A's Ken Waldichuk Dominates Houston with Six No-Hit Innings

Ken Waldichuk has been a fascinating player to watch the past couple of months. Before he really started to turn things around at the end of July, there would be outings where he'd start a little rough, then cruise, or sometimes he'd cruise and then get rocked. You could see him making progress in his first full season, only for his command to disappear and trouble to ensue. 

He had a rough outing against the Los Angeles Dodgers on August 1 in which he went just 3 ^2/3 innings, gave up one hit, walked three, and hit a batter after a solid first three frames in which he'd allowed just one walk. He gave way to the bullpen after loading the bases and then hitting James Outman to force in a run, and Kiké Hernandez cleared the bases with a double, inflating Waldichuk's final line. 

The following game he took on another tough offense in the Texas Rangers and went six innings and gave up two earned runs. This felt like the real turnaround game because he was able to get into a little trouble but also work through it to complete six frames. 

Even with that Dodgers outing included, Waldichuk has been on a roll since July 25 (coincidentally, the Barbie Movie came out on July 21), posting a 2.93 ERA across his last 46 innings. Before that date he had a 6.75 ERA with a 1.84 WHIP. 

The A's lefty told reporters after his outing on Monday night in Houston that his changeup command was probably the best it had been all season. Against a tough Astros lineup that came in as the second-best hitting lineup against left-handers and the top team in the American League, Waldichuk followed Mason Miller with six no-hit innings, walking one and striking out three. 

"In past outings, the biggest thing, especially when I walk more guys, that changeup kinda gets me in trouble when I spray it. I think having that tonight was pretty big."

By the numbers, his pitch usage was right in line with how he's operated all season, except for the change and his sweeper. His still tossed his four-seamer 54% and his curveball 7% of the time, but the change was used 22% with the sweeper down from 28% to 16%. 

His first outing against the Astros this season was a start in which he went five innings and allowed three earned and walked five back on May 19. Nine days later, operating as an opener for one inning, he used his changeup the most he has all season at 37.5%. He allowed a solo homer to Yordan Alvarez on a fastball in that inning of work. Still, the plan of attack for Waldichuk seems to be landing that changeup against the Astros and on Monday night he showed us why.

We also got a glimpse of just how good he could be when that changeup is working last week in his start against the Toronto Blue Jays, another scoreless six-inning effort. He allowed four hits, walked three, and struck out three in that one. 

Another one of Waldichuk's high changeup usage games came against the Tampa Bay Rays on June 12, the night before the "reverse boycott." It's a memorable outing because that was the best I had seen Ken pitch all season, getting swings on his heater up in the zone against a dominant Tampa Bay Rays team that had essentially bludgeoned the A's the first time they'd faced off in April. 

After that game Waldichuk said that using his changeup as much as he did (33.3%) was an adjustment he had been trying to make. "It felt good early on, and I think me and Shea [Langeliers] decided to ride it out." The whole idea behind using the changeup more, in Waldichuk's words, is to "give them a different look. Give them something that moves in a different way than my fastball or my slider."  

In that game against Tampa Bay, he went three innings in relief, gave up two hits, didn't allow a walk, and struck out five. He also earned the first and only save of his young career. 

If you add up those three outings where Waldichuk has had his changeup working against the Rays, Blue Jays, and Monday against the Astros--three likely playoff teams with good offenses--he has tossed a combined 15 innings, allowed zero runs, six hits, walked four and struck out 11. 

We saw Waldichuk finish 2022 strong against the Seattle Mariners and Los Angeles Angels, going 12 innings, allowing six hits, one run, three walks, and striking out 12, but the way that his season has gone this year it looks as though there will be a more concentrated plan of attack moving forward, and it will be to continue to hone that changeup the rest of this season and into the off-season. 

The A's won 4-0 and got solo homers from Brent Rooker (24), Shea Langeliers (18), and Ryan Noda (15).