Too many sliders, a breakdown
What Happened
In the bottom of the seventh inning, the score is tied in a close game between the Chicago Cubs and the Milwaukee Brewers on Opening Day. Chicago's Ian Happ steps up to the plate with runners on the corners and the go-ahead run at third base. Milwaukee pitcher Jake Cousins has a tendency to rely heavily on his slider, throwing it 61% of the time last season. Cousins starts Happ off with two sliders, missing the strike zone both times. He then tries to sneak a slider by for a called strike, but Happ remains patient. The next pitch is a two-seam fastball that catches the corner for a strike. Happ doesn't swing at the first two pitches, and Cousins seems unsure of how to approach him. He tries a backdoor slider on the next pitch, but it never comes back into the zone. The count runs full, 3-2, and Happ is clearly sitting on the slider, knowing that's Cousins' go-to pitch in this situation. Sure enough, Cousins throws another slider, and Happ laces it down the line for a double, bringing home two runs. The crowd erupts as the Cubs take the lead late on Opening Day. Happ claps in celebration as he stands on second base. Afterwards, Happ comments, "Yeah, man, too many sliders." It's clear Cousins relied too heavily on his breaking ball, allowing Happ to time it up and deliver the clutch hit. The Brewers pitcher is left rueing his pitch selection, realizing he needs to mix in his fastball more effectively to keep hitters off-balance. This pivotal late-inning at-bat showcases Happ's patience and pitch-recognition skills, as well as Cousins' over-reliance on his slider. The Cubs' comeback victory on Opening Day sets the stage for an exciting season ahead in the NL Central division rivalry.
Full Transcript
Click timestamps to jump to that momentthis isn't a breakdown where anything
crazy happens there's no brawl there's
no crazy lip reading it's just baseball
talk it's in that bat featuring my buddy
Ian hap member of johnboy media versus
Jake cousins it's brought to you by
DraftKings now Jake cousins for the
Brewers throws his slider 61% of the
time that's what he did last year that's
the info people have on him and you'll
see the contarus throws a slider there
for a ball the next pitch throws a
slider again for a ball then he's going
to throw throw this slider that's for a
strike he's going to go to the two seam
fast ball and he hits him contras
doesn't like it he didn't like it he
wanted to throw a strike now haers up
who's having himself a great opening day
bottom seventh Runners on the corners
tie game go ahead run at third he wants
to do damage he wants to see his pitch
the first pitch I think it's supposed to
be like a back foot slider I really
don't know cuz the catcher sets up
outside and then it just sweeps all the
way across so I don't really actually
know the goal there but it's a slider
and it's a ball and I think they say you
know what let's try out the fast ball
again so they do it's a sinker two
seamer it's got arms Side Run and he
gets the called strike and it's actually
if he was trying to do that it's a
really nice pitch but I don't think he
loves what happened on that neither is
hap because hap thinks that's a ball low
here's the two pitches overlay to show
you the effect they have on a hitter
that big cross action oh uh bam and then
they just Dart their own
way that's the effect the two of those
are supposed to happen he doesn't throw
the two seamer enough for that to really
happened I think people just sit slider
now hap hasn't swung at the first two
pitches he's going to go back to the
slider and he's going to try to get him
to swing over it again it doesn't it's
just another ball now he goes back to
the slider but he tries the back door it
really wants that call the UMP wants
that call so instead of attacking the
back foot he's says all right this
dude's not going to swing until I throw
a strike seems that way so he says I
going to try and sneak a strike out of
this and back door and that's supposed
to fall back in it never does I don't
know why they want the call well I do
everyone wants calls always so now it's
three and one you don't want to walk hap
you got to throw a strike here you got
to throw whatever pitch you think you
can throw a strike with for him it's the
slider so now hap hasn't swung a single
pitch and now it's full count and haps
thinking okay I haven't swung this guy
throws a slider 61% of the time he's
thrown all sliders he just threw a
slider 3-1 where he needed to throw a
strike so he's probably going to throw
that same exact slider 3-2 because he
still needs to throw a strike and I
guess that's his most trusted pitch so
I'll just sit on that slider I think and
Jake cousins is hoping he doesn't sit on
the oh sad on the slider popped it
out did it go out no it's wriggly and
April it's a double but two-run score
little claps from haer on second base
crowd's going wild they're going to beat
the Brewers an opening day and Jake
cousins is thinking
I think maybe I'm throwing too many
sliders and hap says yeah yeah man too
many sliders cuz look these are the 3-1
pitch and the 3-2 pitch it's the same
pitch and once you throw 3-1 you're
usually going to throw 3-2 but that's
not even a back door slider that's just
like a get me over slider basically
hap takes care of it Go hap go this one
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