Steven Wright

[Night of the Keyboard]

I consider Steven Wright to be an interesting prospect as I've been fascinated by the knuckleball since reading Ball Four when I was a kid.

Wright is similar to Dickey as his knuckler is thrown in the mid to high 70's, which is about 10mph faster than Wakefield. He also has a 90 mph fastball and should be much better at holding runners than Wakefield was.

He recently came back from sports hernia surgery and gave up two eaned runs in 5 innings with 4Ks and 1BB in his first start with Portland. Hopefully AJP or Ross can do better than Lavarnway did in trying catch him should he make it back to the ML this year.

 

[Manramsclan]

This quote from Steven Wright says a lot about his makeup.
 

 
"I spilled spot remover on my dog, and he disappeared."

 

 

[oumbi]

Update: Wright may be back (?) into consideration as a serious prospect, in spite of being 27 yo and an injury earlier this year.
 
From Soxprospects:
After allowing a first-inning solo home run, Steven Wright settled in and was nearly unhittable. The knuckleballer struck out a career-high 10 batters in his seven innings of work. He scattered three hits and walked one. Wright now has a 1.35 ERA in three starts since rejoining the PawSox after missing the start of the season with a sports hernia.

 

[Comfortably Lomb]

Actually, he's 29 and will be 30 this summer; born in August 30, 1984. 29/30 might be 25/26 in knuckleballer years (who really knows with these guys). Easy to forget he's also on the 40-man right now and was up with the big club a few times last year. Best of luck to him, it's hard not to love knuckleballers.

 

[oumbi]

Steven Wright pitched 3 innings, allowing a run on 4 hits and had one walk in the first part of a suspended game.

 

[Monbo Jumbo]

Pitches-strikes: Wright, S 103-78
 
He threw a lot of strikes last night. 

 

[oumbi]

In five games in AAA so far this year, Wright's stats read:
 
ERA = 1.80
IP = 30
Hits = 23
BB = 6
K = 30

 

[oumbi]

Wright gets the win tonight. Not spectacular, but good enough. ERA now at 2.43 after 37 innings in AAA.
 
Steven Wright (W, 3-1)
IP 7.0
H 6
R 4
ER 4
BB 2
K 7
HR 1 

 

[Cuzittt]

One bad inning (1st). Gave up all 4 runs on a cycle, a walk and a WP. I'll take the 6 shutout innings after.

 

[oumbi]

Pitching an evening game on July 4th, Wright did a good job. He left a 2-2 tie game after pitching 8 innings. His line was:
 
Player              IP   H  R  ER BB SO HR  ERA
Steven Wright 8.0  5  2   2    1    3    0    2.40
 
He has gone 45 innings in AAA this year. If he keeps this up he may be in the discussions about whom to bring to the majors later this season.
 
Edit: Update - Pawsox win it 3-2 in the 10th with Wilson getting the win.

 

[Night of the Keyboard]

Wright appears to be throwing strikes with good results. I believe it's time to give him a ML start; maybe he could take Workman's spot the next time through the rotation.

 

[oumbi]

Another game, another excellent outing for Steven Wright. He went 8 innings, gave up 2 hits and 3 walks; striking out 8. And since he gave up no runs his ERA is now a spiffy 2.04.

 

[Eddie Jurak]

I hope the Sox fall from contention gets Wright a decent look in Boston.  If he could merely be an adequate long relief man, that would have some value in today's game.  And at best he could give us a few Wakefiled type seasons.

 

[oumbi]

Latest outing was not bad, not great. I think he is still in play for a call up.
 
 
Player                           IP    H   R   ER  BB   SO  HR  ERA
Steven Wright (W, 5-1) 8.0  4    3    3     2     2     1     2.21

 

[67WasBest]

I hope the Sox fall from contention gets Wright a decent look in Boston.  If he could merely be an adequate long relief man, that would have some value in today's game.  And at best he could give us a few Wakefiled type seasons.

I'm thinking the presence of Vazquez in Boston will increase the likelyhood we see him up some time soon.  Vazquez has caught him so there is no worry about whether or not you have a receiver for the floater.

 

[oumbi]

Wright's latest outing was cut short due to a rain suspension. His line was:
 
IP     H   R   ER  BB   SO
3.2   2   2    2     0    1

 

[oumbi]

Bad day for Wright, who pitched on short rest. He only went 6 innings and let up 5 runs.

IP H R W K ERA
6 9 5 1 5 2.80

Oh, and he had a pair of wild pitches.

