Seiya Suzuki on Thu, Oct 1, 2026

Suzuki goes 1-for-4 as changeups draw both swings and misses

Suzuki went 1-for-4 with no RBI and two strikeouts in the Wild Card game at San Diego. Across the two games of the series he is 2-for-7. Measured against his regular-season line of .270 average and .841 OPS, this was an unremarkable outing, but the pitch data explains how it happened.

He saw 17 pitches. Four-seam fastballs made up 8 of them (47%) and sinkers 3 (18%), so fastballs were more than 60% of the mix. The sinker averaged 99.6 mph and all three were strikes, and overall 9 of the 11 fastballs were strikes. The breaking balls were a different story: the curveball and the sweeper, three pitches combined, produced a 0% strike rate. Both of his swings and misses came on the three changeups. In other words, he was not simply beaten by velocity. The change of speed is what gave him trouble, and that is the most likely thread behind the two strikeouts. With only 17 pitches, though, I would not push that read too far.

The broader context is still favorable. Over his last 10 games he is 13-for-40, a .325 average, which is above his season mark. One quiet night does not change that trend. The platoon split also deserves attention: against right-handed pitching he hit .257 with a .797 OPS this season, while against left-handed pitching he hit .309 with a .966 OPS. That is a gap of roughly 170 points of OPS, so the handedness of the next starter and the relievers behind him will matter.

Unico's take: his recent form has not broken down, and the next game comes down to the opposing pitcher's handedness and how he handles the changeup.