Boston Red Sox: Checking in on the bullpen
By Ryan Sanders
Workman is a little different than your average reliever because he doesn’t throw hard.
Armed with a fastball that only averages 88 MPH, it’s safe to say he isn’t a power pitcher. That hasn’t stopped him, however, as he has struck out nine batters, surrendered one hit, and has yet to give up a run over his 6.1 innings of work on the young season.
Workman has had success throwing his fastball and cutter all throughout the zone and throwing his curve ball out of zone. The curve has been his primary pitch, throwing it 54% of the time while mixing in his hard stuff to keep hitters guessing.
Right now, Workman is thriving on getting hitters to chase his pitches out of the zone. League average Chase% is 28.1% while Workman is at 36%. More impressive though is that when hitters chase any of his pitches, they aren’t making contact. Workman’s Contact Chase% is a ridiculous 36.4% whereas league average is north of 60%.
Workman is succeeding so far with largely the same stuff he had in 2018 and 2017, but his pitch usage is starting to heavily favor his curve ball that has above average spin. We have seen a number guys like Lance McCullers and Rich Hill throw curve hitters to death. While Workman doesn’t have their velocity, this may be providing a blueprint for him to be successful.