The Yankees got the Miss Trunchbull treatment from Bryan Woo
A night after getting their doors blown off, the Mariners got a much-needed gem with a triple-layer serving of fastballs.
One day, I hope I’ll celebrate my 100th year talking about Mike Trout and Joel Peralta.
This is 2016. Trout is in the heart of a decade as the world’s best player. Peralta stumbles off the hill after this pitch like the 40 year old journeyman he was, mere weeks from throwing his final big league pitch. The ill-conceived Mariners turned to Peralta out of necessity, and got what they deserved - a 5.40/5.55 ERA/FIP in 23.1 IP from a veteran on his last legs. #CantPredictBall isn’t a mere pithy quip, you’d be fooling yourself to expect prime Trout to wave impotently through a knee-high fastball at ~90-91 mph. And yet.
Blessedly, Bryan Woo is not Joel Peralta, particularly not his conclusive big league variation we saw in Seattle. He is the Mariners’ de facto ace following injuries to George Kirby and Logan Gilbert, alongside diminished play from Luis Castillo and Bryce Miller (which also seems like injury to a degree). That’d be easier to weather if Woo had been the ace at any point since he graduated Alameda High School, as it’s only been as a pro that Woo has found any consistent success. Woo’s success is predominantly a combination of plus fastballs, with a four-seamer that rides well and a sinker that runs and dives to a hilarious degree, augmented by excellent command. The results were obvious a year ago, as Woo’s four-seamer got better outcomes than all but the most dominant heaters in MLB. Woo ranked sixth in value per chance with his four-seamer a season ago, behind Tarik Skubal, Garrett Crochet, Pablo López, Hunter Greene, and Bryce Miller - in essence, five absolutely dominant four-seam-forward pitchers in 2024.
Speaking of dominating fastballs, the New York Yankees. The reigning AL Pennant winners are the best team at punishing fastballs in baseball this year. It’s obviously most potently Aaron Judge, who is legitimately outperforming Barry Bonds this season thus far. But it’s more than that - Monday night’s villain Trent Grisham, along with Ben Rice, Austin Wells, Jasson Dominguez, Anthony Volpe, and much of the rest of the Bronx Bombers squad feasts on heat like a top-notch carnival act.
So how on earth did Woo dominate what’s looked like the best offense in MLB this year?
This was the routine. Fastball. Fastball. Fastball. Occasionally, the sweeper would be worked in, particularly to keep the Judge honest, but the 88 pitches Woo threw included 47 four-seamers and 12 sinkers, with 28 swings on the four-seam that could not square it up try as they might. The Chief Justice himself was flummoxed.
Like the apocryphal father making their child smoke the entire pack of cigarettes they found them with, Woo shoved heater after heater down the Yankees gullets until they could not stomach their favorite flavor any longer. It was a work of art, the type in baseball that is most impressive because of the quality of the opponent. To render the Rockies inert is human, to baffle the Yankees, divine.
Their source of power robbed, even just for a night, by Seattle’s ostensible fifth starter entering the year, not only curtailed a losing streak. It was a reminder of why this M’s club has a shot.