Latest news with #pitching
Washington Post
40 minutes ago
- Sport
- Washington Post
Nationals give Michael Soroka little help, drop series finale to Reds
The final pitch Washington right-hander Michael Soroka threw Wednesday afternoon had little bearing on the game's final result, a 5-0 loss to the Cincinnati Reds at Nationals Park. Once replay review showed his sinker nicked Noelvi Marte's elbow, it was just another free pass that the Nationals were able to work around in a scoreless sixth. The pitch, his 88th, was overshadowed by the 105 that Reds righty Nick Lodolo needed to toss the third complete-game shutout against the Nationals. 'He was nasty,' interim manager Miguel Cairo said of Lodolo. 'You don't want to give credit to another team's pitcher, but he mixed it up.' In the context of what could come next for Soroka and the Nationals — more acutely, the evaluation process for contending teams who may view the 27-year-old as a weapon down the stretch with the trade deadline approaching — the metrics on that pitch (and the 87 pitches that preceded it) were more noteworthy. That's because the sinker left his hand at 89 mph. 'If I knew, I would have been throwing harder today, right?' Soroka said when asked why his velocity was down. 'You go through ebbs and flows in your career, and I think it's something that we're going to be working tirelessly at, just like everything else.' Across Soroka's first 10 starts, his fastball consistently sat between 94 and 95 mph. On Wednesday, his four-seamer and two-seamer hovered between 90 and 91 mph, ultimately topping out with a 93.2 mph heater that sailed above the zone in the third. Eight of his final 11 fastballs were under 90 mph, continuing a trend that has persisted for a few weeks. Soroka has expressed some optimism throughout this recent stretch — because he has pitched well without his best stuff, he expects to get even better results when the velocity returns. He navigated around the declining velocity, needing just 25 pitches to retire the first eight batters. His breaking ball generated ugly swings throughout the lineup and his fastball wasn't hit all that hard. There was a workmanlike efficiency to his outing that his line backed up: 5⅔ innings, just two hits, one run and six strikeouts with three walks. 'I used to get outs without [great velocity], so I think just continuing on the path that there's a lot more to pitching than velocity,' Soroka said. 'Still spinning the ball really well ... keeping the righties between two-seam and four-seam was big again. So yeah. Had to pitch again.' A walk of Elly De La Cruz, an ensuing stolen base and an RBI single up the middle from Jake Fraley in the fourth was all the Reds were able to muster against Soroka, who signed a one-year, $9 million deal last offseason. After his final pitch, Soroka bounced the ball off the palm on his hand and turned his head toward Washington's dugout. Cairo had already began to walk Soroka's way. What cost him was a lack of run support. The Nationals (41-61) were shut out for the eighth timeas Lodolo snuffed out their bid for a three-game sweep of the Reds (53-50). Lodolo struck out eight and allowed just four hits (three of which were singles) without any walks. 'You never really know what you're looking for,' Jacob Young said of facing Lodolo, who had a fairly even split in usage between his four pitches. 'He threw anything in any count, and they're all strikes. He kept it down mostly. I think he made a couple mistakes where we had chances. I can think of a couple chances I had there, and I didn't put them in play. That's usually the difference.' After scoreless efforts from Cole Henry and Konnor Pilkington in relief, Jackson Rutledge and Andry Lara each allowed a pair of runs in the eighth and ninth. If there was a silver lining for the Nationals, it came in the eighth. With two outs, Rutledge threw Will Benson a first-pitch fastball. Off the bat, it looked gone. Out in center field, Young felt differently about its final destination. Young tracked the pitch off of the bat, broke for the wall, turned his body and scaled the fence as the ball began its descent. Somehow, at full extension, he plucked it from the air, robbing Benson of a home run. Rutledge stood on the mound hunched over. In the dugout, pitching strategist Sean Doolittle stood with his mouth agape. Young smirked, reminiscent of his reaction when he robbed another home run a month earlier. The 25-year-old admitted Wednesday's catch felt a bit smoother than his last one, which came against the Detroit Tigers. Young, a Gold Glove finalist in 2024, continues to grade out as one of the best center fielders in baseball. He has seemed to appreciate the reactions to his catches more than the process of catching them. 'We're all big leaguers,' Young said. 'So whenever you can make other big leaguers in awe [of a play], it feels good.'
