On Tuesday night against the White Sox, Povich showed great command and an evolved pitch mix that could be a recipe going forward.
Safe to say, it hasn’t been the smoothest of rookie seasons for Cade Povich. Thrust into a starter’s role this year only due to injury, in twelve games the 24-year-old lefty has a 2-7 record and 5.76 ERA, including three starts where he allowed five runs or more. When Povich is vulnerable, he’s missing the strike zone or heaving things into the middle where they can get pummeled by batters.
Last month, the 6’3”, 185-pound rookie introduced his alter-ego, “Slim,” a persona that helps him channel his aggressiveness on the mound. This past Tuesday, Slim turned in the best start of Povich’s young career. He threw 7.1 scoreless innings in which he struck out a career-best ten and walked none. It was the former Twins prospect’s first time pitching into the eighth during his pro career.
Success starts with strike-throwing. As first baseman Ryan O’Hearn commented after the game, “He was throwing all his pitches for strikes. He wasn’t walking guys. He was competing. He was awesome.” The skipper Brandon Hyde agreed that Povich flashed “the best command we’ve seen him have since he’s been with us this year.”
His teammates were correct. Tuesday night’s outing stood out from a strike-throwing perspective. To be exact, Povich threw 70 of his 98 pitches for strikes, a career-best percentage of 71.4. That included 25 called strikes and 11 whiffs — five by four-seam fastball, four by changeup and two by curveball. Fully 74.1% of his first pitches went for strikes, also a career best. To date, he’s walked 9.6% of hitters his faced. On Tuesday night, he walked none.
More than that, he had a gameplan for how to pitch the White Sox and executed it. Povich pounded the zone, focusing on high heat. A full 50% of his pitches were high in the zone (and home plate Hunter Wendelstedt was gifting him many). Povich was also able to establish himself on the inside part of the plate, something he’s struggled with against good teams. For instance, against the Dodgers he threw just 17.2% of his pitches inside; against the White Sox, 24.5%.
High heat and pressure inside helps to explain, one, the high number of whiffs and two, a lot of weak contact to the pull side. White Sox hitters produced 47% ground balls, Povich’s second-highest rate this season. Their average exit velocity of 84.5 mph was Povich’s second-lowest, behind his Toronto debut, and their .185 average and .177 wOBA were among Povich’s best ever.
Povich flashed an evolved pitch mix, as well. Consider that in his MLB debut against Toronto, Povich threw 49% fastballs, 16% cutters, 3% sweepers, 17% curveballs and 15% changeups. In the interim, coaches advised him to eliminate the cutter entirely—he didn’t throw the pitch once in August. He also brought in a sinker, massively upped his usage of his sweeper and decreased his reliance on fastballs.
Tuesday’s night’s mix, therefore, featured only 38% fastballs, 8.2% sinkers (the new pitch), 17.4% sweepers, 24.5% curveballs, and 11.2% changeups. This worked well: despite throwing fewer fastballs than usual, better than 41.3% of them went for strikes, his best rate of the season, and got five whiffs, his highest total this season. He threw his new sinker against lefties, each time as the putaway pitch, each time with success. Against righties, the changeup was his putaway pitch, and he had a 44% whiff rate against it.
Of course, the White Sox aren’t very good. But Povich has always had swing-and-miss stuff. The question was whether he could harness it, and Tuesday’s effort was a huge step in the right direction. With so many in the rotation banged up right now, the O’s are hoping to get contributions from Povich down the stretch. A confident “Slim” on the mound landing his pitches for strikes will help a lot.