re: Diamond Sports Thread: College World Series Game day Edition

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Even more tantalizing was Chris McCosky’s piece for the Detroit News on Mize’s embrace of data and technology in his training. After three seasons of pitching for an Auburn program that has invested in analytics, Mize showed off a fine grasp of the concepts behind using spin rate, spin axis, and video to develop pitches and refine his mechanics. In his offseason study, he used that data to make a major adjustment to his slider, trying to add more horizontal break.

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“The numbers are right there in front of you. You can see the flight of the ball, the path of the ball. You know how it’s playing off your other pitches. With the slow-motion cameras, you can see the last thing the ball touches out of my hand.”

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He referred to the new breaking ball as a hybrid slider-curve, and appeared to be using a spike curveball grip on it. Further examination will be required to confirm that. The slider is the pitch some had pegged as his weakness coming out of the draft. Currently, FanGraphs gives it a 50 grade, or major league average, with a ceiling of 55 (above-average). If he has some kind of frisbee slurve ball now, those assessments may change in a hurry.

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