MLB scouting notebook: Jeffrey Springs returns to Rays rotation, Seranthony Domínguez's fit in Baltimore and more

The trade deadline always causes roster shakeups and role shifts across MLB. Whether it is because a spot on their team opens up or they are dealt to a team where they will see more playing time, there is a lot of intrigue for potential fantasy adds. 

In this column, the focus is on two players who were affected by the trade deadline: Jeffrey Springs, who is returning from injury and helping to alleviate the blow of losing Zach Eflin in the Rays’ rotation, and Seranthony Domínguez, who will help fortify the Orioles bullpen as they head toward October. 

With the Rays trading Zach Eflin to the Orioles, there is an open spot in their starting rotation for the lefty Springs. He’s coming back from the 60-day IL and is recovered from UCL surgery. His last full season was 2022, which he finished with a 3.04 FIP, 26% strikeout rate, and 6% walk rate. 

Prior to the 2023 season, I made this video detailing what had made him an effective starter thus far: 

Jeffrey Springs: breakdown & extension thoughts pic.twitter.com/FxTihFVg6M

— Andrea (@scoutgirlreport) January 26, 2023

One of the main points of the video is about how Springs had a stronger pitch mix against right-handed hitters. His changeup, in particular, had elite results despite an average movement profile. This was largely due to strong command of the pitch to the lower/outer third and below. The pitch generated 38% miss (6% better than MLB average) and 49% chase (10% better than average).

Before he got injured in 2023, Springs was off to a fantastic start with a 1.82 FIP, 24 strikeouts, and four walks through three games started (16 IP). In those 16 innings, there was one major change in Springs’ mix against lefties that was likely made with the intention of improving his results against that hand. 

Springs added a sweeper in 2023 and mixed it in to left-handed hitters in his first few starts of 2023. He threw the sweeper 40% of the time against lefties, reducing the usage of his gyro-slider.  We can’t evaluate the results of the sweeper yet, as the sample is too small (only threw it 26 times). But based on that small sample, it got swing-and-miss, and was not hit hard. Springs’ usage of the sweeper is something to watch for because if it performs as well as it did in those three starts, it will be a nice addition to his pitch mix. 

While Springs was performing well without the sweeper (3.04 FIP overall in 2022), adding a pitch with more movement away from left-handed hitters might take Springs to the next level and improve his overall results. 

Outside of his pitch mix, one thing I really like about Springs is his deception. He stands on the extreme third base side of the rubber and utilizes a cross-fire delivery. This makes it more challenging for right-handed hitters to read a pitch. 

In order for Springs to continue to see results like he’s seen in the past, it is important that he maintains his above average control and command. Springs is not overpowering guys with velocity, so it’s more vital for him to continue effectively controlling and commanding his stuff to get miss and chase.

Springs is a potential add who I would most closely monitor. A beyond the box score way to know if he’ll perform well moving forward is if his changeup looks good and if it plays well off the fastball, particularly against right-handed hitters. 

He made his first start of the season on Tuesday night and threw 3.2 innings (76 pitches). Here are some of my thoughts on the outing:

• Vs. RHH: The changeup shape looked good, it consistently had the down-and-away fade that has allowed it to be so successful in the past. Hitters were frequently way out in front of the changeup. It also got good swing-and-miss, but there were not as many swings against the pitch as I’d like to see. This is because Springs struggled to control and command the pitch, especially in the first inning. He was missing far enough outside to not get chase and gave up a two-run home run against Emmanuel Rivera on a changeup down the middle.
•  Vs. LHH: Springs only had four at-bats against left-handed batters, so we are looking at a small sample. But one thing that stood out was the use of his sweeper. There were three instances where Springs used his slider to set up the outer half of the plate and then used his sweeper as a put-away pitch to try and get chase. The sweeper has more horizontal movement and less depth than his slider, so this strategy is an interesting way to keep hitters off-balance.
• Velocity: Springs’ velocity at the beginning of the game was consistent with his starts pre-injury, with the four-seam averaging 91-92 mph in the first. By the third inning, however, the fastball velocity dropped to 87-89 mph. In Springs’ case, I do not think this is a reason to panic or avoid adding him, because he is able to get by on the command of his stuff. Even in this start, despite the drop in velocity, Springs was able to command his fastball effectively to avoid areas of the plate that typically result in damage.

The Friday before the trade deadline, the Phillies swapped RP Seranthony Domínguez and OF Cristian Pache for Orioles OF Austin Hays. Domínguez fits nicely in the Orioles pen and can help ease the workload of Craig Kimbrel and Yeinner Canó, especially against right-handed hitters.

Domínguez stands out as a high leverage option for Baltimore because he offers the highest velocity of the three pitchers, with his four-seam averaging 98 mph. Against right- handed hitters, his four-seam gets 13% more miss in zone than MLB average. 

Domínguez is more effective against right-handed hitters. Here are his three-year splits:

The reason for this discrepancy is related to the usage and results of his slider. Domínguez uses his slider 42% of the time vs right-handed hitters, making it his most used pitch vs. that hand. 

Against righties, the slider gets:

• 10% more in-zone miss vs average
• 3% more chase vs average
• .384 xSLG (vs .367 MLB average xSLG)

Domínguez also throws the slider to left-handed hitters, but slightly reduces the usage to 36% of the time. He relies more on his four-seam vs. lefties, throwing it 54% of the time. While he is able to consistently throw the four-seam in-zone, many of his sliders end up below the zone. In the graphic below, the left heat map shows pitch frequency, and the right heat map shows strike rate.

I highlighted an area below the zone using a black circle. This shows that Domínguez throws a lot of sliders to this location, but they are not resulting in chase. While it’s easy to say Domínguez can just stop throwing sliders there, he does not have very good control or command of the pitch. 

With the four-seam being his only other weapon, the problem with the slider location is that opposing hitters will know that if a pitch starts down they can lay off it because it has a high likelihood of dropping out of zone. From there, they can hunt the four-seam middle and up:

The good news is that even though Domínguez does not perform as well against lefties, as a relief pitcher, he doesn’t need to be amazing vs. both hands. He remains a strong option against right-handed heavy lineups.

While the Orioles already have Craig Kimbrel as their closer and Yennier Canó as a setup man, Domínguez can join the two at the top of the Orioles pen as a high leverage option. Kimbrel and Cano are both strong vs. both hands, so the Orioles should be able to leverage Domínguez against righties.

Miscellaneous Notes

• OF Jazz Chisholm joins the Yankees and will be getting playing time at a new position – third base. While I like Chisholm for his speed, he does not offer the same power as a traditional third baseman. That being said, Chisholm has shown pull-side power to right field over the past three seasons, which bodes well for the short porch at Yankee Stadium:

• RP Yimi García was traded to the Mariners. I wrote about what he offers as a trade candidate earlier this month. García slots in behind Andrés Muñoz as a high leverage arm to help makeup for the loss of Matt Brash.

(Top photo of Jeffrey Springs: Douglas P. DeFelice/Getty Images)