#groundballs

Today’s #FunTipFriday brings you @colbywlax Assistant Coach Renee Olsen’s favorite drill.

Derek Lowe, tapping into ancient sinkerballer magic, became the first pitcher since 2002 to throw a complete game shutout without the aid of a strikeout yesterday. Naturally, this came against the Twins who are last in the American League in runs per game. Even stranger, Lowe accomplished the feat by walking four men, the first time a pitcher has walked at least four, struck out none, and earned the SHO since Doyle Alexander in 1989. 

And how did he accomplish such an act? Simple, by throwing 115 sinkers out of 127 pitches, good for 91% of his pitches. That's right, 115 of his 127 pitches were sinkers. Those wormburners helped Lowe pick up 18 groundball outs and 4 double plays, lowering his ERA to 2.05 on the season. Just look at his pitch chart courtesy of Brooks Baseball. It's like the area above the belt didn't even exist: 

While Lowe's extreme sinker-happy ways have brought him success this season, unless he really is a wizard incarnate, the rest of the year is going to be a very unhappy time. Through 52.2 innings, Lowe has struck out only 13 batters, the lowest ratio since Nate Cornejo struck out 2.1 per 9 in 2003. And no one wants to be emulating Nate Cornejo.  Even worse, Lowe has walked 17 men in this time and is getting groundballs over 65% of the time, a mark he hasn't reached since 2007.