Carp Inside and Out

Mike Carp found his power stroke in the majors in 2011, slugging .500 through 206 plate appearances this season.  Pitchers have worked the young slugger away:

Mike Carp, pitch frequency, 2011.While most of his power comes inside, he's slugged across the strike zone:

Mike Carp, in play slugging percentage, 2011.Pitching Carp away hasn't worked that well, since Mike is willing to drive outside pitches the other way.  When the pitch is inside, he pulls the ball for home runs:

Mike Carp, pitch frequency on home runs, 2011.When he goes the other way, he tends to hit doubles:

Mike Carp, pitch frequency on doubles, 2011.Instead of trying to pull everything, Carp is willing to go with a pitch.  He strong enough to be able to drive the ball the other way.  He's not getting the lift to hit them out that often, but doubles can do a lot of damage, scoring runners from first base and putting the batter in scoring position.  He's supplying the Mariners with needed power.

Changing Vargas

Pro Ball NW notes that Jason Vargas of the Seattle Mariners doesn't feel like he's pitching badly.  That's quite possible.  Sometimes batters simply hit good pitches.  With Jason, however, that's not the case.

Through July 20th, Jason sported a 3.94 ERA, with 125 hits allowed in 130 1/3 innings.  He was also keeping his change up down.

Jason Vargas, change up, 2011 season through July 20th.In that time, batters hit .270/.332/.456 against the fastball but .212/.268/.297 against the change.  The pitch is designed to fool batters, and it was working fine.

Starting on July 25th, Vargas holds a 6.46 ERA in seven starts, allowing 53 hits in 39 innings.  Note the difference in his change up:

Jason Vargas, change up, 2011 season since July 25th.Vargas puts more of his changes up in the strike zone, and more in the lower corner to the left-hand of the catcher, getting away from the area of his success.  In this period, batters are hitting .333/.406/.533 against the fastball and .292/.354/.431 against the change.  With his change up no longer fooling batters, his fastball becomes less effective as well.  He is pitching badly.

Friendly Pitches to Casper Wells

Casper Wells of the Seattle Mariners hit his sixth home run in his 15th game since joining the team on July 31st.  Casper likes to hit pitches down and away for home runs:

Casper Wells home runs, career through Aug. 20, 2011.Since he joined the Mariners, guess where pitchers are concentrating their strikes?

Casper Wells, pitch frequency, with the Seattle Mariners, 2011.Fast balls up seem to be the way to limit Casper's power:

Casper Wells, in play slugging, career vs. fastballs.At some point pitchers will figure out that working Wells away leads to bad results.  We'll see what happens when they start busting him up and in.