September 8, 2024

Crimson Sox

“Oh, that is it.”

John Schreiber’s model new pitch might make the Crimson Sox’ bullpen even deadlier than it was final 12 months. Barry Chin/Globe Workers

One of many Crimson Sox’ deadliest pitchers may very well be much more deadly by subsequent season.

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Reliever John Schreiber seems to be including a cutter to his arsenal. A video posted to the Driveline Baseball account on X reveals Schreiber engaged on this cutter with former MLB pitcher Brandon Mann.

On this video, Schreiber particulars how he grips the baseball when he throws his new cutter, which he throws for the primary time within the video at “slider pace.” After Mann tells him to “assume extra fastball,” Schreiber threw one other cutter at 87 miles per hour, which was almost eight extra mph than the rate of his first pitch.

“Oh, that’s it,” Mann mentioned after Schreiber threw his second pitch.

If Schreiber can grasp the cutter earlier than Opening Day, it is going to be the fifth pitch he has in his arsenal. Final season, he relied on 4 pitches: a slider, a changeup, a four-seam fastball, and a changeup, though he solely used his changeup 8.3 % of the time, in line with Baseball Savant.

He received’t be the one Crimson Sox pitcher with a cutter subsequent season. Tanner Houck, Brayan Bello, Josh Winckowski, Nick Pivetta, Chris Martin, Kutter Crawford and most notably Kenley Jansen all threw cutters on the major-league degree, however solely Martin, Crawford and Jansen used it greater than 20 % of the time.

Schreiber had an up-and-down 2023 after his breakout 2022, posting a 3.86 ERA in 46.2 innings pitched. If his new cutter turns into a reputable weapon, that quantity will virtually actually go down.

The Crimson Sox’ bullpen, assuming everybody stays wholesome, appears to be like to proceed its dominance in 2024. If Schreiber’s cutter develops nicely, that bullpen will solely turn out to be higher.