Opponent Preview: Reiver Sanmartín
Sanmartín comes into today’s ballgame with a perfect MLB record. Appearing in two games last season for the Reds, he started both & earned the win in both. He didn’t just win those games, he dominated those games. Through 11.2 innings pitched, he logged a 1.54 ERA with 11 strikeouts, two walks handed out & zero home runs surrendered.
Born in Cartagena, Colombia in 1996; the 25-year old was first brought into pro baseball by the Texas Rangers organization in 2015. In 2017 he was traded to the New York Yankees; only to be traded to the Reds in 2018 with Sonny Gray in exchange for Shed Long & a Compensation Round pick.
Tendencies
In just 181 Major League pitches thrown, 51 have been 4-seam fastballs, 50 were sliders, 44 were changeups, & 36 were sinkers.
His fastball and slider usage were relatively even to left-handed & right-handed batters. The changeup however, was thrown 38 times to righties compared to only 6 times to lefties. The sinker was thrown to righties double the amount of times he threw it to lefties, 24-12.
His slider & changeup movement numbers are IMPRESSIVE.
His slider averaged 40.5 inches of drop.
While his changeup averaged 38.8 inches of drop. SHEESH.
The Reds didn’t shift defensively at all behind Sanmartín in 2021 - zero times - against right-handed hitters. Against lefties however, the Reds shifted 12 times in 20 plate appearances (60%).
Scouted
He’s old school in the sense that he’s not today’s prototypical velo monster. None of his pitches average 90 mph or faster.
His fastball & sinker average 89.2 & 89 mph. Which bodes well for his style of pitching. He relies on control & deception. The fastball & sinker are overwhelmingly side by side in his pitch sequencing.
He is extremely skilled at keeping the ball down (another reason he’s yet to surrender a home run). And not only does he keep it down, he lives on the paint.
If tonight’s umpire has an outside strikezone that extends off the plate by a couple inches like last night’s umpire, Sanmartín will be virtually unhittable.
Pictured: Pitch Illustrator of every pitch thrown last season; by Baseball Savant.