How Strasburg is pitching effectively with less velocity

NEW YORK - Stephen Strasburg is a flamethrower. At least, that's the mental image most folks have when they first think of the Nationals right-hander.

They remember the way Strasburg lit up the radar gun as a rookie in 2010, and even after returning from Tommy John surgery the following year. Ask the casual observer how hard Strasburg throws his fastball, and the answer probably falls in the 96-98 mph range.

Except that's not who he is anymore. After maintaining his elite velocity through most of the first nine seasons of his big league career, Strasburg has now dropped down into a category that includes mere mortals.

Two starts into the 2019 season, Strasburg's four-seam fastball is averaging 93.6 mph. That's way down from the 97.9 mph he averaged as a rookie, and a healthy amount down from the 96.0 mph he averaged as recently as 2017.

Persistent shoulder and neck troubles last year appear to have played some role in reducing Strasburg's velocity, but this also may just be a case of Father Time finally beginning to catch up with the 30-year-old right-hander.

Here's the thing, though: Strasburg doesn't mind at all. And if anything, this may be helping him become a better pitcher.

"Pitching isn't just about throwing as hard as you can, and I've never felt like I was a guy who tried to just do that and light up the radar gun and be happy regardless of outcome," Strasburg said after tossing 6 2/3 scoreless innings against the Mets on Thursday. "It's just execution. I knew eventually, getting older, you're not going to maintain it. It's part of life."

Every pitcher has to make adjustments over the course of his career, often because of diminished velocity. Strasburg appears to be entering that phase, and he's responding to it well, thank you very much.

The difference was first noticeable late last summer, after he returned from his injury. In nine total starts since then - seven to wrap up the 2018 season, two to begin the 2019 season - he is 5-0 with a 2.70 ERA and 1.18 WHIP.

Strasburg is still striking batters out (67 of them in 53 1/3 innings). He's just doing it with a wider assortment of pitches, and relying more on command and movement than sheer power.

Strasburg's repertoire had been pretty consistent throughout his career. He relied mostly on his four-seam fastball, which he threw 53.7 percent of the time. Then he used his two off-speed pitches roughly the same amount: curveball (19.6 percent) and changeup (17 percent). He'd sprinkle in a few two-seam fastballs and sliders, but for the most part he was a three-pitch pitcher, with the fastball thrown by far the most times.

Well, that's not true anymore. So far this season, Strasburg is throwing his four-seamer only 31.7 percent of the time. He's still throwing the curveball at roughly the same rate (20.6 percent). But he has increased his changeup usage to 23.6 percent and really increased his usage of the two-seamer (24.1 percent).

Those last two changes are probably making the biggest difference. The two-seamer and the changeup both move generally in the same direction (down and away to a left-handed batter) but they're thrown at different speeds: the two-seamer at 93.2 mph, the changeup at 87.2 percent.

What does that all mean? It means Strasburg is much more deceptive than he used to be. As good as his stuff was as a young pitcher, his three primary pitches looked vastly different. The stuff may not be as intimidating anymore, but it's becoming harder for batters to decipher one pitch from the rest.

Three of his four pitches move. His fastballs register similarly on the radar gun, but the four-seamer remains straight while the two-seamer darts away. His changeup looks like his two-seamer but comes in a bit slower and drops more. And his curveball completely throws a batter's timing off because of its lower velocity and break in the opposite direction of the other pitches.

"I like the fact that he is pitching, and using all his pitches," manager Davey Martinez said. "I think that makes him that much more effective."

So far, so good.