One Positive Takeaway From Johan Oviedo’s Return To Action

Johan Oviedo returned to action for the Pittsburgh Pirates for the first time since 2023 on Monday. It wasn’t the best return to action for the righty. He finished just one inning and allowed two runs. He walked two batters and recorded all three outs via strikeout.

Oviedo was removed from the game after a long first inning in which he threw 43 pitches. He topped out at 63 pitches during his rehab assignment, so the plan was never for him to work too deep into the game. Still, a long first inning forced him out earlier than expected to protect his arm.

The biggest issue for Oviedo on Monday was control. His fastball returned just 39% strikes and was consistently sprayed all over the place. He did, however, land his breaking balls in the zone consistently, helping him escape the inning with just two runs allowed.

Command has always been an issue for the Pirates’ starter. In 2023, his four-seam landed in the zone 45% of the time, a low rate for a starting pitcher. It was higher earlier in his career, though it’s never returned a ton of swinging strikes.

Despite the disappointing outing, Oviedo’s stuff appeared to take a huge step forward. He’s throwing from a lower release, but gained an additional five inches of vertical movement with the pitch. This creates a remarkably flat approach angle, which should allow him to miss bats regularly at the top of the zone. He generated two whiffs on two swings on Monday.

On top of the additional vertical movement, he also increased his extension. He’s always extended down the mound well, but he released the ball even closer to the plate in his return to the mound. His velocity was down slightly, but at 95 mph and 7.4 feet of extension, the pitch has the qualities to succeed.

Between the added movement and extension, stuff models like the pitch more as well. FanGraphs’ Stuff+ model gave the pitch an 82 in 2023, well below league average. In his lone appearance this season, the model gave the pitch a 112.

If Oviedo can find some fastball command, he could be a serious weapon for the Pirates going forward.

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