Last year the Bucs struggled mightily vs the curve, slider, and sinker. I thought Alex Verdugo would be a good fit here because he has success against all three.
Have the Bucs approved against these pitches? Curveballs are relatively rare, so success can be found while struggling against the vertical break. However, sinkers and sliders are common.
Last year Bart and Cruz had good success against the curve with an expected ops of .844 and .776 respectively. However, they both had whiff rates greater than 40%. Having a high whiff rate on the curve and still finding success isn't rare. Aaron Judge whiffs 40%+ of the time on it regularly. Still the Bucs could use another couple of hitters to hit the curve well to give them 4. Andrew McCutchen and Alexander Canario have answered that calling this year with expected ops over 1.100 each. Cutch has whiffed at a 25% clip on the curve which is amazing while still hitting it for power. Bart has also carried over his success and reduced his whiff rate to 33%, while Cruz hasn't been able to hit the Curve to save his life this year. So they have 3 who can hit the curve this year.
Last year Cutch and Reynolds had success against the sinker with expected ops over .800 and whiffs under 18%. But again, most lineups want a minimum of four batters who can hit the pitch to keep the pitcher from getting into a rhythm with the pitch. The team has answered the calling this year with Hayes, Cutch, Bart, IKF, Cruz, and Reynolds all having success against the pitch. Out of that group only Bart has a whiff rate greater than 20% on the pitch.
Last year only Reynolds and Cutch had some success against the slider with an expected ops in the .700s. Cutch had a whiff rate in the 30s and Reynolds in the 40s. For how often the pitch is thrown that can be an issue. This year Reynolds, Cruz, and Canario have been hitting the slider well, but with whiff rates in the 40s which limits the run values of the expected results. But it is still an approvement overall.
The Bucs have approved against the break overall. They are good enough against the sinker now to match the levels of competitive teams. They still need to get better at hitting the curve and slider. Cruz may still get back to where he was in 2024 with the Curve. Hayes has historically done well against the Curve that is why he sees so little of them. Davis and Gonzo may be able to help against the slider. Horwitz didn't do well against the slider in 2024, but he is a solid overall hitter so maybe an improvement can be had here. Nick Yorke struggles against the slider. It might be his only weakness, and the only thing keeping him in AAA.