 

[Soxfan in Fla]

How often did Vasquez catch him. Is the promotion of Vasquez related to his recent down turn?

 

[oumbi]

How often did Vasquez catch him. Is the promotion of Vasquez related to his recent down turn?

A good question. I checked old box scores and found the following catchers for Wright's 10 starts in AAA this season:
Butler = 5 starts
Vazquez = 4 starts
Spring = 1 start.
 
In the 5 starts with Butler catching, Wright accumulated 32 innings and let up 9 earned runs. (ERA 2.53)
 
In the 4 starts with Vazquez catching, Wright accumulated 29 innings and let up 9 earned runs. (ERA 2.79)
 
Before Vazquez was called up Wright had 6 starts (Vazquez 4, Butler 2). Since Vazquez's call up on July 9th, Wright has had 4 starts (Butler 3, Spring 1) and has accumulated 25.2 innings with 10 runs. But 7 of those runs (in 9.2 innings) came in his last two starts. In the first two starts after Vazquez's promotion Wright went 16 innings and let up 3 runs. 
 
Wright was fine with Butler as catcher until his last outing. Based upon this really, really small sample, Wright's performance this year does not seem to be tied to the catcher. Vazquez and Butler don't seem to make any significant difference and this may simply be a case of Wright having a poor game or two.

 

[oumbi]

Wright makes a cameo appearance in Boston. Called up on August 3rd and sent down on August 4th. He did not pitch in any games while up.

 

[oumbi]

A good outing undone by crappy defense. Three errors by the Pawsox marred what would have been a nice performance by Wright. He did not figure in the decision.
 
IP   Hits     Runs    ER    W    K    HR      ERA
6.0   6          4          1      3    2     1        2.70

 

[TimothyWSClark]

I am curious about the secondary benefits of having a knuckleballer starting games. I read an article about the knuckleballer boost provide by RA Dickey, and a straightforward analysis of the 2013 season strongly supported the hypothesis that suppressed the ERAs of relievers following him and starters pitching the subsequent game against the same opponent. If that is true (even to a lesser extent) and generalizable to knuckleballers in general that greatly adds to his potential value

 

[TimothyWSClark]

Sorry I had a hard time pasting the link from my phone, but its easy to google

 

[oumbi]

Here is Wright's outing on August 12th. He got the win and is now 5-3 on the AAA season. (I was traveling and could not post until now. Sorry for the delay.)
 
IP    H   R    ER   W   K    HR  ERA
8.0   9   4     3     1     2     0    2.76

 

[oumbi]

Wright called up to the big leagues today, though it is unclear how long he will stay there. Corey Brown was banished to minor league netherworlds to make space for Wright.
 
Farrell on Steven Wright: He's here as an extra bullpen arm. We've leaned on pen a bit recently. Ideally like to start an inning w/ Wright.
 
Update: Wright pitched 4 innings for the Sox today, and did pretty well. His line was:
 
IP    H    R    ER    BB    K    HR    ERA
4.0   4    1      1     0        4     1      2.25

 

[Eddie Jurak]

I would love to see Wright get an extended audition for a bullpen role.  I think there would be tremendous value in having a guy who doesn't suck to eat bullpen innings.  

 

[mabrowndog]

I'm sure he could fill a bullpen role just fine. But since he'll still have an option left, I don't think he has much of a chance to make the 25-man out of Fort Myers.
 
After the World Series many thought Workman & Britton were slamdunks for the 2014 pen out of camp. Then Cherington signed Mujica & traded for Badenhop over the winter, while Workman & Britton got optioned to Pawtucket.
 
Roster Flexibility = Depth, and those players who have it are at a disadvantage when it comes to sticking in the majors.

 

[Sprowl]

I didn't see Wright's pitching today, but I've been following him during his appearances with the Red Sox, and have been wondering whether he has any consistent movement to his knuckleball. Consistent movement -- for example, a tendency to float down and in to RHB -- could help Wright with control, or help the batter with predictability. For the record, in today's plot I see no predictability to his knuckleball, except that it does not move like his fastball:
 

 
 
Also, there is a significant likelihood that out of the the Pawtucket Brigade, Wright will be among the more successful major-league starters. Ranaudo needs another pitch, Rubby needs a third pitch from game to game, and Webster and Kelly need to command the fastball. They are all works in progress, and there's no assurance that they will progress enough by 2015. The odds are that only 1 makes the leap, at least 1 fails, and the other get stamped 2016.
 
