Chris Archer has started once with the Pirates, but he's already changed his approach to fit in
Ray Searage seems to have influenced Archer to throw more sinkers
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Chris Archer has been with the Pittsburgh Pirates for less than a week, but he seems to have already taken heed of pitching guru Ray Searage's advice.
Archer, who debuted with the Pirates on Friday after being acquired before Tuesday's trade deadline, featured a markedly different approach in terms of pitch usage and location when compared to his time with the Tampa Bay Rays.
Prior to Friday, Archer had thrown 20 sinkers all season, or about 1.25 percent of his total pitches per Brooks Baseball. Friday, he threw 24 sinkers -- or more than a quarter of the time. This shift does not appear to be the product of a classification error, either. The pitches featured more sink and run, as one would expect from sinkers vs. four-seamers. Beyond that, the pitches were located in areas more commonly haunted by sinkers than four-seamers -- or, in so many words, further down in the zone.
Take a look at where Archer had located his fastball with the Rays vs. with the Pirates:
The aforementioned Searage is known for preaching the importance of pitching inside. In Travis Sawchik's Big Data Baseball, it's revealed that the Pirates front office found batters were "more likely to pull outside pitches on the ground after being pitched inside earlier at bat" and that they were "less willing to aggressively lunge at outside pitches." Both points could work in Archer's favor, given he leans heavily on a slider that works away from right-handed batters.
Results will ultimately dictate whether Archer's shift is here to stay. In his first start with the Pirates, he allowed seven hits, four walks, and five runs in 4 ⅓ innings.
