Quick Thoughts on Aardsma’s Good Times

While David Aardsma was dominating during his first 20.2 IP last year to the tune of a .183/.272/.239/.511 against, he threw 346 pitches, with 172 (49.7%) tracked by MLB Pitch F/X data.

I decided just to look at those pitches and see what he was doing before it all came crumbling to pieces.

The graphs above show the first interesting thing I noticed, he was mostly pitching away from batters. While it was successful during this period, most White Sox fans got fed up with his nibbling as his performance worsened. It will be interesting to see if the Red Sox try to get him to work both sides of the plate, and if he struggles, if he can ward off confidence issues he has had in the past.

I have read about him throwing, at one time or another, a fastball, changeup, slider, splitter and knuckle curve.

While doing some googling, I learned that last spring the White Sox told Aardsma to scrap his k-curve and focus on the slider. I also came across a quote of him saying that he throws his split against lefties as his 3rd pitch, while against righties he mixes in a changeup. And, through my own research, I learned his fastballs do not sink, as some have suggested (and his gopheritis refutes).

According to the data, versus righties, I have him at: 6% changeup, 22% slider, 29% fastball, 43% 95+ mph gas

According to the data, versus lefties, I have him at: 8% split, 13% slider, 36% fastball, 43% 95+ mph gas

Needless to say, Aardsma is going to be an interesting cases to follow in spring training. We shall see just how much polish John Farrell can put on this out-of-whack million dollar arm.