Red Sox Acquisition Jake Reed Has a Less Funky Arm Slot in Mind

The Boston Red Sox acquired a unique pitcher when they claimed Jake Reed off waivers from the Baltimore Orioles last week. They also acquired a pitcher who is heading into the offseason looking to rework a delivery that is among the funkiest in the game. As Ben Clemens showed us when writing about him last summer, the side-slinging 28-year-old right-hander has been attacking hitters from an arm slot that is anything but ordinary.

Reed’s effectiveness in the big leagues has been a mixed bag. Since debuting with the Dodgers last July, he’s held same-sided batters to a .639 OPS, but he’s also logged a 5.74 ERA over his 28 relief appearances. With designs on jumpstarting a professional career that began in 2014 when he was drafted 140th overall by the Minnesota Twins out of the University of Oregon, Reed plans to not only bring a new throwing motion with him to Boston, but a higher octane heater as well.

Reed discussed the evolution of his atypical delivery, and why it again needs to change, on the final weekend of the regular season.

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On dropping his arm angle:
“I’d pretty much always been low three-quarters. I was pitching pretty well in the minors, but in 2017 the Twins changed over their front office. Baseball was getting a lot more progressive, which sort of changed how guys are valued. I threw pretty hard — I was a mid-to-upper-90s kind of guy — but my stuff didn’t necessarily perform super well analytically. So about halfway through the 2019 season we had a long conversation and came to the idea of me dropping down sidearm and trying to create more movement on my sinker, and improve my slider. That was the first time I really made that transition from how I’d thrown my whole life.

“I dropped about a foot, probably more. At my lowest, I was probably in the high threes as far as release height, whereas right now I’m closer to five. So I dropped down and things were going like we wanted them to — the movement improved on both of my pitches — but a couple months into it, I started wrestling with my command. I was kind of all over the place. My strikeouts were up, and stuff-wise it was a good year, but numbers-wise it wasn’t a good year. It was a strange year.”

On changing organizations and making it to the big leagues:
“In 2020, I threw a few innings in spring training, and then COVID hit. I didn’t get invited to the alt site. That was my last year on contract with the Twins and based on how the season had gone in 2019, I honestly didn’t think I was going to get a job. I thought maybe I was done. But I continued training, and come November I started getting calls in free agency. It was good teams too, like the Dodgers and Padres. A bunch of teams were interested — I think the analytic numbers really helped — and I ended up signing with the Angels.

“I started the [2021] season in Triple-A, and continued to wrestle with command and stuff. I got to a point right around June where I was like, ‘I’m tired of beating myself.’ I decided that I was going to take something off my fastball. I was going to lower the effort level and try to just command the ball a lot better. I went from probably 92-94 [mph] to more like 87-89, just trying to throw strikes. I had an opt-out in my contract on June 1 and ended up signing with the Dodgers. I had a good stretch in Triple-A, and got called up to make my debut [on July 6].”

On his 2021 season and raising his arm slot:
“I struggled early on this year. Now I’m sort of going back in the direction of how I used to throw, or at least I’m trying to; it’s something I can’t really do during the season, although my arm angle has already drifted up. That transition happened probably in mid-June. And then the other thing is — maybe you’ve noticed — my arm out of my glove goes really high. It’s swinging more like a normal arm swing.

“Last offseason, my shoulder was kind of bothering me and without me even knowing it, I started throwing a certain way to where it didn’t hurt so much. By the time I started seeing video of myself, I was like, ‘I don’t remember doing that on purpose.’ People ask, ‘How long have you been throwing like this?’ I tell them, ‘I didn’t try to do this, it’s just kind of where my arm has drifted.’ The body is interesting in the way that it works.”

On having a unique delivery:
“I can see the reaction of guys when I’m warming up against a team I haven’t faced before. A lot of times there’s this look where they don’t know whether to laugh at me or… it’s kind of ‘What is this?’ I think that’s a lot of what’s made me effective — the look, the arm motion that nobody’s really ever faced before.

“I think if you were to look at my release, it would probably be similar to some other low-slot sidearm righties. What makes it so different is the way in which I get there. It’s not like anything that anybody else is doing. And to be honest, it just doesn’t feel natural. That’s part of what is making me want to go back to how I used to throw. Sometimes it almost feels like what I’m doing is throwing with my other hand. It’s interesting. It’s a weird dynamic.”

On his delivery going forward:
“At the end of the day, I’m almost 30 years old. I haven’t felt super comfortable and confident, so if I’m going to go out, I want to go out with my best bullets. There is still a lot left in the tank velocity-wise, and I don’t think there’s any reason for a strong, explosive athlete like myself to be throwing 88 if I can still be throwing in the upper-90s. When I go back to where I used to be — my arm angle — the velocity is going to be there. My breaking ball is also going to be better.

“The delivery has worked to my advantage, but at the same time, something I’ve learned over the last couple of years is that the best way to give yourself a chance to be successful is to consistently throw strikes. My inability to be consistent in the strike zone has hurt me. Getting back to a place where I feel comfortable mechanically is going to help that consistency, and like I said, increase my velocity. What ends up happening in the offseason, I have no idea. But I want to get back to where I used to be.”