It wouldn’t be surprising if you struggled to pick out one young Yankees reliever from another. Nick Rumbelow, James Pazos, Brandon Pinder, Nick Goody, Johnny Barbato, and Jacob Lindgren all seem to have blended together while on the never-stopping Scranton Shuttle over the past two seasons. On the mound, none seem to stand out as faces (or arms) in the crowd like “The Big Three” of the Yankees bullpen do. Despite this glut of pitchers, there are some who are beginning to gradually distinguish themselves from the pack.
Goody may not look like the most exciting of pitchers on the mound, but it might be time to start taking notice.
From the naked eye, one may judge Goody as a mediocre middle reliever. In fact, you could probably delve into his PITCHf/x data and come away with the same conclusion. Goody’s a two pitch pitcher—utilizing a slider and fastball that both have slightly below average velocity. The fastball lacks movement to make up for that lackluster velocity, the slider’s action is interesting, and…that’s about it.
Goody’s repertoire appears to be fairly unspectacular, but that doesn’t mean he should also be written off as such. The best way to prove this statement is to look at, of all people, former Yankees reliever Shawn Kelley. Although Kelley isn’t the most dominant reliever in baseball, the 32-year old has carved out a successful career and is in the midst of his best season. If you’re wondering why I’m now talking about Kelley in a Goody article, it’s for good reason. Shawn Kelley is Nick Goody. Well, sort of.
Kelley, like Goody, plies his craft with a slider and a fastball, both featuring below average velocity. The fastball is fairly straight, but the slider does have good bite. Sound familiar?
| Velocity (mph) | Usage (%) | xMov (in.) | zMov (in.) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shawn Kelley Fastball | 91.7 | 44.50% | -2.7 | 10.4 |
| Nick Goody Fastball | 91.1 | 49.10% | -3.1 | 11.4 |
| Shawn Kelley Slider | 82.5 | 55% | 3.6 | 0.8 |
| Nick Goody Slider | 81.9 | 48.30% | 3.8 | 0.9 |
**These values were taken as an average from 2015-2016.
Based on pitch shape and velocity alone, distinguishing between the two pitchers is a nearly impossible task. Although Goody appears to be merely okay on the surface, this may not be the case given his uncanny resemblance to the much-more-than-okay Shawn Kelley. There’s more to Goody’s story than what meets the eye, and Kelley could hold the answer to why.
With that in mind, it could be helpful to figure out what makes Kelley successful. If we can figure that out, then maybe we can shed light on why or how Nick Goody could become more than a run-of-the-mill middle reliever. It isn’t Kelley’s ability to induce groundballs—in fact, he’s actually pretty bad at that—and it also isn’t thanks to exceptional control. Instead, Kelley looks to owe his success to an elite slider.
This slider of Kelley’s is secretly one of the best pitches in baseball. While it doesn’t look as sexy as an Aroldis Chapman fastball, Dellin Betances curveball, or Andrew Miller slider, this slider is deadly. The pitch had a 20.3% swinging strike rate and .169 batting average against in 2015, and it’s only been harder to hit this season. Both of these marks—the swing rate in particular—are off-the-charts good. Kelley’s able to command and manipulate the pitch in and around the strike zone, which has helped him combat the platoon splits a slider often brings. Kelley’s slider has all the makings of a pitch that can carry a reliever, even in the absence of other weapons.
Since we’ve established that in some ways Shawn Kelley is Nick Goody, it’s fair to say that in some ways Goody has Kelley’s slider. While Goody certainly hasn’t developed his offering to his counterpart’s heights just yet, it’s closer than you’d expect. Goody has his slider to thank for a 12.00 K/9 and 2.00 ERA this season, as it’s dominated to the tune of a .192 slugging against and 22.5% swinging strike rate. It doesn’t appear to have the same platoon-defying qualities that Kelley’s done—at least not yet—and that could limit the utility of Goody for the time being. He’ll have to work on moving the pitch around the plate to fool both righties and lefties, and this will take some time. An improvement here will be key for Goody, as he leans on the slider and won’t have much success if the pitch’s effectiveness is diminished against left handed hitters.
Even if Goody isn’t quite at the level of a seasoned major league veteran in Shawn Kelley, there’s still a bright future ahead. Banking on Goody to have similar results to Kelley given their similarities isn’t the greatest idea, but leaving the door open for Goody to reach Kelley’s production is feasible. Goody will need to improve in a few facets of the game, but the 24-year old could be a much bigger factor out of the bullpen than one might expect.
Photo: Greg M. Cooper / USA Today Sports