FanPost

The New Lowe the Real Lowe?

I first want to say I like Derek Lowe and have liked him since I really started to take notice in his late Dodger days and even when he wasn't going so well in his early Braves days.  What can I say? I have a thing for inning eating groundballers.  Lately though, Lowe has stopped being the inning eating groundballer and become something else - something better it seems.  As weird as it may sound, Lowe's arm injury late last year has been a revelation for Lowe and the Braves.  Since the injury Lowe fiddled with his mechanics and changed how he pitched.  Just look at the results:

From when he signed to the end of August 2010 Lowe had these numbers:  

62 GS
357 IP
4.61 ERA
5.5 K/9
3.1 BB/9

After August of 2010 including the playoffs until now Lowe has these numbers:

10 GS
61 IP 
1.48 ERA
8.6 K/9
2.1 BB/9

Of course the first set is about six times as much data but I don't believe the increased performance is just small samples size randomness or dumb luck.  Not only have we heard about a change of approach/mechanics and watched his stuff look better, I found some pitch type and results stats that back up the thought that this New Lowe is the Real Lowe.

Before Change

<!-- th class="right">Ball</th --><!-- th class="right">Take</th --> <!-- td class="data">36.7%</td --><!-- td class="data">55.7%</td --> <!-- td class="data">39.3%</td --><!-- td class="data">58.5%</td --> <!-- td class="data">34.0%</td --><!-- td class="data">55.7%</td --> <!-- td class="data">39.0%</td --><!-- td class="data">60.1%</td --> <!-- td class="data">44.0%</td --><!-- td class="data">54.7%</td --> <!-- td class="data">44.7%</td --><!-- td class="data">61.2%</td --> <!-- td class="data">41.9%</td --><!-- td class="data">54.8%</td -->

Type

Count

Selection

Strike

Swing

Whiff

Foul

In Play

Sinker

2059

36.80%

63.30%

44.30%

6.20%

16.80%

21.30%

Slider

1056

18.90%

60.70%

41.50%

11.30%

12.80%

17.40%

4-seam fastball

957

17.10%

66.00%

44.30%

3.10%

17.00%

24.10%

Fastball

721

12.90%

61.00%

39.90%

3.90%

15.00%

21.10%

Change

563

10.10%

56.00%

45.30%

11.50%

14.20%

19.50%

Cut fastball

152

2.70%

55.30%

38.80%

9.90%

11.80%

17.10%

Curveball

93

1.70%

58.10%

45.20%

16.10%

14.00%

15.10%

 

Post Change

<!-- th class="right">Ball</th --><!-- th class="right">Take</th --> <!-- td class="data">38.6%</td --><!-- td class="data">59.1%</td --> <!-- td class="data">37.9%</td --><!-- td class="data">56.1%</td --> <!-- td class="data">40.3%</td --><!-- td class="data">49.6%</td --> <!-- td class="data">37.5%</td --><!-- td class="data">56.9%</td --> <!-- td class="data">33.3%</td --><!-- td class="data">55.6%</td --> <!-- td class="data">100.0%</td --><!-- td class="data">100.0%</td -->

Type

Count

Selection

Strike

Swing

Whiff

Foul

In Play

Sinker

484

48.40%

61.40%

40.90%

6.20%

15.90%

18.80%

Slider

314

31.40%

62.10%

43.90%

19.40%

10.50%

14.00%

Change

119

11.90%

59.70%

50.40%

10.90%

20.20%

19.30%

Cut fastball

72

7.20%

62.50%

43.10%

2.80%

26.40%

13.90%

4-seam fastball

9

0.90%

66.70%

44.40%

0.00%

22.20%

22.20%

Fastball

1

0.10%

0.00%

0.00%

0.00%

0.00%

0.00%

 

From that data from Texasleaguers.com you can see he has increased the use of his slider by almost 13% and has nearly a 20% wiff rate on the pitch.  It looks like he has increased his slider rate at the expense of his less effective 4-seam fastball and fastball which I assume are nearly the same thing.  Its also interesting to see he is using more sinkers and more cutters further going away from his straight fastball.

Looking at this data and watching him pitch, do you think this New Lowe is the Real Lowe?

This FanPost does not express the views or opinions of Battery Power.