Last season, Ubaldo Jimenez was demoted from the rotation in the first year of his four-year contract with the O’s. Many fans were dissatisfied when Jimenez was named the last member of the rotation out of spring training this season, ahead of Kevin Gausman. So far this season, he has quieted those critics. He has done it with a drastic shift in his pitch selection. Let’s take a deeper look to see if his resurgence is sustainable.
So far this season, Jimenez has increased his sinker usage by more than 10% at the expense of four-seam fastball and slider.