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

Akil Baddoo Strikeout Five

Sergio Romo wishes he threw as hard as Yusmeiro Petit. Romo’s fastball hasn’t averaged 88 MPH since 2015, and he’s thrown just three pitches at 85 MPH in 2021. But, like Petit, he’s still in the majors thanks to movement and guile. On his first pitch he catches Baddoo swinging on a nasty sinker that shows 35 inches of drop and 21 inches of horizontal movement. But Baddoo seems to download that offering quickly and holds off on the next two sinkers.

So Romo goes to plan B, folding in a signature backdoor slider to even the count. And then he gets Baddoo swinging with a pretty good changeup. It shows the same 21 inches of horizontal movement as that first sinker, but it comes 5 MPH slower and drops another four inches. That was probably the only hittable pitch of the AB, but it’s hard to blame Baddoo for missing it.