Huascar Ynoa Is Working Vertically. Here's What It Means

You often hear the typical spring storylines like a player is in the best shape of his life or a pitcher is bringing a new pitch to camp. Sometimes they lead to real results. Sometimes the pitcher never throws the new pitch in a real game.

I try to avoid falling into the trap. I learned a lesson last year when Kyle Wright came out throwing gas above barrels and to the glove side in short spring bursts, only to go back to the slow-dive two-seamer in the regular season. Spring performances can be important at times, but they often have to be taken with a grain of salt. That’s why I said several times in my Bryse Wilson audio post Monday that it’s just one outing in early March.

However, what Huascar Ynoa is doing so far this spring appears to be different, and it appears to be a continuation of late 2020, only more pronounced and with more effectiveness.

Ynoa gradually raised his release point over the course of the shortened 2020 season, but there was a noticeable rise in his slot in September and October. It’s easy to miss these things when you’re watching games day after day, and I didn’t realize how much of a difference it was until doing research for this post.

After a break over the winter and not seeing him throw for months, I immediately picked up on Ynoa’s higher release point in his first spring outing. He continued it in his second appearance Sunday.

Note the difference in arm angle from Sunday and an August 2020 outing. In last year’s screenshot, the spine is straighter, the shoulder and elbow are lower, and the arm produces a straight line. This is a typical three-quarters slot. Ynoa spun out of this pitch and missed to the arm side against Roman Quinn.

On Sunday, the spine is tilted to generate a higher slot. The shoulder is higher and the arm creates angle, producing what would be considered a high three-quarters slot. He spotted this fastball on the outside corner against Rafael Devers. It doesn’t seem like much from the naked eye, but this is a notable slot change.

Why would Ynoa raise his release point? To fit the vertical profile. The 2020 fastball to Quinn, along with many of his fastballs in the past, ran horizontally from the lower slot. It lacked downhill angle. The lower elbow meant Ynoa sometimes got underneath his pitches, including his slider, and caused horizontal sweep on what is otherwise an outstanding breaking ball. Hitters are able to pick it up out of the hand more quickly, and it lacks the late, downward tilt that misses bats. The following screenshot is from 2019 and represents a horizontal, sweeping slider that Lorenzo Cain picked up early and laid off.

With the higher slot, Ynoa more effectively tunnels his fastball and slider, meaning the two pitches look the same out of the hand and for a considerable distance as they head toward the plate. It causes hitters to make a decision with much less time, because the slider breaks out of the tunnel later and with downward tilt, while the fastball continues on a downhill plane.

The higher slot should also keep Ynoa on line with more consistency. He still occasionally spins out of the higher slot and misses arm side, but this motion keeps his front side in check better because of the effort to tilt and get to the release.

The results are already showing in his two spring appearances. He’s pumping fastballs with strong downhill plane, and he’s pairing them with downward-tilting sliders that appear similar to the fastball out of the hand before breaking hard and late. And one more huge benefit: Ynoa’s arm slot on the slider is closer to the fastball than it’s ever been. Previously, he would drop the slot on the slider, something that hitters can pick up. He’s replicating the higher slot on the slider for the most part, and that is another major factor toward missing bats on the pitch.

The screenshot below shows. This slot produced a biting slider onto the feet of Devers. The pitch looked like the fastball out of the hand, and the talented Devers swung and missed as it hit the dirt.

Do these changes mean Ynoa’s role is now higher? I’m starting to think my role is too low on him anyway. I’ve had him as a potential middle reliever for a while. He was already showing the talent for higher-leverage opportunities. After these adjustments, what he’s showing between the fastball and slider in addition to a changeup that flashes well, I won’t be surprised if he earns a late-innings role at some point.

I don’t see a traditional starter because of command and the third pitch. I would love to be wrong about that. He could very well get starts and work through lineups twice each time. But the effective two-pitch mix would suit him well in relief, and he’s starting to show late-innings traits.

I’m more confident that this isn’t another spring training trap.