INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – One of the more pleasant surprises for Indianapolis this season was the finish to the season from right-handed pitcher Osvaldo Bido.
While the 26-year-old Bido saw some time with Indianapolis last year, he really hit the ground running this year, with some added velocity on his fastball.
Additionally, Bido was one of the more consistent Indianapolis pitchers, appearing in 32 games with 25 starts. He began a stalwart in the rotation, but finished strong over the final two months. In those months, he finished with a 3.09 ERA in 43.2 innings, with a lot of damage coming in the final start of the season.
Through Indianapolis manager Miguel Perez’s transition, Bido said that his focus has grown to even when he is off the mound, watching between starts and watching games from the dugout. He credits that to his success, but the added fastball velocity to the mid 90s hasn’t hurt either.
“[My fastball] feels really good,” Bido said. “I’ve been working on my body more and my endurance. I’ve been working on a lot of conditioning. Having my fastball going up a couple miles per hour is part of how hard I’ve been working and what I’ve been working on.“
Bido struck out 54 hitters in those 10 games over the final two months for a 28.6% rate, which led to a career high 24.1% strikeout rate this year. His walk rate was still high, but improved from 14.2% before August to 10.1% over the final two months.
“I go out there and compete and it gets to the point that it’s mano a mano fight,” Bido said. “It is me versus the batter. Sometimes it gets tough to strike them out. That is when I start to try to expand the zone a little bit. Then I start thinking about what other pitch I can throw. That’s sometimes when the batter wins the at bat. I’ve identified those things, and it is something that I’m working on. I’m trying to attack more and be more aggressive lately.“
Perez has managed Bido for a few seasons. This season, he has seen significant progress, that has resulted in improved numbers on the field.
“The growth and improvement Bido, he has come a long way,” Perez said. “He’s been with me for the last couple of years and I’ve seen the process of improvement. It has been fun to watch him grow now he starts to understand the importance of every pitch. He can’t take any pitches off.”
Perez has also noticed that Bido has an improved focus when his number is not called on the mound, away from his day in the rotation.
“He took control of his career,” Perez said. “He’s being a good listener. He’s listening to instructions. From my standpoint, I can say that [pitching coach] Dan [Meyer] has been teaching him a lot, and he has been a great student. His focus has been tremendous.“
Perez mentioned that there are times that Bido has come to him saying that he is mentally exhausted after a start. This has been something that Perez has looked for from Bido in their development.
While time will tell if Bido’s improved fastball velocity and missing bats plays at the big league level, he took a big step during the 2022 season in his development.
