Under no circumstances is it ever easy to hit a 100-mph fastball, and that's part of the reason why guys like Jacob deGrom, Aroldis Chapman and (allegedly) Walter Johnson have posted such dominant statistics over the years. You don't have to a be a rocket scientist to know that it's coming, too, especially from hurlers who rely on their heaters as their go-to pitch in tight situations. The same goes for others who specialize in certain pitches, like Mariano Rivera and his cutter or Phil Neikro and his knuckleball.
But it certainly can't hurt to know exactly when said specialty pitch is coming, and one former major leaguer was able to identify the most subtle of giveaways while dealing with a notable 100-mph fireballer in today's game. On the latest episode of Jomboy Media's "Sequence with Trevor Plouffe," the former infielder demonstrated how he caught Cardinals reliever Jordan Hicks tipping his pitches during his second season in the bigs.
And again, it's really, really subtle. But it's definitely there. On fastballs, Plouffe saw that Hicks would leave his glove a little farther away from his body than normal and tip it upward, away from his belt. On off-speed pitches — which would be "on-speed" (not a real term) for several other major leaguers — Hicks would bring his glove close to his body and cover the belt area on his jersey. Start the below video at around 4:08 to watch his analysis unfold.
Kudos to Plouffe for legitimately picking up on these slight signals in the middle of a game in his final season. And it's not like Hicks has been unsuccessful — he's recorded a 3.47 ERA in 106.1 career innings of work, with a solid 8.5 K/BB rate — but perhaps he'd be better if it's true that players are clued in on what he may be throwing.
One has to wonder if Luis Guillorme saw the same things that Plouffe saw when he casually drew a walk against Hicks... after 22 pitches.
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