Washington Post
15 hours ago
- Sport
- Washington Post
Phillies Cristopher Sanchez shows he has come a long way with a complete-game victory
PHILADELPHIA — As recently as two years ago, Cristopher Sanchez was a pitcher in transition, earning some major league time yet frequently shuttling between the Phillies and their Triple-A affiliate in the Lehigh Valley. He was also trying to establish himself, at both levels, as a starting pitcher, one who has now not only has shown an affinity for pitching for length, but pitching as effectively as anyone in baseball.
Yahoo
16 hours ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
New Triple-A Worcester pitcher Kyle Harrison excited for fresh start with the Boston Red Sox
WORCESTER — Kyle Harrison threw his first pitch in a Worcester Red Sox uniform on Saturday. The 23-year-old left-hander, who was one of four players acquired by the Boston Red Sox in the blockbuster trade that sent Rafael Devers to San Francisco, tossed roughly 50 pitches to a trio of teammates in a live practice session at Polar Park ahead of Triple-A Worcester's 10-6 loss to the Buffalo Bisons. Harrison, who hadn't pitched in a game since being dealt to the Red Sox, tried out a few new pitches — including a cutter and sinker — under the watchful eye of Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow. Harrison is currently working on revamping his repertoire before joining the WooSox starting rotation next week. 'Definitely a cool learning experience. (I was) able to try a couple of new pitches today and just felt good to get out there and get back in the swing of things,' said Harrison, who is from San Jose, California. 'And my body was feeling great. So excited for the next step.' Although that next step hasn't exactly been outlined yet, WooSox manager Chad Tracy said his new left-handed pitcher will find a spot in Worcester's rotation during the upcoming road trip to face Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. While Harrison served as a hybrid reliever/starter for the Giants this year, the Red Sox see the former third-round selection (No. 85 overall, 2020) of San Francisco as a starting pitcher moving forward. Hence the emphasis on improving his 'arsenal' — which features a 'unique fastball that's going to be his bread and butter,' according to Red Sox director of pitching Justin Williard. 'Really excited to build the kind of arsenal around that (fastball) making, again, that the main event,' Williard added. 'And then what are the pitches he needs to have (to be supplemental) to that fastball?' 'If he can get his secondary stuff in the zone at twice the rate he's doing it, he's going to be incredibly successful,' said Red Sox senior director of player development Brian Abraham. Harrison was already tinkering with a cutter and sinker before last week's trade. The former No. 1 prospect of the Giants felt a bit 'boxed in' with his three-pitch mix of fastball, changeup and slurve with San Francisco. 'This will give me just a chance to mix it up with hitters, not have them jump on the fastball early in counts and add a little sink or a little cut to keep them off the heater and ultimately put them away with that thing,' Harrison said. 'So it was kind of like a full-circle moment that it's going to be cool to learn and develop these pitches.' The 6-foot-2, 209-pound southpaw entered 2024 ranked by as baseball's No. 23 overall prospect. Harrison made his major league debut in 2023 (making seven starts) and then recorded 24 starts with a 4.56 ERA in 2024 for the Giants Harrison has a 4.48 ERA with 178 strikeouts in 39 career major league games (35 starts) and adds a power arm — that averaged 95.1 mph on his fastball this season and hit that mark in his pitching session on Saturday — to the Red Sox' 40-man roster. 'It's a live arm,' Tracy said. 'You can see it when he's out there. It's exciting.' 'The returns have been really good so far,' Abraham said. As Harrison looks to return to the mound for a real game in the coming week with a new organization that's located more than 3,000 miles from his hometown team, the newest WooSox pitcher is calling this a fresh start with the Red Sox. 'That's how I'm treating it — putting the past behind me but taking the stuff that I've learned. I'm going to try to apply it to my game to the best of my ability and just go out there and have fun,' Harrison said. 'So just excited. Excited to embrace this opportunity and go out there and just treat it like it's just another day of baseball. 'We're just excited to go out there and show these people what I can do,' Harrison said. —Contact Tommy Cassell at tcassell@ Follow him on X @tommycassell44. This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Kyle Harrison excited for fresh start with Boston Red Sox organization
Yahoo
18 hours ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Do Giants need to trade for another pitcher after struggles vs. Blue Jays?
On "Giants Talk," Cole Kuiper and Alex Pavlovic discuss San Francisco's pitching performance in its last series against the Toronto Blue Jays. Do Giants need to trade for another pitcher after struggles vs. Blue Jays? originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
Yahoo
18 hours ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Ryne Nelson on his performance vs. the St. Louis Cardinals
Diamondbacks pitcher Ryne Nelson talks about his day on the mound and the team's performance against the St. Louis Cardinals on July 19, 2025.
