When those pitches are grouped more tightly together.
The rising slider is of some concern, but I'm not going to judge the vertical movement of anyone's curve ball in March in Arizona. His pitches have been advancing over the spring:
HORIZONTAL MOVEMENT BY GAME
| Game | Slider | Curve |
|---|---|---|
| SEA@COL (3/4/17) | 1.22 | 3.67 |
| SEA@ARI (3/17/17) | 2.03 | 3.07 |
| SEA@SDN (3/27/17) | 2.30 | 2.98 |
| SEA@COL (4/1/17) | 1.84 | 1.89 |
VERTICAL MOVEMENT BY GAME
| Game | Slider | Curve |
|---|---|---|
| SEA@COL (3/4/17) | 5.25 | -2.64 |
| SEA@ARI (3/17/17) | 6.15 | -1.32 |
| SEA@SDN (3/27/17) | 4.06 | -3.67 |
| SEA@COL (4/1/17) | 5.04 | -3.76 |
So the Slider rose slightly less and broke slightly more, and the curve fell more over the course of 4 (recorded) games, which makes sense, since he's getting his pitches in tune. Saturday was a small step backward, but maybe he just wasn't messing around on getaway day. I'm putting my money where my mouth is, I'm going to watch him pitch in person on Friday in Anaheim, we'll see if he can scrape up another half inch of good movement on the pitches. If he's bad, my brother will lose no time in letting me hear all about it.