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

Akil Baddoo Strikeout Three

For context, this was Akil Baddoo’s fourth regular season plate appearance against a left-handed pitcher (he went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts and two walks in spring training). It comes against Sean Manaea, who has held left-handed batters to a 72 OPS+ in his career (108 OPS+ for righties). In his first at-bat against Manaea, Baddoo got one sinker and three curveballs, and lined the third bender right to the shortstop. In this AB it looks like he’s expecting more curves, but instead he gets three straight sinkers.

The first was up in the zone and a bit away, which appears to be an area Baddoo doesn’t like. Manaea makes a mistake with his second pitch, leaving a sinker right over the heart, but Baddoo is late. He doesn’t chase up on the third sinker, but just as he seems to be getting used to that offering, Manaea finally drops another curve. This one is hittable, but Baddoo can’t quite get around on it. So again, Baddoo had two chances to do damage, but couldn’t.