This article was originally published as part of Verducci’s View, a new weekly baseball newsletter from Sports Illustrated senior writer Tom Verducci. Every Monday, Tom empties out his notebook over email and covers MLB’s hottest topics, provides in-depth analysis through both text and video breakdowns, looks forward to what’s worth watching during the week and more. If you want to be featured in his new mailbag, please email [email protected] with any questions about MLB or his decades in the sport.
I have detailed how the two-month slump of Paul Skenes coincided with him changing his stride direction to be less crossfire and more direct to the plate. The change reduced the offset of his delivery (ball release position relative to mid-rubber) by five to eight inches, a major difference for a pitcher who relies more on horizontal attack angle than vertical attack angle.
