John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Photos
Final week, I turned on the tail finish of a Blue Jays-Phillies conflict. I hoped to get some notes for an article on Alec Bohm that didn’t actually come collectively. The sport was a whole laugher, with Philadelphia main by 5 runs within the ninth. All I needed was to see Bohm put a ball in play, however as an alternative this occurred:
Braydon Fisher got here out firing in that low-leverage probability. He got here out firing curveballs, to be particular – 12 of his 18 choices within the inning. The Phillies swung at them like they have been studying how physics works on the fly. However so what? Anybody can look that good for one sport. Main league pitchers have good things, extra at 11.
Then I began Fisher’s prior video games, and I began getting extra intrigued. Wait, this man virtually by no means throws his upper-90s fastball? Wait, he has two completely different plus breaking balls? Wait, his stroll price was what within the minors final 12 months (14.2%, and above 15% in Triple-A)? I began watching extra at-bats and began getting . The slider? It’s nasty:
The important thing attribute right here is velocity. At 88 miles an hour, sliders don’t give opposing hitters a lot time to regulate. The tight gyro form of the pitch means it really works towards lefties and righties alike. His over-the-top launch provides the pitch a ton of downward airplane, too: Although he doesn’t induce a lot break on the pitch, it appears to fade downward when he locates it across the knees.
That’s Fisher’s major providing. For those who referred to as it a cutter, that may make extra sense; it’s a workhorse of a pitch, a grounder-inducing selection within the zone or a swing-and-miss weapon if he can run it simply off the plate. It pairs fairly effectively together with his different choices, sitting roughly between them on a chart of induced break (through Baseball Savant):
I like these little shaded areas that denote league-average pitch form. Fisher is extra up-and-down throughout the board; his slider and curveball break much less to the glove facet than most breaking balls, whereas his fastball is sort of pure vertical. His fallaway movement permits that verticality – watch once more, and also you’ll see that his physique tilts left on the final second, so the identical angle of separation between shoulder and arm can create a better launch level.
That flash of deception and vertical launch assist the form and break of Fisher’s pitches. They do include drawbacks, nevertheless. Within the minors, Fisher struggled to throw strikes. That hardly appears stunning for a man who hardly ever throws fastballs, throws onerous, and makes use of a barely unconventional supply. That wildness held him again at the same time as he posted wonderful strikeout numbers within the minor leagues. It was additionally a key issue within the Jays’ getting him within the first place – he was traded for Cavan Biggio final summer time when the Dodgers wanted utility infield assist.
The Jays didn’t institute any apparent fixes. Fisher completed 2024 in Triple-A Buffalo strolling seven batters per 9 innings, a 15.2% price. However should you’ll take a fast gander at his 2025 participant web page, he’s made a change. He walked solely 8.5% in a dominant minor league efficiency to start out the season, and he’s develop into downright surgical since getting referred to as up, with a 3.8% mark, a stage that solely pitchers with nice command can maintain for lengthy durations of time.
Simply so we’re clear, I don’t suppose that he’ll preserve this up. However I do suppose he’s made a giant adjustment. Final 12 months, Fisher ran his slider throughout the zone. Right here’s a warmth map of each slider he threw in 2024, with the minor league associates of each the Dodgers and Blue Jays, in stadiums with pitch monitoring:
Positive, that’s nice utility, however a pitcher with inconsistent command transferring a pitch to each nook like that creates loads of alternative for misses. He’s given up on a whole lot of the transferring round he used to aim, although. Now, he goals it low and to his glove facet, and his misses are distributed round there within the form of his launch, up and in to a righty or down and away:
Equally, Fisher threw a whole lot of excessive curveballs final 12 months, and to take a look at his places, you’d suppose he was attempting to vary the attention stage of batters like peak Kyle Hendricks:
However that’s a really unusual method to make use of a curveball, notably a vertical one. This 12 months, he’s simply throwing it like a curveball:
He’s additionally touchdown it within the zone way more typically, as you possibly can in all probability inform from these charts. I’m not sufficient of a pitching mechanics skilled to clarify precisely how this works, however I can let you know one factor: Jays catchers have simplified their targets. They name for Fisher’s curveball with one in every of two glove positions: close to the center of the plate (regular), or with a faucet on the bottom (bounce it). And like Fisher’s slider, the curveball performs higher down within the zone; his over-the-top supply creates a pleasant, diving pitch form down low, however is susceptible to “hopping” out of his hand up excessive.