That means that Wright is a #5 starter, and we'd be seeing a lot of Wright again... especially on Sundays. It'll be like Tim Wakefield never woke up. :blink:

 

[Monbo Jumbo]

Wright's cut his walk rate in half at Pawtucket this year in his injury-shortened season.   He seems to have better command of the knuckleball compared to last year when he was on the mound for an MLB record 4 passed balls in one inning. 

 

[oumbi]

I don't see how Wright doesn't get a call up in September. Perhaps then we can see whether he is good enough for the big league next season. Knuckleballers are so hard to predict in terms of success. And, as pointed out by Sprowl, his knuckleball lacked predictability on its movement in his last outing, which for Wright is probably an asset.  For what it is worth, Wright's ERA at least puts him in the conversation as a starter when compared to his AAA teammates so far:
 
Wright ERA = 2.76
Owens = 4.08
Ranaudo = 2.58
Barnes = 4.12
Escobar = 1.89
Webster = 3.10 (for AAA)
 
As for his improvements over last season, yes they are there in H/9 and BB/9, but not K rate:
            2013    2014
H/9       8.67    7.16
BB/9    4.3      2.02
K/9       6.6      6.46
 
But even with the K rate down a bit, he is putting nearly four  less runners on per 9 innings. That is impressive.

 

[oumbi]

A really sucky outing for Wright tonight. First game since returning from the big leagues and he did nothing to improve anyone's opinion of him as a pitcher.
 
Read it and weep...
 
IP    H    R    ER    BB    K    HR   ERA
4.1  8     7     5      1       4     2      3.13

 

[mabrowndog]

A really sucky outing for Wright tonight. First game since returning from the big leagues and he did nothing to improve anyone's opinion of him as a pitcher.
 
Read it and weep...
 
IP    H    R    ER    BB    K    HR   ERA
4.1  8     7     5      1       4     2      3.13

 
3 of those ER came on a titanic blast out of McCoy by John Mayberry Jr., who really has no right whatsoever to be playing in AAA but is rehabbing from a June wrist injury. Clearly his wrist is just fine. Wright's pitches weren't working particularly well before the HR, as he fell behind in the count, forcing him to go to his devoid-of-velocity fastball and attempt to paint the outsides. Against a guy like Mayberry, that's a lose-lose proposition.
 
As for opinions on him as a pitcher, I doubt this outing did anything to change how Boston's front office views him. It's been said on this board a million times, but I'll say it again: No matter how skilled a knuckleball pitcher is at executing a consistent grip and repeatable delivery to eliminate all spin and rotation, he'll only be as effective as what the air does to the ball after he releases it. Temperature, humidity and wind currents all play a role. Wright's knucklers have been working far more often than not this season. They've tantalizingly headed toward the zone, coaxed swings, then darted and dipped away from bats. They've also traveled on initial trajectories headed outside the zone, then fluttered and fallen back into it as paralyzed batters have taken them for called strikes.
 
Tim Wakefield had his share of bad outings. Very rarely were they due to his inability to consistently execute his grip and delivery. Sometimes the air just didn't cooperate.
 
Wright was never going to be in the mix for a full-time starting role with Boston, either this year or next. The knuckler is simply too unpredictable to entrust a full-time gig and 200 innings to it, especially since MLB is now trending toward lower offensive output. In 2003-04, the Sox offense could get the team right back into a game if Wake ever got roughed up. That's not really the case anymore, no matter how much they revamp their lineup this winter.
 
Since Wright will still have a minor league option available for next season, I'm confident the Sox still see him as a guy who'll be able to provide spot starts and long relief on short notice when needed.

 

[oumbi]

3 of those ER came on a titanic blast out of McCoy by John Mayberry Jr., who really has no right whatsoever to be playing in AAA but is rehabbing from a June wrist injury. Clearly his wrist is just fine. Wright's pitches weren't working particularly well before the HR, as he fell behind in the count, forcing him to go to his devoid-of-velocity fastball and attempt to paint the outsides. Against a guy like Mayberry, that's a lose-lose proposition.
 
As for opinions on him as a pitcher, I doubt this outing did anything to change how Boston's front office views him. It's been said on this board a million times, but I'll say it again: No matter how skilled a knuckleball pitcher is at executing a consistent grip and repeatable delivery to eliminate all spin and rotation, he'll only be as effective as what the air does to the ball after he releases it. Temperature, humidity and wind currents all play a role. Wright's knucklers have been working far more often than not this season. They've tantalizingly headed toward the zone, coaxed swings, then darted and dipped away from bats. They've also traveled on initial trajectories headed outside the zone, then fluttered and fallen back into it as paralyzed batters have taken them for called strikes.
 
