches that have been tracked by the PITCHf/x system between 2007 and 2020, including pitches thrown in the MLB Regular Season, the MLB Postseason and Spring Training. In 2020, he has relied primarily on his Curve (84mph), Fourseam Fastball (93mph) and Change (88mph), also mixing in a Slider (86mph) and Sinker (93mph).

His curve is thrown extremely hard, generates more whiffs/swing compared to other pitchers’ curves, has little depth, has primarily 12-6 movement and results in somewhat more flyballs compared to other pitchers’ curves. His fourseam fastball has some natural sinking action, has essentially average velo and results in somewhat more groundballs compared to other pitchers’ fourseamers. His change is a real worm killer that generates an extreme number of groundballs compared to other pitchers’ changeups, has surprising cut action, dives down out of the zone and is much firmer than usual. His slider has exceptional depth, generates a high number of swings & misses compared to other pitchers’ sliders and is an extreme flyball pitch compared to other pitchers’ sliders. His sinker generates an extremely high number of swings & misses compared to other pitchers’ sinkers, is an extreme flyball pitch compared to other pitchers’ sinkers, has slight armside run and has some natural sinking action.

Sean’s note: Very good to see Carrasco pitching after recovering from cancer last year. He strikes out over a batter an inning and has excellent control. Right and left handed hitters fare basically even against him.