ALTOONA, Pa. – After seeing Dario Agrazal throw seven innings in Bradenton on April 22nd, I wrote that he has the look of another Trevor Williams type pitcher. At the time, that was because he was a sinkerball heavy pitcher who didn’t have much of a strikeout pitch, projecting as a reliever in the majors with a chance to be a depth starter.
A few starts later, Agrazal fired off seven strikeouts in six innings. It wasn’t the first time he had a big strikeout night. However, he followed that up with at least six strikeouts in five of his next six starts, which is something unusual. Prior to this stretch, Agrazal had seven games with 6+ strikeouts in four seasons.
The reason for the increased amount of strikeouts was due to Agrazal mixing up his pitches a little better, but also due to improvements to his slider.
“I’m using my pitches. My slider helped me this year,” Agrazal said. “My slider and my sinker, those are my two better pitches, and my changeup is good too.”
Agrazal had always been a guy who pounded the zone with his sinker, but had been mixing in his other pitches more frequently this year. Lately, the slider has shown better results, leading to all of those strikeouts.
“This year it’s much better than last year. More consistency, it’s in the zone,” Agrazal said. “The consistency is because I fixed my mechanics in Bradenton and in Spring Training. That’s helped me for my slider.”
The mechanical changes were mostly out in front, dealing with his glove and arm placement during the delivery. This adjustment may have also helped his velocity, as he has been seeing a consistent increase this year, hitting 95-96 MPH more often.
The Pirates promoted Agrazal to Altoona this week, and he made his debut on Wednesday. The outing was a short one, as he left after four innings with a pectoral strain. He didn’t have his best stuff in the outing, and wasn’t showing the usual control of his fastball, which may have been due to the injury. But Altoona manager Michael Ryan heard about Agrazal prior to the start, and felt he was as advertised.
“The first thing I heard is he’s a bulldog out there and he just competes,” Ryan said. “He keeps the ball down, great control of all three pitches. Good or bad, his emotions never change, and that’s exactly what I saw tonight. I was very impressed.”
Agrazal will get a better chance in Double-A to show whether his new-found strikeout abilities are legit. That may have to wait a bit, as he’s expected to miss his next start due to the strained pectoral. There is no word on how long the issue will keep him out, but it doesn’t seem like an injury that would keep him out for the long-term, which means he should get plenty of opportunities in the second half to show what he can do at the higher level.
