ANAHEIM -- Even though José Soriano looked a bit more mortal and didn’t have his best stuff, he was still able to make history against the Blue Jays on Wednesday afternoon.
Soriano allowed a season-high seven hits, but still got through five scoreless innings in the Angels' 7-3 win over the Blue Jays on Wednesday afternoon at Angel Stadium to snap a four-game losing streak.
Soriano continued his run as one of baseball's pleasant surprises in the first month. How pleasant? He was in line for his sixth win in as many starts before the bullpen let him down, but has a microscopic 0.24 ERA and a nearly-as-small 0.82 WHIP across his first six starts -- all the best marks in the Majors.
The Angels righty has been nothing short of dominant. He’s the first player (excluding openers) in MLB history to allow just one run through the first six starts of a season, and his 0.24 ERA is the lowest in a pitcher's first six starts of a season since earned runs became official in both leagues (1913).
“It's special,” manager Kurt Suzuki said. “Just watching him go to work every single day, not just the days he starts, but the days that he gets his work in. The guy is a physical specimen, so it's awesome to watch. It's tremendous.”
It's a development few saw coming for Soriano, who entered the season with a career 17-21 record, a 1.32 WHIP and a 3.89 ERA. Though he's always had an elite fastball, and though that 3.89 ERA was significantly better than league average (4.21) during Soriano's first three seasons, nothing suggested this level of dominance.
He’s allowed just one run all season, and had allowed more than two hits just once before surrendering seven against Toronto. But none of those went for extra bases and he didn’t walk a batter for the second time this season.
“You’re gonna have a day like that,” Soriano said. “It doesn't have to be the Blue Jays, sometimes it’s different things. But the only thing I can do is keep grinding out there.”
Soriano's lone run allowed this season came on a solo homer from the Braves' Drake Baldwin on April 6. Aside from that, nada. That presented quite the challenge for the Blue Jays, who entered with a .698 OPS, which ranks in MLB's bottom half.
Perhaps the biggest reason why Soriano has allowed just one run this season is because he's not allowing any hard contact. And it's not just that he's gotten better in that area, it's that he's got dramatically better. Soriano's hard-hit rate this season is 30.9 percent, substantially down from last season's 48.2 percent and significantly better than the 37 percent league average. As a result, hitters have an average exit velocity of just 87 mph, down from 91.4 mph last season (his career average is 90.7 mph).
“They're a good team over there that puts the ball in play so they were getting their hits that way,” Suzuki said. “But for the most part, he was limiting hard contact so it was a good day.”
Why has this happened? Basically, it's because Soriano's stuff has gotten better and he's doing a better job of mixing his pitches. One highlight has been his sinker, which continues to be his most-used pitch and is performing better than ever.
Averaging about 97 mph and 95.7 mph on Wednesday, the sinker has completely neutralized hitters. Opponents are hitting just .056 against it, with an expected average of .177. A big reason? It's sinking more than ever. Soriano has averaged 27.1 inches of vertical drop on the pitch this season, up from 25.8 inches last season. It's a difference of less than 2 inches, but that can be the difference between hard contact and soft contact. Last season, batters hit .290 on the sinker with an expected slugging percentage of .413. This season's expected slug? Just .300.
But factor in Soriano's 98 mph four-seamer (which he's throwing a lot more), his splitter, his knuckle curve and his slider, and you've got a repertoire that can give hitters fits.
Of his 84 pitches against Toronto, he registered 16 swinging strikes, including six with his curve, five with his sinker, four with his splitter and one with his four-seamer. He recorded seven outs via grounders, including a double play, and two via the air. It was his shortest outing of the year, but he still left with a three-run lead keyed by solo homers from Nolan Schanuel and Mike Trout.
“He's got serious stuff,” said Schanuel, who had four RBIs, including a go-ahead three-run double in the eighth. “I feel bad for hitters who have to go face him three or four times in a game. I saw it while standing in there during Spring Training. He's got wiffle ball stuff. I've never seen a baseball move that much.”