I just saw a tweet from @RobertMurrayMLB about a rumour that Joakim Soria was to become a Tiger. Let's do a quick-n-dirty comparison of what he might offer the Tigers in one particular area. The comparison is with closer Joe Nathan.
Four Seamer, Soria 140%, Nathan 40%
Slider Soria 161%, Nathan 56%
Curve Soria 112%, Nathan 32%
change Soria 89%, Nathan 0%
Sinker Nathan 48%
BrooksBaseball.net can show you how many times a pitch is 'whiffed' (swung on and missed), which becomes the whiff percentage. A league-average rate for a four-seam fastball is 16% whiffed. Soria's four-seamer is 40 per cent better than that, while batters only whiff on 6 or so of every hundred of Nathan's four-seamers. Soria's four-seamer, slider and curve are all better than league average, while all of Nathan's offerings are worse than average. Soria has the potential to improve greatly the Tigers' closer capability.
Now, having said that, a warning — Soria's performance has declined sharply this month, compared to the rest of the season. Tigers fans should hope that he reverts to his performances earlier in the season.
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