I'm a little late, but the prior post reminded me that as a baseball fan, I wanted to say what I love about Darren O'Day.
I love that he throws an 86 mph fastball exclusively on the upper edge and can get a whiff % of 30% on it.
I love that his 4-seamer has more horizontal movement than his slider, and his slider is still dominant.
I love that he can throw a slider with 10" less horizontal movement than Bauer, who also has an extra 8 mph on his fastball, and get a better whiff rate with it (35.1% to 33.7% on sliders in 2020). (Yes, I know there is a mountain of difference in volume for a reliever and starter, but I still love it.)
I love that he always ends up with a K % around 30% and a walk % better than league average.
I love that his slow velocity still leads to a better than average pull % by hitters, meaning less pulled balls (32.8% vs. league average 36.6%).
I love that he lives on the edge of the zone (48% vs. league average 42.6%) and rarely throws middle-middle (5.3% vs. league average 7.2%).
I have a soft-spot for side-armers, but what he can do with his stuff is a good example of what makes baseball fun. An 86 mph fastball up in the zone sounds like a recipe for disaster, not dominance. Health is an on-going problem at this point in his career, but when he is on the mound, he does some great stuff in an untypical fashion.