Bryan Woo wasn’t extremely regarded when the Seattle Mariners chosen him within the sixth spherical of the 2021 draft out of Cal Poly. That’s comprehensible. The low-slot righty had a 6.36 ERA in his three collegiate seasons, together with a 6.11 mark in his injury-hampered junior yr. After present process Tommy John surgical procedure in April 2021, he made his skilled debut in ’22.
Now, the 24-year-old is exhibiting that Seattle’s director of pitching technique, Travis Clean, wasn’t fully out of his thoughts when he reportedly informed members of the Mariners entrance workplace previous to the draft that “this man could be one-one for me.” Whereas it’s unlikely that Woo goes to be nearly as good or higher than the entire 173 gamers drafted forward of him, his numbers have nonetheless been spectacular. Since making his massive league debut in July 2023, he has a 3.60 ERA and a 3.96 FIP over 137 1/3 innings throughout his 28 begins with the Mariners. In 10 outings this yr, he’s 4-1 with a 2.54 ERA and a 3.25 FIP. It’s value noting that this success hasn’t precisely come out of nowhere. Together with 4 rehab outings this yr, Woo logged a 2.97 ERA and 162 strikeouts over 115 innings as a minor leaguer.
Woo introduced up his backstory after I requested him how he’s developed as pitcher.
“Going by means of the draft-and-scouting course of, I really feel like loads of it was primarily based on my potential,” Woo informed me when the Mariners performed in Cleveland final month. “I didn’t have nice outcomes on the time. It was primarily based off of, ‘He might be this. It seems to be like he’s growing into that.’ For me, it was about believing that I might get there, that I might proceed to get higher. That’s type of the story. I wasn’t too well-known. For those who take a look at in on paper, it was by no means, ‘This man is admittedly good.’ The numbers by no means actually confirmed that I used to be.”
Not surprisingly, Woo additionally introduced up the truth that he’d been injured when he was drafted, and the way that made for lots of uncertainty. As he put it, “I didn’t fairly know what was going to occur. It might have been just a little larger. I might have gone lots decrease. I actually wasn’t positive.”
He did know that his repertoire wanted each refinement and enhancement. The Oakland native had a mid-90s four-seam fastball when wholesome however nothing else to write down dwelling about. His slider, which he described as having been “OK,” was a pitch he’d throw right here and there. He additionally had a changeup, however that principally sat in his again pocket.
Growing a second heater has been particularly impactful for him. He added a two-seamer to his arsenal final yr whereas toeing the rubber for the Arkansas Vacationers.
“Final yr, earlier than I received referred to as up, our pitching coordinator got here right down to Double-A, the place I used to be at,” Woo mentioned. “He sat in on one in every of my bullpens and mentioned, ‘Simply strive it.’ I used to be having loads of excessive pitch rely video games — I wasn’t getting many fast outs — and he mentioned that it might be a software to make use of to get some faster outs, some weaker contact. A whole lot of my sport was strikeouts and fly balls. There weren’t many environment friendly outs, I assume you can say. So, we tried the 2 and it has progressed from there.”
To this point this season, Woo has thrown 51.4% four-seamers and 27.2% two-seamers, in addition to 7.2% changeups, 7.1% sweepers, and seven.0% sliders. The final of that blend, based on the righty, acts extra like a gyro when he throws it low, and extra like a cutter when he throws it towards the highest of the zone. His circle changeup is a pitch he described as having “rather less vertical and just a little bit extra horizontal, in addition to little bit slower, than my sinker.” Requested which of his off-speed pitches he sees as his foremost secondary providing going ahead, he mentioned that he’s happy with the progress of all three and wouldn’t take one over the opposite.
As for his two fastballs, the 6-foot-2 Woo wasn’t inclined to select between them both. As an alternative of selecting favorites, he described why he’s had success along with his heaters regardless of their comparatively unimpressive metrics.
“Neither one performs tremendous excessive metrically; the vertical and horizontal motion aren’t something loopy,” Woo mentioned. “I feel it’s simply my slot, type of how the ball comes out, that makes them just a little bit totally different.”
The slot is certainly totally different. As Pitcher Checklist’s Jack Foley defined final summer season, “At 4’11” off the bottom, Woo has a launch top a full foot beneath the typical.”
Woo informed me that he was extra excessive in highschool, solely to have his arm “type of decrease by itself all through school, post-surgery, and professional ball.” He claimed to have by no means purposefully dropped it down, however relatively has simply continued to throw in a means that feels most comfy. Not so comfy are opposing batters. They’ve only a .220 xBA and a 2.7% barrel fee towards the low-slot righty this season. When wholesome — he missed the primary month with elbow irritation and later was on the shelf for 3 weeks with a hamstring pressure — Woo is tough to sq. up.
