Cole Sulser has a future as a pitching coach — or coordinator — if he chooses to go that route. A graduate of Dartmouth College with a degree in Engineering Sciences, the 36-year-old right-hander has not only eaten the rubber with five major league teams, but also with his current club, the ever-improving Tampa Bay Rays. Like any pitcher in the game, Sulser knows his craft well.
His final education is before arriving in July 2024 in St. Ditto his rendering of the data here on FanGraphs. Then the Baltimore Oriole, Sulser shared thoughts on the development of the change, and later on the design of the pitch, pieces that started in August 2021. Looking for more ideas from a pitcher with experience in analysis, I found him when the Rays visited Fenway Park this past weekend.
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David Laurila: How much has pitch design grown since we spoke five years ago?”
Cole Sulser: “I think it’s grown a lot. Our understanding is much broader than it was five years ago. Some teams were maybe ahead of others, but it was definitely a little more. We were looking at some general aspects in terms of the number of rotations, and maybe a little efficiency. Now it seems that teams have found a lot more about the depth of your body, the depth of your body that can match the depth of your body. that instead of looking for certain pitches, they look more at what you do naturally, and try to complement it with pitches that can easily come to you.”
Laurila: Did that affect you directly?
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Sulzer: “It’s a little bit. It’s helped me with my cutter, because I’m usually behind the ball and it’s a lot easier than being over-handled and in front of the ball. Breaking balls can be difficult for me to chase. Even that can be a good analytical voice, and it would be good to have, it can be a very difficult thing to throw, or to design something, which is difficult to play. cutter, it would come naturally to the way my body works and the way I throw the ball.”
Laurila: Have you ever chased things that didn’t mesh with what came naturally?
Sulzer: “Sure, you see guys out there with a bad voice and they’re like, ‘Oh, man. I want to throw that too.’ But you can end up wasting time trying to chase these things. It may come easily to that boy, but to you it may be a struggle. And even if you can achieve it, it can actually come as a detriment to your other areas, because you start to go out of your normal mechanics and arm action to chase certain movements. So, the increase in math, and our increase in understanding how pitches are designed and thrown, has helped guys refine their pitches to maximize their specific skills.”
Laurila: Is there anything, five years ago, that might have been overemphasized in importance?
Sulzer: “This may have been before five years ago, but everybody was about pitch rate. That was a big thing. Since then we’ve understood that pitch rate isn’t as much as the actual movement you’re producing with it. If you’re producing a high pitch rate but you’re not very efficient, that’s not going to help you much. Again, our depth of understanding is much better. Those pieces that are there are not very good.
Laurila: Arm spaces, approach angles, release zones…
Sulzer: “Those are the big ones. Certain movements from one position on the arm, say a straight up delivery; getting the same stats from a lower position may play out differently, and be more valuable or less valuable. Not all movements are the same. Gaining movement from different positions of the arm can produce different types of values.
“A lot of that is natural, and that’s where I think our understanding has gotten better. Pitches are like the position of your arm – or be a kind of grading system so that if we look at the pitch directly – we can give you a true assessment. We’re not just comparing it to the average of the league. That’s something where we got ahead by jumping, not saying something, ‘We’re testing’ and not saying anything. Did it work or not?’ then you need a large sample size to find that out. The pace of how guys can make adjustments is much faster now. “
Laurila: How much do guys stuff at the seams in bullpen sessions?
Sulzer: “Every time. It used to be trial and error, ‘I loved that move,’ whereas now we understand better how it should play. Maybe it needs more analysis. Again, we can do things quickly, and with a lot of confidence that something should translate into local results.”
Laurila: Have you changed the stitch pattern on any of your stitches?
Sulzer: “I changed. I changed the seam orientation on my changeup, even though it was one of my best pitches. I changed it to have a more consistent depth. I changed the seam orientation on my cutter for the same reasons, to get more consistent. I’ve definitely been tickled. Another reason is you might not throw the same at 35 as you do at 35.”
Laurila: Seam shift and seam rise are terms that are becoming more common, but many people don’t fully understand what they mean. How would you describe them?
Sulzer: “The guys at first were looking at creating movement in pitches based only on spin. For example, getting the side spin to make the slider move. But then we found out more about the seam shift. Seam shift is the aerodynamics of baseball itself. Seams create areas where the air doesn’t move well over the ball. It creates movement that spin is not what the baero creates, but it’s better to create it yourself. certain fields have moved, that is a big advantage.”
Laurila: Is your shift a seam shift?
Sulzer: “It’s the corner.”
Laurila: And how exactly do you create a seam-shift effect?
Sulzer: “In the beginning, it was a kind of luck. From what I understand, I know that you don’t try to chase what you think creates movement. With a seam change, you can actually stay behind the ball, or cut a little, and, again, aerodynamics creates movement.
“You want an area that doesn’t have to be too specific about finger placement. What you want is for the ball to come out with a certain amount of gyro degree or inefficiency. If you make the pitch come out with that inefficiency… basically, you’re arranging the areas on the ball where the seams are to get a smooth surface in certain areas, the shift helps in a way. The seam-shift sinker, you’re trying to get a cool surface on the left side of the ball, I’m trying to get the ball out of my hand at 11 o’clock.
