Astros’ Sanchez Pitch Usage Leading to Success

8.15.19

Last month, the Houston Astros acquired Toronto Blue Jays Starter Aaron Sanchez. At that point, Sanchez had posted a 6.07 ERA and held a record of 3-13. While the statistics were not great, the Astros felt that they made a very beneficial acquisition that would hopefully help them get to the World Series in October.

It is no longer a secret how well the Astros organization is run, and how they can maximize the potential in players through their very advanced player development protocols. So far, it seems that the move to acquire Aaron Sanchez is no different. While Sanchez struggled earlier this year in Toronto, he seems to have found his footing in Houston. In fact earlier this month, Sanchez started the game where the Astros pitching staff threw a combined no-hitter. Sanchez went 6 innings, and only issued 2 walks, while striking out 6.

This begs into question, what have the Astros coaching staff altered to help Sanchez find more success? One of the possible answers could be the alteration of his pitch selection and usage.

With Toronto, Sanchez used his sinker the most at 37%, and only used his fastball 21% of the time. With the Astros, he has used his fastball the most at 34.7%, and now uses his sinker the least at 17.9%.

	FOUR-SEAM FASTBALL	SINKER	CURVEBALL	CHANGEUP
with Blue Jays	21.3%	37.0%	22.1%	19.6%
with Astros	34.7%	17.9%	28.4%	18.9%

While there is much more to Sanchez’s success than just pitch selection, it is noteworthy as perhaps the Astros have identified something to do with pitch movement or spin rate that allows him to compliment pitches better.