Chase Anderson gives up cutter, improves greatly since

[LouisEly]

Interesting article over on BCB about how Chase Anderson has stopped throwing his cutter, and in the 12 appearances/11 starts since has a 2.54 ERA:

 

http://www.brewcrewball.com/2016/9/23/13028858/brewers-starter-chase-anderson-has-ditched-his-cutter

 

The interesting stat is that when he threw the cutter this year "opponents hit an unfathomable .435 with a .565 slugging percentage against the pitch". Also mentioned that he didn't start throwing it until 2014 and threw it rarely in 2015, but threw it more this year to try to be more effective against RHH - Anderson has reverse splits with a career OPS-A vs. RHH of .835 but only .713.

[adambr2]

Nice read. Anderson gets overlooked, but he is a guy under control for 4 more years at a reasonable cost, and is effectively a league average starter. If he ends up being our #5 starter the next 4 years, we should be comfortable with that knowing we could do a lot worse.

 

Much has been made of Jean Segura's year, and rightfully so, he's doing great, but hey, out of the deal we got a vet that we flipped again, a league average starting pitcher who is inexpensive, and a top 100 prospect.

 

I'd say the deal worked out for everyone so far.

[homer]

Hmmmm....I think I need to see more innings before thinking he's turned a corner. His August numbers were very similar to his June numbers. The big difference is that his BABIP was 30 points lower in August so his ERA was much lower than it was in June. Some guys can explain that away by generating softer contact but he actually generated harder contact in August than in June on average. Maybe the defense got better? At any rate his Sept numbers have been much better so maybe there is something there.

[JohnBriggs12]

His curveball last night was nasty and I've noticed he's getting some fastballs up near the mid 90's which we didn't see early on. Hard to argue with results, and they've been there even though Counsell's leash has been very short. He hasn't allowed more than 3 runs in a game since June. While you can argue he hasn't gotten deep in games, the Brewers are 12-17 in his starts. Most teams would take that from their 5th starter.

[bork]

Hmmmm....I think I need to see more innings before thinking he's turned a corner.

 

I've been wondering why he never goes 6 innings. Even when he's pitching well, he often gets pulled well below 100 pitches. You can't have a starter averaging less than 5 innings per start over an entire season, unless you're going to piggyback someone with him.

[Greenleaf1]

The second half of 2016 is making me realize how nice it is to have a good pitching coach. After watching talented pitchers struggle for years under Kranitz (and then often leave and do better elsewhere...I'm looking at you Marco), it's awesome to see a group of struggling pitchers actually get better and make adjustments and see the results.

 

I like seeing this evidence of change to indicate that his improved performance isn't just a fluke. Obviously we'll have to keep watching to see if he can carry it over into next season, but Anderson could be really valuable as a #5 guy for years to come, taking pressure off the rest of the rotation to have to go out and win every time.

[AdvantageSchneider]

Hopefully he can figure out what's wrong with Nelson over the offseason. We need to get him back on track.