Erick Fedde's MLB Resurgence: How Pitching Changes Saved His Career

Erick Fedde looks like a different pitcher since returning to the MLB. The 31-year-old right-hander owns a 2.60 ERA in his first six starts of the season while posting the highest strikeout rate of his career. You would expect these numbers from a former top-100 prospect, but two years ago it looked like Fedde may be out of the MLB for good. 

In 2022 he had a four-pitch mix that consisted of a curveball, changeup, cutter, and sinker during his final year in Washington. That season he went 6-13 with a 5.81 ERA and .283 expected batting average against him which ranked in the bottom three percent of the MLB. 

His arsenal was sinker-heavy as he threw it nearly 40% of the time but opponents managed to hit .307 off of it with just a 42.1% ground ball rate. Opponents also feasted off his curveball, hitting .321 with a .504 slugging percentage against it. A 10.1% walk rate certainly didn’t help matters. 

The Nationals declined to offer him a contract when he was arbitration-eligible following the 2022 season which forced him to test his luck in the KBO. While pitching in South Korea for the NC Dinos, Fedde worked on his pitching arsenal. He traded in his curveball for a sweeper and altered the grip to his changeup which seemed to net him some positive results. Unlike most changeups, Fedde grips his on his fingertips. He spoke about his new pitch mix during an April 4th episode of the White Sox Talk Podcast.

"I like to choke it, not have a lot of space in here," Fedde explained as he held his sweeper grip. "I think that helps kind of with the velo. That was the big difference I think, my old breaking ball was in the high 70s, and these ones I can creep them up into the mid-80s. I think that's a big difference. That and then finishing horizontally more than the traditional curveball."

"Finding where to throw it to hitters is a completely different thing it took me a full spring training, KBO spring training to really start to feel comfortable with it to hitters," Fedde later added. "I'd say honestly from game one it was kinda right there. The changeup became such a weapon. A lot of guys you feel like the changeup you can only throw to lefties but I'd say righties, lefties it was kind of an equalizer."

The former Nationals first-round pick turned in a solid season for the Dinos, posting a 2.00 ERA and 0.95 WHIP in 180 1/3 innings of work. He managed to log 21 quality starts in 30 games.  Fedde also racked up 209 strikeouts resulting in a 29.5% strikeout rate while limiting his opponent's walk rate to under 5%. Those numbers were good enough to catch the attention of several teams over the winter, including the White Sox who signed him to a two-year deal worth $15 million. 

During the offseason, Fedde continued to refine two new pitches to his arsenal, the sweeper and split-changeup. According to White Sox Senior Pitching Advisor, Brian Bannister, Fedde worked out at the same facility as Logan Webb. Webb also added a split change and sweeper to his arsenal when Bannister and White Sox pitching coach Ethan Katz were still a part of the Giants organization. While the sinker is still Fedde’s most dominant pitch the emergence of his sweeper and slider has prevented opposing managers from successfully stacking lineups against him.

Webb’s sweeper has a higher spin rate than Fedde’s but they each throw it around 22 percent of the time. Coincidentally they are each tied for seventh in the MLB with a 1.4 WAR for pitchers. The sweeper has allowed Fedde to be more effective against right-handers. This season he has logged 21 strikeouts against right-handers and owns a 0.91 WHIP. In 2022 he owned a 1.81 WHIP against righties. On Sunday, Fedde threw his sweeper 52 times, all against right-handers. Four of his nine punchouts came on the sweeper. 

Meanwhile, his split change has improved his effectiveness against lefties. He threw it seven times on Sunday, six of them to left-handers. Opponents are hitting just .125 against his splitter this season which is lower than any pitch in his repertoire. 

Most importantly Fedde has been able to locate all of his pitches early this season. He currently owns a career-high 27.5% strikeout rate through six starts while posting an impressive 6.3% walk rate. It’s still early in the season but Fedde’s adjustments have yielded results.