Tim Wakefield had his share of bad outings. Very rarely were they due to his inability to consistently execute his grip and delivery. Sometimes the air just didn't cooperate.
 
Wright was never going to be in the mix for a full-time starting role with Boston, either this year or next. The knuckler is simply too unpredictable to entrust a full-time gig and 200 innings to it, especially since MLB is now trending toward lower offensive output. In 2003-04, the Sox offense could get the team right back into a game if Wake ever got roughed up. That's not really the case anymore, no matter how much they revamp their lineup this winter.
 
Since Wright will still have a minor league option available for next season, I'm confident the Sox still see him as a guy who'll be able to provide spot starts and long relief on short notice when needed.

Great points and you probably are right on Wright and his immediate future with the Sox. My question begins with the idea that Wright, as with Wakefield, might be a good bet as the fifth starter. By definition fifth starters are not normally expected to win a whole lot of games, and many times that slot is filled with multiple pitchers over the course of a season given that most number five pitchers are not all that good. As such, these starters create a bit more wear and tear on bullpens.

Enter Wright, at least potentially. Yes the knuckleballer is unpredictable, but if a knuckleballer is winning games at least as often as he losing them, then such levels unpredictability would seem acceptable since expectations are originally low for that spot in the rotation. That is, regardless of being a knuckleballer or not, wouldn't most teams accept a number five pitcher who can eat 200 plus innings and deliver quality starts more often than not?

Wright might be able to deliver in such a role, though even if he does it might very well be his ceiling. If he follows the pattern of many successful knuckleballers in the past, he will eat a lot of innings as a starter. They key is, in this conversation's context, to provide enough "predictability" so as to provide opportunities for his team to win. At that level it is straightforward and exactly what Wright needs to prove to the Sox organization.

Wakefield provided years of value by serving both as a starter and in long relief. As you point out, this may be the future for Wright, but I am still perhaps a tad more optimistic on his ceiling than you. Though that perhaps comes from my wanting to see another knuckleballer in Fenway.

 

[Mighty Joe Young]

Great points and you probably are right on Wright and his immediate future with the Sox. My question begins with the idea that Wright, as with Wakefield, might be a good bet as the fifth starter. By definition fifth starters are not normally expected to win a whole lot of games, and many times that slot is filled with multiple pitchers over the course of a season given that most number five pitchers are not all that good. As such, these starters create a bit more wear and tear on bullpens.

Enter Wright, at least potentially. Yes the knuckleballer is unpredictable, but if a knuckleballer is winning games at least as often as he losing them, then such levels unpredictability would seem acceptable since expectations are originally low for that spot in the rotation. That is, regardless of being a knuckleballer or not, wouldn't most teams accept a number five pitcher who can eat 200 plus innings and deliver quality starts more often than not?

Wright might be able to deliver in such a role, though even if he does it might very well be his ceiling. If he follows the pattern of many successful knuckleballers in the past, he will eat a lot of innings as a starter. They key is, in this conversation's context, to provide enough "predictability" so as to provide opportunities for his team to win. At that level it is straightforward and exactly what Wright needs to prove to the Sox organization.

Wakefield provided years of value by serving both as a starter and in long relief. As you point out, this may be the future for Wright, but I am still perhaps a tad more optimistic on his ceiling than you. Though that perhaps comes from my wanting to see another knuckleballer in Fenway.

 
In what universe does any organization have a pre-defined "suck" role? the "5th Starter Role" - is simply filled by the perceived 5th worst starting pitcher - mainly because they tend to have their start skipped on occasion. No team will put a bad pitcher in that slot when they can put a good one there. Rationalizing having a bad pitcher on your your staff by assigning him the "Bad Starting Pitcher" role is pretty dumb from my way of thinking. 
 
The whole process of assigning Starting Pitcher slots is pretty meaningless anyway. You use the top 5 guys available - the order is irrelevant.
 
/End Rant

 

[oumbi]

Second poor outing for Wright in a row. 
 
