Detroit Tigers: Let’s Look At Akil Baddoo’s Strikeouts

Akil Baddoo Strikeout Two

A classic yo-yo sequence here. Astros reliever Ryne Stanek throws hard, but this first pitch is a ball out of his hand and an easy take up and away. Stanek comes back with his splitter, which looks like a strike for about 58 feet before breaking wide at the last moment. It seems doubtful Baddoo knew that would happen, but it wasn’t what he was looking for so he let it pass. He’s up 2-0 now, and sitting dead red on the fastball. He gets it, and is millimeters away from hitting it 450 feet, but it’s a harmless foul tip.

The 4th pitch is a splitter that doesn’t split, and it’s just sitting on a tee, but Baddoo doesn’t offer. Maybe he was thinking about just missing the previous pitch and hoping he got another heater? Stanek goes with the high fastball next, but Baddoo does a good job of laying off it. They finish him off by changing the eye level again, this time with a nasty splitter in a perfect location. There’s not much Baddoo can do about that, but he missed two chances to do damage earlier in the AB.