What’s Changed for Chris Archer? Part 3: Wind-up

With Chris Archer signing to the Rays, I’ve been posting about how he’s changed since being on the Pirates. In this final part, I am going to go through changes Archer made to his wind-up.

If you missed the first couple parts, check them out here:

• Part 1: Archer’s Sinker
• Part 2: Archer’s Fourseam

Archer’s Wind-up

While watching video of Archer throw in 2018 and 2019, two main changes stood out:

1. Archer’s starting position on the mound
2. The angle of Archer’s arm mid-throw

Archer’s New Mound Position

When Archer was with the Rays, he started his wind-up a few inches off the edge of the rubber. During his time with the Pirates, however, he shifted and started lining up directly at the edge of the rubber on the first base side of the mound.

Check out the comparison below:

Archer’s New Release Point

The other change in Archer’s wind-up appears in his release point. In his time with the Rays, Archer had a wider arm angle mid-throw. During his time with the pirates, that angle narrows and his arm has more vertical action.

The red dashed lines in the comparison images below help visualize the angle change.

This is backed up by release point metrics on Baseball Savant. If we compare his release point in 2017 to that in 2019, we can more clearly see the change on the visual below. The red dashed line represents the 2-ft mark on the horizontal axis, and is placed there just for reference. You can see in 2019, all of Archer’s pitches fall to the right of the dashed line. In 2017, they overlapped the dashed line.

So what does this mean?

I’m not sure what led Archer to making these changes, and don’t think they’ve had a meaningful effect yet.

After implementing the changes fully in 2019, his walk rate increased to a career high 11% and his barrel rate increased to a career high 11%. The spin rate on his pitches is also in the same range as previous years.

When comparing heat maps, it seems like his pitches are landing in the same location as they were in previous years.

Do you think these adjustments will lead to a successful 2021? Let me know in the comments below!

And if you liked this three part series, let me know which player you’d like to see next.