As the KBO begins the end of season race for playoff positioning, Dan Straily is doing everything he can to help the Lotte Giants close in on one of the five playoff spots. Lotte currently sits in sixth place, a game and a half behind the KT Wiz, thanks to Straily’s dominant performance against the Samsung Lions for Lotte’s 44th win of the season.
All season long, Straily has been one of the top pitchers in the KBO, with an ERA of 2.04, FIP of 3.08, and K/9 of 9.10, all marks that rank in the top three for the KBO. Today’s start against the Lions was no different; over six innings, Straily struck out six and allowed zero runs, throwing just 98 pitches. He nearly had a hiccup in the second inning, walking the bases loaded, but one strikeout and two easy ground balls later, he was out of the jam with no runs allowed.
It’s the kind of easy, simple, and efficient start that has become the norm for Straily in the KBO. He looks like a far different pitcher than he was during his time in MLB, especially in 2019 when he was in the bottom first percentile of hard hit% allowed and had an xwOBA of 0.459 in 47 IP.
Straily still throws the same pitches that he threw in the majors and around the same velocity on each, a 4-seam fastball around 90 mph, a slider and changeup around 84 mph, and the occasional curveball in the mid-70s. He even has a similar location distribution, throwing his slider down and away from RHH and his changeup down and away from LHH, while using his 4-seam fastball in the zone against both.
Against Samsung, that was Straily’s recipe and it worked well. He kept his 4-seam fastball elevated in the zone and on the outside edge to hitters, netting him a called strike% of 24% on the 4-seamer. He consistently put his changeup on the outside edge of the zone or in the dirt and it only got hit once for a single.
But his slider was excellent, as it has been all season, becoming Straily’s calling card. In 2019, with the Phillies, Straily threw his slider about 13% of the time and it was not very effective, only netting a whiff% of 15% and allowing an xwOBA of 0.410.
Today against Samsung? Straily threw his slider 39% of the time, netting a 29% whiff% AND a 26% called strike%. It’s crazy to think, but that’s below his season-long average whiff% of 39% on his slider, which he’s thrown about 35% of the time prior to today, making it not only one of the most used secondary pitches in the KBO but one of the most effective.
Straily has done something interesting with his slider usage to get all of those called strikes, which sets up both his slider and changeup as swing-and-miss pitches. He throws it in the zone on the first pitch. Against Samsung, he threw his slider as his first offering 11 times, or 48% of the time, netting six called strikes and two foul balls, good for a 73% strike rate on his first-pitch sliders. Some of this is due to the higher degree of patience in the KBO on the hitter’s part, but exploiting that is a phenomenal move by Straily.
His slider’s whiff% of 38% ranks second in the KBO among specific pitches that have been tracked 100+ times and its called strike% of 20% ranks second among sliders, giving him a called strike + whiff% of 41%, easily the best mark in the KBO. Each of his pitches plays off the others really well, leading to a lot of swings and misses, as we’ve seen.
If that were all that Straily was phenomenal at, he’d be terrific already. But he’s also got the second-best batting average against at a measly 0.202 and third-best BABIP of 0.265. Against Samsung, Straily allowed 14 balls in play; only two were hit hard, one on a groundout and another on a single by Kim Sang-su, while six each were medium and soft levels of contact.
Straily has a very simple recipe: 4-seam fastballs up in the zone, sliders down and away, or for early called strikes and changeups that break away from left-handed hitters. It’s worked for him, getting lots of swings and misses as well as a lot of soft contact. His slider has developed into a really impressive pitch and throwing it nearly 40% of the time has really worked out, missing a lot of bats and throwing hitter’s timing off.
*Stats from myKBO.com, FanGraphs.com, Baseball Savant, and the KBO Wizard*