More sliders Roansy Contreras and Kikuchi tinkering again
May 20 2023
Roansy Contreras Using More Sliders
I've noticed Roansy Contreras using more sliders. That's a similar approach to his teammate Johan Oviedo, and it might be a team philosophy change to lower the fastball usage. The early information seemingly supports that hypothesis, as the Pirates' pitchers threw sliders 16.9% of the time in 2022, which increased to 23.5% in 2023. That's the highest difference in team slider usage over the past two seasons.
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Contreras's slider has been filthy in the past, with a career SwK of 20.5%, three points above the 2023 SwK. He increased the usage against both sides of the plate, and it has performed well, which gives him a weapon to use anytime. The slider has dropped a similar amount but added over two inches...
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