Split-finger fastball key to Brewers pitcher Guerra's breakout
Junior Guerra found his strikeout pitch last season: the split-finger fastball.
There may not have been a better rags-to-riches story in the major leagues last season than the one put together by Milwaukee Brewers starting pitcher Junior Guerra.
After all, it's not often a 31-year-old with four innings of major-league experience and who was an afterthought in spring training emerges as the ace of a pitching staff.
But Guerra did just that, posting a 2.81 ERA and 1.126 WHIP in 20 starts for the Brewers in 2016.
"Look, it was unexpected. It was certainly the most pleasant surprise of the season for us, there's no question," admitted Brewers manager Craig Counsell. "He's a waiver claim. And to have the season he did with the consistency he did, he was one of the top pitchers in the National League. Of course that's a surprise."
It was no surprise that Guerra wasn't really in Milwaukee's radar when it came to the major-league pitching staff. After all, he had been in three major-league organizations -- the Braves, Mets and White Sox -- plus pitching for a non-affiliated team in Double-A before landing with the Brewers on a waiver claim in October 2015, the first transaction for then-new general manager David Stearns.
Guerra began spring training with the Brewers last year as a reliever in a crowded group and soon was moved over to minor-league camp.
"We didn't find out enough about him because of the other decisions we had to make, but he quickly impressed after going to the other side," Counsell said.
He made five starts at Triple-A Colorado Springs, allowing just 18 hits in 26 2/3 innings (6.1 per 9 innings) with 25 strikeouts, earning himself a call-up to Milwaukee in May, where he entered the rotation, only to leave because of injuries.
The key for Guerra was getting to work on his split-finger fastball, which he had been tooling with for two years.
"In the age of trying to get a swing-and-miss, it's a big swing-and-miss pitch if you can master it," Counsell said.
Counsell said as a reliever -- Guerra pitched only four innings in spring training last year -- it is hard to perfect that pitch. But at Colorado Springs, Guerra continued to work on it and started to master it. Now, it is his go-to pitch.
"It's my strikeout pitch," Guerra said "I try to throw it in any count."
Guerra quickly proved his success in Triple-A was not an anomaly. With the Brewers, he had seven starts in which he allowed no earned runs and gave up more hits than inning pitched just six times.
"The split-finger, which is really the pitch that makes him dangerous, it by nature that pitch takes a while to get going. It's a difficult pitch, that's why a lot of guys don't throw it," Counsell said. "In the age of trying to get a swing-and-miss, it's a big swing-and-miss pitch if you can master it, if you can get a feel for it and get a handle on it."
Guerra's success with the split-finger drew attention not just around the league but with his teammates, who wanted to learn how to throw the pitch and add it to their arsenal. Easier said than done.
"Everybody asks me how I grip the pitch," Guerra said. "But it's not easy, it took me two years to learn and now I got it."
Now that Guerra has the feel for the split-finger, what can we expect in 2017? Guerra said he isn't thinking about last year's success and is concentrating on 2017. As for Counsell, he won't try to predict anything -- much like he couldn't predict what happened in 2016.
"I think when you get a huge surprise like that you can't say what to totally expect this year," Counsell said, "but I think everybody knows how he did it and it was real and was with quality stuff that made the hitters uncomfortable.
"But that's the challenge of this league, do it again. That's always the challenge for these guys, can you do it again?"
