Sheets Gets Whiffs in MLB Return

The Atlanta Braves' seven-strong starting rotation quickly crumbled in 2012, with Arodys Vizcaino and Brandon Beachy getting matching Tommy John scars and Julio Teheran coming down with whiplash from all the homers given up at Triple-A Gwinnett. Enter Ben Sheets, the one-time Brewers ace whose career has been short-circuited by back, shoulder, finger and elbow injuries, including his own Tommy John procedure in August 2010.

Sheets, who sports the 12th-best strikeout-to-walk ratio among starting pitchers tossing at least 1,000 frames during the new Millennium, was sharp yesterday versus the Mets in his first MLB start since July 19, 2010. The now-33-year-old righty threw six scoreless innings, allowing two hits while striking out five and walking one. Sheets got Mets batters to whiff at 10 of the 40 pitches they swung at (25 percent), missing bats with both his fastball and sweeping curve.

Sheets averaged 90.9 MPH on the gun with his fastball, topping out at 93.3. That's still down a couple of ticks from his halcyon days with the Brew Crew, but he did manage to get David Wright to swing through a pair of high heaters. Josh Thole, Ike Davis and Kirk Nieuwenheis also came up empty against high fastballs:

Location of Sheets' fastball whiffs vs. Mets, 7/15/12

By contrast, Sheets kept his high-70s curveball low, getting whiffs on the pitch from Davis, Thole, Daniel Murphy, Ruben Tejada and Andres Torres:

Location of Sheets' curveball whiffs vs. Mets, 7/15/12

While Sheets has never had a problem avoiding lumber with his curve, he had one of the 15-lowest fastball miss rates among AL starters when he last pitched with the Athletics in 2010. With so much contact being made, opponents slugged .583 against the pitch (third-highest among AL starters). If Sheets can miss more bats with his fastball while still snapping off quality curves, the Braves could have a low-cost solution to the club's unexpected rotation woes.

Home Run Recap: Jason Heyward

Jeff Samardzija vs. Jason Heyward Pitch Sequence, May 7th, 2012 (2nd inning)

In last night's great start from Cubs' starter Jeff Samardzija, the lone blip came in the second inning when the tall righthander gave up a home run to Atlanta Braves' Jason Heyward. 

The former Notre Dame standout started Heyward out with a two-seamer and a splitter which were both low in the zone.  The third pitch ended up right in Heyward's hot spot, as you can see from the heat map above. It was a 95 MPH two-seamer that Heyward hit out over the wall in right field at Wrigley. 

Samardzija tried to keep the ball low on Heyward all day, which is odd considering Heyward generates most of his power on balls low in the zone. He was likely hoping to get Heyward to chase a few pitches down and out of the zone, and missed his spot on the HR pitch.  From the video link above, you can see that Soto was actually setting him up outside.

Given the kind of velocity Samardzija can get behind his fastball, he might do better trying to come up and in on Heyward in future meetings.

Braves Add Free-Swinging Juan Francisco

With Chipper Jones beginning his final MLB season on the DL while recovering from a torn meniscus in his left knee, the Braves added a short-term solution with some long-term upside on Sunday. Atlanta acquired out-of-options third baseman Juan Francisco from the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for right-hander J.J. Hoover.

Francisco, 24, has mammoth power from the left side of the dish. The 6-foot-2, 240 pounder has a career .502 slugging percentage in the minors, including a .559 mark in parts of three seasons at Triple-A Louisville. That thump has also been on display during brief stints in the majors from 2009-11, as Francisco has popped five home runs and slugged .450 in 181 plate appearances. But as exciting as Francisco's power potential is, his lack of plate patience could be his undoing.

In a little over 2,500 PAs in the minors, Francisco has struck out nearly six times as often (23.1%) as he has walked (3.9%).  That hacking has carried over to the majors, as Francisco has gone after 37% of pitches thrown outside of the strike zone. The big league average over the past three years is about 28%. As his swing rate by pitch location shows, Francisco has been especially jumpy on pitches thrown up and in.

Juan Francisco's swing rate by pitch location, 2009-11

The trade to Atlanta and Jones' retirement following the 2012 season could give Francisco a chance to prove that he's starting material. It's likely that the soon-to-be-40-year-old Jones will get his share of off-days, and the Braves may opt to keep Martin Prado in left field instead of rotating him between there and third. Between Francisco's defensive limitations and free-swinging ways, however, penciling him into the 2013 lineup is premature.