Purple Sox hitters might be dealing with an enigmatic fastball after they host the Royals at Fenway Park tonight. When Eric Longenhagen put collectively our Kansas Metropolis Royals High Prospect listing final month, he wrote that Alec Marsh’s fastball “doesn’t hop despite the fact that it has the method angle and spin axis of a fastball that sometimes does; it has below-average vertical break and is perhaps surprisingly hittable towards huge league bats.” Calling the pitch “bizarre,” our lead prospect analyst additional described it as a “flat-angled, high-spin sinker,” including that the 25-year-old right-hander, whom he assigned a forty five FV and a no. 3 rating within the system, is not touching triple digits as he did in his preliminary seasons of professional ball.
Intrigued, I confirmed the 2019 second-round select of Arizona State College what my colleague had written, and requested him a easy query: How correct is that this?
Right here is Marsh’s response to that, in addition to a smattering of different questions.
Alec Marsh: “I’d say 100%. Two years in the past, once I was throwing that arduous… I imply, I bumped into velo for a couple of 12 months earlier than I bought harm [a biceps injury in 2021], however I by no means actually touched 100 [mph]; I touched 99 perhaps as soon as a begin. My vertical and horizontal have been fairly elite again then. I’d contact 20s and be round 8–10 horizontal. Once I got here again from harm, I began actually reducing the ball. I don’t know if it was due to a belief issue of pronation and stuff like that, however once I was in Double A final 12 months, I gave up a ton of hits and residential runs on fastballs, simply because I used to be in that tremendous hittable zone of 93–94.
“The vert being down… I imply, it might go all the way down to 12 typically. I feel I used to be chasing the vert numbers a lot that it virtually made it worse. That sort of haunted me all season, as a result of it was the one factor I used to be searching for. I didn’t need to work on different pitches or repair the rest; I used to be simply centered on attempting to repair the fastball.
“I lastly let it go and got here to phrases with ‘It’s what it’s, and also you’ve bought to have the ability to use your different pitches, as a result of the fastball is extra hittable proper now.’ That doesn’t imply it received’t get higher. It was extra about not placing a lot inventory into, ‘You need to get this higher or you may’t pitch.’ Principally, I modified my mindset to, ‘You’ve got 4 good pitches and might make the most of them to get deep into video games; you should utilize the fastball extra successfully by making the command higher.”
“So I feel [Longenhagen’s] was an important take. Earlier than I bought injured, the fastball was extra hoppy. I bought extra swing-and-miss, I bought extra foul balls, even once I left it over the center of the plate. Now once I go away my fastball over the center, it normally will get hit.
“Getting back from harm and never having the ability to pronate as a lot… I imply, I can’t get to the again of the ball, so I’ve sort of been releasing it on the aspect. Lots of my pitches are virtually that cutter-look fastball, however it’s extra of like an up-shoot vert ball. It was really actually good towards the Rays [on July 15], although. I dominated them [11 strikeouts and five hits allowed in six innings] with fastballs. I didn’t get a lot swing-and-miss on different pitches, however the fastball was good.”
Laurila: So it has been good at instances this season?
Marsh: “I’m beginning to determine some issues out with the four-seam. I simply threw a bullpen and had lots of 20-inch fastballs on the market. The numbers within the ‘pen are lots higher than they’re in video games proper now. I assume that’s simply due to adrenaline reducing it off a bit of bit in video games. I do know it’s going to translate finally. It’s a matter of getting there constantly and doing it in video games.
“Hopefully the velo will begin to come up a bit of bit, too. My common velocity this 12 months [94.7 mph in 28 big league innings] is perhaps a tick higher in comparison with final 12 months, however the finish vary isn’t as excessive. I’m not touching 99. However do I feel will probably be there some day? For positive.”
Laurila: And it’s a four-seam, and never a two-seam?
Marsh: “Once more, what he wrote is correct, though it’s not a sinker. I feel it’s like a vertical method angle… it’s like an up-shoot fastball with bizarre metrics: excessive spin price [2,486 rpms] however low vert. My horizontal is again to regular. Final 12 months it was 5, as a result of I used to be reducing it lots, and this 12 months it’s again as much as seven or eight.
“So yeah, I’m not throwing a two-seam or a sinker. At the very least not but. I had a sinker once I bought drafted, so I would add it again sooner or later and be a five-pitch-mix man. For now, I simply must work with what I’ve.”
