By: Jamie Renner

Wow, this month of April has been pretty frustrating on all of us. I am trying to finish school and write my papers, and then when I’m done with that I have to sit and watch a baseball team play with what looks like pool noodles against every opponent they face. Ground out, after ground out, after ground, after strike out, after pop out. I feel like I am rewatching the looney tunes baseball scene, which is pretty close to the cartoon itself because this team is a joke at times. I think the most disappointing part of this team has been, by far and away, Zach Plesac.

Zach has gotten beat to the ground in his last 2 outings. He looks like Stipe after his most recent fight... Yeah, that bad. But there has to be more to this than just some bad luck and I knew I had to do some investigating. Needless to say, it’s ugly, based on the numbers from Baseball Savant.

Zach is bad, like really bad. So bad that out of the 12 measurements Baseball Savant uses to accurately place pitchers, Zach is below average (MASSIVELY) in 10 of the 12 categories. The only average to above average perteniles he is in are chase % ( how much hitters chase his pitches in the dirt at 50%) and BB% (base on balls).

When scrolling down the list, the numbers get much worse.

As you can see this is a chart showcasing all the pitching percentages Zach has had with his 4 pitch mix since entering the league. From top to bottom: 4-seam fastball, slider, change-up, and curveball. In 2020 his 2 most unhittable pitching were his slider(BA of .069) and change up(BA of .125). The kid was pretty much putting hitters away with either of those pitches, but in 2021 regression has started and those numbers have ballooned drastically ( batting average of .211 and .333).

Okay, so it may be just 2 rough starts, but this kid has clearly not made adjustments and I am very shocked Carl nor Tito have looked into this and discussed future options for him. For an organization that is known to turn out pitching gems, this one may just be a bad apple, IF things are not corrected.

Now obviously its start number 3 or 4? Out of the 25 he will get. But if things are not changing there are some other guys in the alternative site who really want time. Aaron Civale has absolutely been killing it and Cal Quantril seems to have the heart and the stuff to start a game once in a while.

Hopefully Zach gets back to throwing that deadly slider in 2020 form by the time his next couple of starts roll around. Do not be shocked though if he goes on the 10 day IL and someone else takes his place for a start or 2. The only thing holding Triston back is his body, Cal is too inconsistent to be an every day guy right now, and Logan Allen seems to be having growing pains right now. I sure hope Shane Bieber's back is okay, after all, carrying an entire organization on your back can be exhausting..... What a joke. I’ll see ya soon New York.