Zac Lowther 2021 (minors)

[NCRaven]

Or maybe he just wasn't very good this year.  Not writing him off in anyway, but players gotta play.

[owknows]

2 hours ago, Frobby said:

He sat around until April 25 and pitched one inning then (no runs allowed).   Then he sat around until May 8 and had a very bad outing.   That’s an awful lot of sitting around.   Then later he had another 10 days of inactivity between June 24 and July 4.    He never made more than three starts in a row at Norfolk and never made more than two appearances in a row in the majors.   Admittedly, he didn’t pitch that well, but the circumstances have been far from ideal for a guy who never pitched above AA before this year.   

Come up... sit around... lose your edge... get shelled.... lose your confidence...

he'll be back

[Can_of_corn]

28 minutes ago, owknows said:

Come up... sit around... lose your edge... get shelled.... lose your confidence...

he'll be back

 

[Tony-OH]

On 9/2/2021 at 12:15 PM, Brooks The Great said:

It really is poor and incompetent management and player development by the Orioles to have handled Lowther the way they have in a tanking season. 

I will say this, when you look at his statcast data you have to scratch your head and wonder what in the world the Orioles are doing with Lowther.

Lowther's best pitches in the minors leagues were his fastball and breaking balls, with the change being a distant 4th best pitch. Some days his curveball was better and sometimes his slider was better, but they both missed bats. 

In the majors this year, Lowther has thrown the following:

Fastball: 57.1 % of the time despite averaging 91 MPH
Change: 19.9% of the time despite well below average movement and only about an 8 MPH difference from fastball.
Curve: 14.1% despite batters hitting .182 with a 26.3% WHIFF rate and 2554 spin rate.
Slider: Just 8.9% despite no hits against the pitch and an amazing 64.3% WHIFF rate at 2634 spin rate

His fastball worked a bit more in the minor leagues because his close release point allowed it to play up but that doesn't seem to work as well against major leaguers, especially when he so rarely throwing his breaking pitches that they can key on it since the change is not very good overall and needs to improve.

So why have the Orioles had him throw his fastball and changeup 77% of the time despite both pitches being below average major league pitches?

Lowther seems like the kind of pitcher who should be pitching backwards which would allow his fastball to play up a bit more. 

I'm just very confused in how the Orioles have handled this year and why they've done the exact opposite of what Tampa and other good development organizations do which is highlight what a pitcher does well.

It's easy to look at Lowther's stats this year and say he's just a failed prospect. But I feel this was a lost year for him due to mismanagement and development by the Orioles and then the injury in the middle of the year that didn't help. 

Don't give up on Lowther. whether it's here or somewhere else, he's going to end up pitching well in the major league as a starter.

[sportsfan8703]

19 hours ago, Tony-OH said:

I will say this, when you look at his statcast data you have to scratch your head and wonder what in the world the Orioles are doing with Lowther.

Lowther's best pitches in the minors leagues were his fastball and breaking balls, with the change being a distant 4th best pitch. Some days his curveball was better and sometimes his slider was better, but they both missed bats. 

In the majors this year, Lowther has thrown the following:

Fastball: 57.1 % of the time despite averaging 91 MPH
Change: 19.9% of the time despite well below average movement and only about an 8 MPH difference from fastball.
Curve: 14.1% despite batters hitting .182 with a 26.3% WHIFF rate and 2554 spin rate.
Slider: Just 8.9% despite no hits against the pitch and an amazing 64.3% WHIFF rate at 2634 spin rate

His fastball worked a bit more in the minor leagues because his close release point allowed it to play up but that doesn't seem to work as well against major leaguers, especially when he so rarely throwing his breaking pitches that they can key on it since the change is not very good overall and needs to improve.

So why have the Orioles had him throw his fastball and changeup 77% of the time despite both pitches being below average major league pitches?

Lowther seems like the kind of pitcher who should be pitching backwards which would allow his fastball to play up a bit more. 

I'm just very confused in how the Orioles have handled this year and why they've done the exact opposite of what Tampa and other good development organizations do which is highlight what a pitcher does well.

It's easy to look at Lowther's stats this year and say he's just a failed prospect. But I feel this was a lost year for him due to mismanagement and development by the Orioles and then the injury in the middle of the year that didn't help. 

Don't give up on Lowther. whether it's here or somewhere else, he's going to end up pitching well in the major league as a starter.

Great insights. It could be Severino’s game calling. Or Maybe Holt isn’t so good?  Might be time for a new pitching coach.