Whiff machine: Pomeranz transformed with more curves

As the Mets continue a series in San Diego on Friday night, we’ll be seeing a quality young starting pitcher who was a first-round pick in the 2010 Draft, traded by his original team before he reached the bigs and now starring thanks in part to a strikeout percentage that ranks among the seven best in baseball.

Sure, that Noah Syndergaard guy is pretty good, too. But that all also applies to Drew Pomeranz, the man with the deadliest lefty curveball in baseball so far this season.

Just 27, Pomeranz has been around. Drafted by Cleveland in 2010 just behind Bryce Harper and Manny Machado and ahead of Matt Harvey, he was dealt to Colorado the next year in the Ubaldo Jimenez trade, then on to Oakland for Brett Anderson after three seasons in Denver. Unable to consistently stick in the A’s rotation, Pomeranz was shipped to San Diego last offseason in the Yonder Alonso deal.

Pomeranz had to beat out Robbie Erlin and Colin Rea for a rotation spot out of camp, and the results so far have been, well, impressive:

Strikeout percentage, 2016, minimum 20 innings (142 qualifiers) 1. Syndergaard — 34.4 percent 2. Jose Fernandez — 33.1 percent 3. (tie) Vince Velasquez / Clayton Kershaw — 32 percent 5. Drew Smyly — 31.5 percent 6. David Price — 30.6 percent 7. Pomeranz — 30.4 percent

That’s up from 23 percent with Oakland and in the high teens with Colorado. So how does a pitcher who averages just 91.6 mph on his fastball manage that? By using it less, mostly, despite the fact that it has above-average spin (2,490 rpm, where the average last year was 2,226 rpm), which is positively correlated to strikeouts.

“I’ve always had a pretty good fastball and it kind of gets on them, surprises them a bit,” Pomeranz said when asked about fastball spin during Spring Training. …

continue reading in source mlb.mlb.com