IP    H    ER    R    BB    K    HR    ERA
6.0  12     5     5      2     4      1      3.41

 

[ALiveH]

i sort of agree with oumbi in that wright seems like he could step into the #5 role pretty easily but can't really expect him to be much more than that.  the reasoning is that knuckleballers are notoriously streaky & inconsistent.  If he's terrible for 3 months and mowes them down like pedro for 3 months, that's probably a big net positive from the #5 role.  And, in the playoffs, it's a pretty seamless transition to mopup / garbage time / long relief / emergency guy since knuckleballers can survive a lot of usage.

 

[oumbi]

He's back and he's looking good! Wright pitched for the Red Sox tonight with a nice line, though the Sox lost, ironically, to R. A. Dickey. The loss went to De la Rosa.
 
Wright
IP    H    R    ER    W    K    HR    ERA
5.0   2    0     0       1     6     0       1.00
 
So far this year, he has pitched 9 innings in the big leagues spanning two appearances.
 
Wright 2014 season
[SIZE=14.2857141494751px]IP    H    R    ER    W    K    HR    AVG    WHIP[/SIZE]
[SIZE=14.2857141494751px]9.0   6     1    1      1     10    1      .200     .78[/SIZE]

 

[Monbo Jumbo]

 
Steven Wright - 11 July 2013
 
 

 
Steven Wright - 7 Sep. 2014
 
 
He's added the ability to change speeds with the knuckleball this year. 
 
I think he makes the roster next year, with all due respect to well-reasoned arguments upthread.

 

[oumbi]

MJ, thanks for the graphics. Yes, the knuckleball does seem to have two speeds now, based upon what you showed. If so, that could make it a far more effective pitch for Wright. 
 
EDIT: to remove silly typos.

 

[Sprowl]

Another view of the two-speed knuckler -- contrary to my first impression, the slow tumbler is definitely not a curveball. It usually, but not always, ends up outside the strike zone. The contrast between Wright's two fastballs (2 four-seamers, 6 sinkers) also bears watching.
 

 

[oumbi]

One more nice outing by Wright, though the Sox lost another game.
 
IP    H    R    ER    W    K    HR    ERA
3.0   3     0     0      0      2     0       0.75
 
12 innings in the big leagues this season and has given up 1 ER.

 

[Monbo Jumbo]

 
.... It's been said on this board a million times, but I'll say it again: No matter how skilled a knuckleball pitcher is at executing a consistent grip and repeatable delivery to eliminate all spin and rotation, he'll only be as effective as what the air does to the ball after he releases it. Temperature, humidity and wind currents all play a role. ....

 
 
You know why you don't hear anyone calling bullshit on this???
 
 

Spoiler

Because R.A. Dickey's Cy Young award can't talk.

 

[oumbi]

Well, talk about plummeting back to earth. Wright had some troubles tonight.
 
IP    H    R    ER    W    K    HR    ERA
1.0   5    4     4       0     0      1      3.46

 

[oumbi]

Wright in a mop up role tonight. Six of his nine outs came via strikeouts.

IP   H     R    ER    W    K    HR      ERA
3.0  3      1      1      1    6     0        3.38

 

[oumbi]

Wright gets the start tonight against the Yankees. This could be his final appearance this season and I will post the result as usual.
 
http://boston.redsox.mlb.com/mlb/gameday/index.jsp?gid=2014_09_26_nyamlb_bosmlb_1&mode=preview&vkey=preview_web_home&c_id=bos

 

[oumbi]

And as promised, the update on Wright. A hard luck night for him, but he pitched well. I think with a good spring he makes the team next season.
 
IP    H    R    ER    BB    K    ERA
5.0   4    2     0      2       4     2.57
 
Which means that for the 2014 season his stats in 6 games are (were?):
 
[SIZE=14.2857141494751px]IP       H    R    ER    BB    K    HR  WHIP    ERA[/SIZE]
[SIZE=14.2857141494751px]21.0   21   8      6      4      22    2      1.19     2.57[/SIZE]
 
[SIZE=14.2857141494751px]For what it is worth, 4 of his 6 earned runs came in one outing of one inning.[/SIZE]

 

[Monbo Jumbo]

The ump called the game from the catchers mitt, not where the ball was over the plate. Amica pitch zone showed him getting robbed all night.

 

[oumbi]

MJ, thanks for the information. Is it possible for you to post the image with the pitches? Or, failing that, could you direct me to a web page with the pitches? Thanks in any case.

 

[Monbo Jumbo]

Remy commented on it during the game. PitchFX data comes out after the game.

 

[Monbo Jumbo]

Someone in the game thread noted on his first walk, there was one pitch out of the zone and five in.