Oakland Athletics: A Closer Look at Chris Bassitt, and His Sinker

Chris Bassitt is off to a great start this season. We dig into the data to find out why.

What do we talk about when we talk about an A’s rotation? In past seasons, it’s been a Big 3. Or a budding young ace. Or a reclamation project like Scott Kazmir. This season, it feels like we’re talking about depth.

At some point this season, we’ll see the likes of Jesse Hahn, Henderson Alvarez, and Sean Manaea don the green and gold. Somehow Bob Melvin and Billy Beane will have to squeeze them into a rotation already brimming with the likes of Sonny Gray, Rich Hill, Kendall Graveman, and the subject of this article, the under-appreciated Chris Bassitt.

Bassitt is a tall, hard-throwing righty with a delivery that oozes deception and an arsenal that runs five pitches deep. In order of frequency he throws a sinker, fastball, curveball, slider, and changeup. For a typical pitcher with just three pitches, you’d like to see him throw his third pitch around 10% of the time, just enough to keep the hitter off guard while infrequently enough to ensure he’s throwing his best pitches the vast majority of the time. Bassitt is throwing his slider, his #4 pitch, 16% of the time. That is a legitimately diverse arsenal.

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But I’d like to focus on one pitch, his sinker.

Bassitt threw his sinker 33% of the time last season and this season is no different. But it’s worth taking a closer look at the pitch because it’s also quite possibly his weakest, at least judging by its results. If we look back at last season we find that hitters feasted on it:

This season however, we’ve seen an interesting development. He’s added some drop, thrown it for strikes more often, and when he throws it outside of the zone, hitters are chasing it. These are all positive developments.

However, hitters are making contact with it 97% of the time! That’s a crazy high number, especially for a primary offering. Thankfully, hitters are pounding it into the ground, an important (and obvious) measure of success for any sinker. But it’s of particular significance for Bassitt because when hitters managed to elevate his sinker last season, they ended up circling the bases 20% of the time. For context, the league average homer-to-fly ball rate hovers around 10%.

The 67% ground ball rate on his sinker is the reason he ranks in the top 20 in MLB in ground ball rate. With the A’s shifting nearly 50% more often for Bassitt in 2016 than they did in 2015, it’s no wonder we’ve seen the peripheral improvements so far to-date.

And while hitters are still finding success against the sinker, posting a .944 OPS against the pitch, they’re also hitting it for fewer extra base hits and more ground ball singles. PITCHf/x grades his sinker this season at about league average, up from 2.5 runs below average last season. Given the frequency with which Bassitt throws it, even a marginal improvement can have a profound effect on his overall line.

Bassitt’s curveball and fastball appear to have taken a step forward as well. His curve is generating whiffs nearly 20% of the time and PITCHf/x sees significant improvement in his fastball.

Next: Is Hahn Ready to Return to the Rotation?

It’s still very early in the season so this data could change substantially after his next start in Toronto. But it’s nevertheless encouraging to see a young pitcher making strides with both his primary and secondary offerings. It’s easy to overlook a player like Bassitt, but I’m expecting big things from him this season. I think we’ll find the A’s fortunes rise and sink with him.

What do you think? Is Chris Bassitt showing legitimate improvement or will his early season success prove nothing more than small sample size noise?