This is one of those weeks where we’re going to cheat a little bit and look at more than one sequence. I want to take a look at Carlos Rodón’s fastball, because it’s at the crux of why he looks nothing like a pitcher who earned a $150 million contract over the last two seasons.
The slider has always been his calling card, but his mid- to high-90s fastball helps it play up, inducing a lot whiffs over the last two years with well-above average wOBA and xwOBA numbers. That’s all out the window this year, though, as those numbers have spiked way up to .