A fastball and two cutters were enough.
LG Twins foreign pitcher Detrick Enns neutralized the Doosan Bears bats with a potent fastball-cutter combination to earn his sixth win of the season with a quality start.
With LG manager Yeom Kyung-yeop announcing that he would replace one of his two foreign pitchers, and general manager Cha Myung-seok flying to the United States to see the pitchers in person, the battle for survival between Casey Kelly and Enns began.
After Kelly's second straight quality start, Enns followed suit with his second straight quality start, raising hopes that foreign substitutions might become a thing of the past.
Enns' pitching on this day was very encouraging. He started throwing his fastball and cutter into the high zone on May 28 against the Incheon SSG Landers and it worked, and he continued to throw his fastball high in the zone to keep the Doosan hitters at bay.
He allowed just two hits in six innings. The only two hits were a double off of Lee Yoo-chan in the third inning and a solo shot off of Henry Ramos in the sixth inning. He also gave up three walks. A stolen base put runners in scoring position, but Enns was able to complete the quality start without allowing a run.
On the day, Enns threw 100 pitches, 60 of which were fastballs. His fastball topped out at 152 mph and averaged 149 mph. His fastball has averaged 146.9 mph this season, so he was in good shape today. He used his cutter in addition to his fastball to fool the Doosan hitters. Four of his six strikeouts on the day came on swings and misses with his 안전놀이터 cutter. The fastball's quick rise and fall fooled hitters.
Enns threw 24 cutters on the day. His fastball and cutter totaled 84 pitches, making it 84% fastball-cutter. He added six changeups and one each of a curveball and slider.
He was able to keep hitters off-balance by throwing his fastball in the high zone, and when he added his cutter to the mix, he was able to fool them.
After the game, Enns said, “It felt good to have the hitters support me early on, and I felt like all I had to do was pitch aggressively and try to take advantage of the batters and the pitch count,” adding, “The Doosan lineup was good today, so I focused on delivering my pitches and executing my game plan, and I think it paid off.”
The high fastball strategy worked again today. “Part of my game plan today was to aggressively attack the top of the strike zone, and it worked. “I tried to tunnel my other pitches a little bit more to make them look the same as my fastball,” he said. “I think it gives hitters something to think about because the fastball and cutter tunnel in the same spot. I think it gives me a weapon that can confuse hitters a little bit more because if I throw my fastball high and then throw my cutter, it can catch them off guard.”
When asked about the biggest reason for his improvement in the last two games after a rough patch, he pointed to the change in arm angle. “I think the biggest difference was my release point,” he said. “When I was bad, I had a low arm height, so my fastball was weak on the ball and I didn't have good command, so I got a lot of hits. “When I was bad, my arm angle was low and I had a weak tip of the fastball and I didn't have command, so I got a lot of hits. That little change was very important,” he said.