We would as effectively end this warmth map part off by his fastball. This one is definitely fairly fascinating. Right here’s the Triple-A location:
Positive, simply prepare dinner it proper down the center. Within the bigs this 12 months, he’s doing one thing fully completely different:
I can clarify this one. Within the minors, Fisher nonetheless used his fastball a couple of third of the time; it was a co-primary pitch together with his slider. He threw it a ton when he fell behind within the rely, however typically talking, he handled it like a daily fastball. It was his get-out-of-jail-free card, a stable choice when he wasn’t fairly positive what to throw. Now that he’s utilizing it hardly ever – lower than 20% of the time – he’s principally trying to find swinging strikes above the zone with it.
I’ve to confess to bafflement right here. The warmth maps for 2025 are beautiful. Fisher has his slider and curveball on a string, and he retains his fastball out of hurt’s method. Every thing tunnels off of one another: excessive fastballs, low sliders, decrease curveballs. That’s how the very best pitchers with Fisher’s arsenal – vertical, excessive launch level, steep downward airplane on the breaking balls – find their choices. Stack the three on prime of one another, and also you’re presenting the hitter with a tricky determination each time you throw. Attempt to run all three throughout the zone, like he was in Triple-A final 12 months, and also you’re liable to confuse your self greater than them.
Everybody would do that if they may, so I’m not fully positive why Fisher hadn’t earlier than this 12 months. No matter the way it occurred, although, the actual fact of the matter is that proper now, Fisher has plus command. He doesn’t have a deGrom-like really feel for the zone; he’s not nibbling edges on demand with unerring precision. It’s an easier fashion of figuring out the place the ball goes: Goal for a number of trusty targets and let the pure motion do the work. But it surely’s nonetheless command, far more than he’s ever displayed earlier than.
That command has unlocked one thing spectacular. Fisher is hanging out 34.8% of opponents within the majors this 12 months. His two breaking balls are doing a lot of the work – these excessive fastballs simply haven’t been persistently shut sufficient to entice chases. However man, what work they’re doing. Opponents are chasing a ridiculous 50% of his sliders exterior the strike zone. They’re chasing roughly 40% of curveballs, too, and loads of these curveballs are bouncing earlier than reaching residence plate; he induces some ugly swings with that pitch.
Although our stuff fashions can’t fairly determine what to make of Fisher – PitchingBot thinks each his breaking balls are beneath common and likes his fastball, whereas Stuff+ loves the flexible pitches and hates the fastball – I really feel assured he has the requisite stuff to get huge leaguers out. His minor league numbers bear that out. He’s repeating his supply and attacking a selected zone. Mix these two, and also you get a high-leverage, high-effectiveness reliever.
The Jays haven’t used him that method but, however they’re trending in the proper path. I solely noticed him within the first place as a result of he was mopping up the final inning of a blowout loss. However how can they not begin bumping him up the hierarchy when he’s pitching like this? During the last month, he’s operating a 0.56 FIP and a 0.00 ERA. He’s stepping into video games in additional essential spots; positive, he nonetheless mops up some, however he additionally pitched within the eighth with a one-run lead and within the seventh with a two-run lead, conventional spots for a stable setup man.
If issues go improper for Fisher, I’ve a reasonably good concept how. He’ll lose the texture for the zone, begin getting behind 2-0 on two straight sliders, and haven’t any clue find out how to get again into the at-bat. That supply, that launch level, that ugly minor league stroll price – there’s nonetheless wildness right here, even when the outcomes don’t present it but.
Till then, although, I’ve a sense Fisher will proceed to excel. He’s a riddle to opposing hitters, a wierd jingle whistled simply out of tune that they’ll’t wrap their heads round. The slider-first strategy, the curveball off of it – they’re bizarre. That weirdness is a big asset for him, and now that he’s not strolling practically a batter an inning, that vast asset is paying dividends.
