![]() When the two pitches come out with the same spin, it is easy for the hitter to be fooled. While his fastball looks like it is rising, his changeup drops. The speed difference and the rising effect of Whitley’s fastball make his changeup more effective. In fact, the two pitches sometimes come out with the exact same spin direction. Whitley’s fastball has a spin direction of 12:30 and his changeup has a spin direction of 1:00. It also looks almost exactly like his fastball. The success that Whitley has with the pitch is partly due to its velocity as it is a power change that gets on hitters a little quicker and has sharp break, even though there is not much of it. Whitley throws his changeup with above average velocity and although it gets well below average break in both the vertical and horizontal directions, it generated a 37.9% whiff rate in 2021. This potential ability to get all hitters out is valuable in the bullpen and should neutralize the effects of any pinch hitters or lineup orientations designed to alternate right-handed and left-handed hitters. 230 wOBA against righties.Īgain, Whitley threw only 25 1⁄ 3 innings in 2021, so it is possible that Whitley will have less success against left-handers in the future, but theoretically, a fastball/changeup combo should allow him to be effective against all hitters. Whitley had a 2.20 FIP versus lefties and a 3.50 FIP versus righties while surrendering a. This was true in a very small sample size is 2021. Since changeups are typcially used as a weapon against opposite-sided hitters, it is possible that Whitley can be just as effective against lefties as he is against righties. This is clearly a small sample size, but given Whitley’s success in the minors, the pitch has likely been successful throughout his professional career. He threw 64 of them and only allowed three singles. Whitley also had success with same sided changeups in 2021. If he did not throw his changeup to right-handers then he would be refusing to use his best offspeed pitch to more than half of the hitters that he faced. This is crucial for him because he is primarily a fastball/changeup pitcher. In 2021, the right-handed Whitley threw more changeups to right-handed hitters than he did to left handed hitters. Because of this, many pitchers almost exclusively throw their changeups to opposite-sided hitters. The thinking goes that changeups break in to same sided hitters instead of out, so when the pitch is hung it is much easier for a same sided hitter to do damage. He is also comfortable throwing it to right-handers, which is unusual because pitchers generally prefer to avoid same-sided changeups. It is his second most used pitch, behind his fastball, as he throws it 27.9% of the time. Whitley’s changeup is perhaps his most intriguing pitch. Thus, it is not surprise that he targets the upper part of the zone with great success (.281 wOBA allowed against the pitch in 2021). the 26-year-old’s four-seamer drops 11.7 inches, 18% less than the average four-seamer. ![]() It is not overpowering (93.7 mph), but it does have a strong rising effect. Whitley’s bread and butter is his fastball. SIERA (4.02) and xFIP (4.27) paint a less rosy picture, but Whitley’s quick ascent and minor league dominance give him plenty of promise. ![]() His walk rate was a bit high at 11.9%, but it improved significantly at the end of the year and his strikeout rate of 26.7% was solid. It was a small sample size, but overall in 2021, Whitley had a 2.49 ERA and 2.97 FIP. The right-hander did not give up a single run in 14 innings in September and October while fanning 19 hitters and walking just four. Whitley was injured for part of 2021 and spent part of the year in the minor leagues, but he came on strong in the final month of the season. The cancelled 2020 minor league season and shortened major league season meant that Whitley threw only 4 2⁄ 3 innings. Had there been a 2020 minor league season he likely would have spent the first half of the year in Triple-A, but if he had continued at the same pace he would have been in St. He was taken in the 27th round in 2017 and he had reached Triple-A by 2019 having never posted an ERA above 2.51 at any level. Kodi Whitley dominated throughout his minor league career.
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