Sports

Andrew Bailey explains how he wants Red Sox pitchers to throw ‘haymakers’ this season

"If you’re going 12 rounds or eight rounds, you’re not going to win by throwing jabs the whole time."

By Conor Ryan

April 3, 2024

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Entering the 2024 season, the Red Sox’ starting rotation was viewed as the team’s most glaring flaw.

But through the first seven games of a new campaign, Boston’s pitching corps hasn’t just exceeded expectations — it’s arguably been the best unit in all of baseball.

Following Boston’s 1-0 win over the A’s on Wednesday, the Red Sox lead all of MLB with a 1.54 team ERA.

Red Sox starters have gone at least five innings in all seven games so far, with a five-man unit of Brayan Bello, Nick Pivetta, Kutter Crawford, Garrett Whitlock, and Tanner Houck giving up just eight runs through 38 total innings of work.

Over those 38 innings, Boston’s starters have only walked three batters while striking out 46 — posting a 0.79 WHIP.

Even though Boston hasn’t exactly faced an imposing lineup so far between the Mariners and A’s, Boston’s starters deserve plenty of credit for executing out of the gate.

And given the team’s revamped approach when it comes to pitch selection and limiting hard-hit balls, it appears as though new pitching coach Andrew Bailey is making an immediate impact with Boston’s starters.

Bailey, who helped transform the San Francisco Giants’ staff into one of the best in baseball during his three years with the organization, preaches a consistent message when it comes to pitch usage. 

Rather than setting an emphasis on establishing one’s fastball, Bailey wants his hurlers to pitch to their strengths — attacking the strike zone with plenty of movement and off-speed offerings.

Speaking to Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic, Bailey compared Boston’s revamped approach to a boxer’s strategy in the ring. 

“We speak a lot about the fastball in general being a jab and equating that to boxing,” Bailey told McCaffrey. “If you’re going 12 rounds or eight rounds, you’re not going to win by throwing jabs the whole time. The damage is done by throwing your haymakers in your best sequences.

“Jabs need to be located supremely to do any damage. So when you look at that through a baseball lens, it’s knowing where and when to use your fastballs and leveraging your best off-speed weapons to do the most damage against the hitter.”

The Red Sox are clearly heeding their pitching coach’s words through the first week of action this season.

As noted by Julian McWilliams of The Boston Globe, the Giants threw off-speed and breaking pitches 51 percent of the time during Bailey’s tenure there — which stood as the best percentage in the majors. Meanwhile, the Red Sox ranked 21st during that same span by resorting to off-speed and breaking pitches 41.8 percent of the time. 

Even though fastballs are considered to be a pitcher’s best tool to get ahead in the count and generate strikes, Bailey doesn’t believe that line of thinking always holds up in today’s game.

“I think the history of baseball suggests that when you’re in disadvantaged counts, your best strike pitch is a fastball from an ability standpoint and I don’t think that’s true,” Bailey told McCaffrey. “I think pitchers are able to leverage off-speed weapons, if not similarly or slightly above, with some certain pitch types and depending on feel and all that, that can be a learned skill.

“So as long as strike-throwing is in line and our process stats are in line, our ability to leverage our best pitches in and around the zone is vital to the success of our pitching staff.”

Given Boston’s play in the season’s early days, it’s hard to argue with Bailey’s logic.