Kerb Hohl wrote:Looking at Chase Anderson:
GB% and BABIP haven't really changed. He's still a flyball pitcher and he's having normal luck in terms of hits when guys put the ball in play.
The bad: His HR/FB% has decreased and that is what has dropped his ERA. I'm thinking that is just early season luck, but maybe it is due to some of the next items on the list.
The good: His velocity is up a tick and he's throwing his other pitches a little bit more than his fastball.
Hopefully the good part is what has made the change for him and has decreased the # of homers. If not, he looks like a guy that would thrive in a bigger ballpark with a good outfield behind him.
FWIW, Haudricourt was on 920AM this morning during my commute to work and said Derek Johnson had Chase Anderson working on a cutter all spring and the addition of a third pitch he can control has kept hitters off balance. I don't expect him to continue to be this guy this late in his career but he's off to a promising start to the season.
Haudricourt also said that Sogard's knee started to feel back to normal for the first time in years right before the season started. Obviously he's not going to hit .400 for the rest of his career but we might have a very nice player moving forward.
Stearns pushing... all... the... right... buttons...