Analyzing Baltimore Orioles pitcher Alec Asher’s pivotal start vs. Red Sox
Baltimore Orioles third baseman Manny Machado and starting pitcher Alec Asher propel Orioles to a 3-2 victory over the Boston Red Sox as they move up in the American League East standings.
Entering Saturday’s play, the Baltimore Orioles baseball team sits in second place in the AL East standings after winning the first two games of a four-game series against the Boston Red Sox.
Friday night’s win was powered by the bat of Manny Machado and maintained in a quality start from starting pitcher Alec Asher.
The Orioles soared to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning after Seth Smith’s leadoff home run sending reigning AL Cy Young Award winner Rick Porcello’s 93 miles per hour four-seam fastball into the seats in right center field. Two batters later, Machado annihilated a two-seam fastball from Porcello, launching the baseball 465 feet into the second deck at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.
On the defensive side, Asher displayed his potent potential in the Orioles starting rotation and reminded us that you should never judge a book by its cover. After a bad inning on the road against the Houston Astros in his previous start, Asher regained his composure and confidence Friday night as he yielded just two earned runs in 6.1 innings.
More impressively, Asher did not walk a batter and struck out five to secure his first victory as a starter with the Orioles. As a result, Asher earned a roaring ovation from the 33,193 in attendance, capping off his pivotal start.
It’s safe to assume that Asher will earn another start and solidify his spot in the starting rotation, for now. To Asher’s advantage, Orioles manager Buck Showalter was impressed by Asher’s outing by praising him during postgame questions and revealing the difference maker from his last start in Houston to Friday night’s much-needed win.
As Showalter mentioned postgame, Asher didn’t have a feel for his curveball in Houston which resulted in a six-run inning for the Astros. Friday night, Asher indeed had his defying pitch, throwing his curveball with a 72.7 percent strike rate.
Pitch Type | Velo (Max) | H-Break | V-Break | Count | Strikes / % | Swings / % | Whiffs / % | BIP (No Out) | SNIPs / % | LWTS |
FA (Fastball) | 91.2 (92.3) | -6.06 | 8.56 | 10 | 6 / 60.0% | 5 / 50.0% | 2 / 20.0% | 2 (0) | 4 / 50.0% | -0.74 |
SI (Sinker) | 90.9 (92.4) | -10.34 | 6.45 | 40 | 29 / 72.5% | 17 / 42.5% | 3 / 7.5% | 7 (2) | 22 / 66.7% | -0.22 |
CH (Changeup) | 83.1 (84.1) | -9.54 | 7.45 | 6 | 4 / 66.7% | 4 / 66.7% | 0 / 0.0% | 2 (0) | 2 / 50.0% | -0.51 |
CU (Curveball) | 79.7 (80.8) | 1.25 | -5.01 | 11 | 8 / 72.7% | 4 / 36.4% | 1 / 9.1% | 1 (0) | 7 / 70.0% | -0.87 |
FC (Cutter) | 88.0 (90.3) | -0.19 | 4.06 | 28 | 17 / 60.7% | 16 / 57.1% | 1 / 3.6% | 5 (1) | 12 / 52.2% | -0.24 |
| Pitch classifications and data provided by PITCH INFO. |
Thanks to PITCH INFO, Asher’s threw his curveball six times with just one of the pitches called a strike in the disaster inning in Houston. In addition, in his 42-pitch second inning, Asher generated just a 57.14 strike percentage with 24-of-42 pitches being strikes. Talk about a day and night difference in Asher’s second inning Friday night when he threw just nine pitches with eight of them being called strikes.
The 25-year-old produced complete opposite results, with great command of not only his curveball but also his sinker that he threw 40 times, topping out at 92 miles per hour against Boston.
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With Ubaldo Jimenez remaining in the bullpen, it’s almost definite that Asher will see another start. Producing back-to-back quality starts would be monumental for an Orioles team struggling to maintain a consistent rotation.