CLEVELAND — Two pitchers have struck out Lars Nootbaar three times in a game: Shohei Ohtani and Tanner Bibee.
Nootbaar is a nuisance to pitchers because of his plate discipline and contact ability. He has flirted with a .400 on-base percentage this season. But on Saturday, Bibee triumphed in all three of their encounters.
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There were early signs Bibee had the upper hand. Nootbaar swung-and-missed at the first two pitches of the game: a 93 mph fastball and an 83 mph changeup, delivered to similar spots in the strike zone. The at-bat ended with a swinging strike on another changeup on the outside corner.
“With that changeup, he doesn’t slow down to get it there,” said Guardians catcher Cam Gallagher, Bibee’s batterymate for Saturday’s start against the Cardinals. “It looks like it comes right out of his armpit. You’re trying to gear up for 97 mph and it’s coming out the same way and it has 10 to 15 mph difference. It’s a tough pitch to hit.”
Bibee piled up a career-high nine strikeouts in six innings. He has recorded a 2.88 ERA in his six major-league starts, with nine walks and 34 strikeouts in 34 1/3 innings.
“Everything has slowed down,” Bibee said. “I wouldn’t say the adrenaline isn’t there. I’m just more comfortable.”
Bibee and Gallagher sat with The Athletic to break down the second of the three Nootbaar strikeouts pitch by pitch, providing insight into the pitch sequencing, planning and thought process behind Bibee’s approach to the third-inning matchup.
Pitch 1 (0-0): 84.6 mph slider, ball
Bibee: That’s probably the third pitch he was expecting there. From what I’ve heard from listening to other hitters is they’ll usually pick out two pitches. I think it would probably be fastball/changeup. So I feel like if I can spin a slider there, steal a strike almost, or maybe even get some weak contact if he thinks it’s a fastball early — that’s the thought process with the first pitch.
Giving them a different look. If I throw that that early, that shows I want to throw that pitch. Subconsciously, they’re like, “OK, I have to worry about this. I have to worry about that. And now this.”
Pitch 2 (1-0): 83.1 mph changeup, strike
Bibee: When I’m behind in the count and throwing the changeup when they’re sitting on the heater, if I can throw it in the zone, whether it’s swing-and-miss or weak contact, I think it’s gonna be pretty good. (As a hitter), when (the pitcher’s) behind, for sure, you’re trying to do damage. I think throwing a changeup behind them, when it looks like the heater, it gets the bat going and it could be a double play or a strike.
Gallagher: After the swings we got off Nootbaar and then (Nolan) Gorman with the changeup in that first inning, I’m like, “This is going to play today.”
Pitch 3 (1-1): 94.6 mph fastball, ball
Bibee: He’s really good. There, I’m just trying to get ahead. He hasn’t seen a fastball yet in this at-bat. Seeing two soft (pitches), can’t stay soft the entire at-bat, so I have to get a heater in there at some point.
Pitch 4 (2-1): 95.3 mph fastball, strike
Bibee: (Laughs) The umpire, I’m surprised he gave that to me because he wasn’t giving as much outside. He was giving more in. Same thing, trying to get to 2-2.
Pitch 5 (2-2): 84.3 mph changeup, ball
Bibee: I’m trying to strike him out at that point.
Gallagher: You can feel sometimes what they’re taking and see what they’re sitting on. The first time he came up, he wasn’t expecting the changeup, and the next time, he was looking for the changeup and taking the fastballs away. We got him looking on the fastball. Then he’s thinking, “All right, maybe he’s gonna throw the fastball,” and he front-hipped the changeup, froze him. I could tell he was a little upset with how we pitched him because it was back-and-forth, something different every time.
Pitch 6 (3-2): 83.4 mph changeup, foul
Bibee: Trying to do the exact same thing, trying to get the bat going. Whenever I get to two strikes, it’s 3-2, but I’m trying to punch him out.
He certainly wasn’t intending to leave a changeup above the zone, though.
No. Not that high, no. (Laughs) (I wanted it) in the same spot as the last one. I was trying to get it on the outer third. I’ve struck out some people this year on up-and-away changeups, so I think that tunnels pretty solid with my heater up, but I never try to do it. If I can place a changeup (low and away), I feel like he’s at least going to get the bat going a little bit.
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Gallagher: Just watching it over the past few starts, it’s something he hasn’t thrown that much and I’m like, “I think this pitch grades out a lot better than what you give it credit for.” I think it’ll be a weapon, especially for the lefties, but for the righties too — in fastball counts, if guys are gearing up for a fastball, it looks just like a heater.
Pitch 7 (3-2): 95.6 mph fastball, strike
Bibee: This is a good, old-fashioned example of trying-to-go-away-and-yanked-it-in and I got lucky.
I want to adjust before they can adjust. Say we both adjust at the same time, they’re going to adjust to their previous at-bat and I’m adjusting to the future, so I’m one step ahead of them. If I do the same at-bat every single time, I’m gonna get predictable. So that’s why I threw him that first-pitch slider. That wasn’t me calling it, though, that was (Gallagher). He’s smart as hell. I threw that first-pitch slider and it’s in (Nootbaar’s) head: slider. The rest of the at-bat was fastball/changeup, fastball/changeup, fastball/changeup.
It was cool to face a guy like that and win, and succeed in that way to solidify that, yeah, I do belong here.
Gallagher: It was so much fun. It’s like a video game. “Which pitch do I want? X, square, triangle or circle and put it in this location?”
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(Top photo: Ken Blaze / USA Today)