When the Nationals evaluated Herz, 22, his crossfire delivery and a strong change-up were two of the main selling points.
He doesn’t have an overpowering four-seam fastball, its velocity often hovering between 90 and 94 mph. Metrically, the pitch doesn’t have remarkable spin rates or induced vertical break. But because of the vertical approach angle of his pitches — a product of his unique arm slot — Herz can use his fastball as a swing-and-miss pitch, helping him to 12.94 strikeouts per nine innings in 2023.
This started when Herz was a toddler, when in his dad, John, remembers him playing with any ball he could find, never the typical baby toys. So when Herz made it to Terry Sanford, he was a three-sport athlete for four years, playing quarterback, basketball and baseball. He could pitch and hit, too, with a pro scout once telling John that Herz was one of the top three batters in the state.
While Herz dissected his change-up — which he wants to add spin to, aiming for the same depth and fade as Devin Williams’s famous “” — he called it the “pitch that changed his whole career.” And while Hanrahan is certainly impressed by it, he pinpointed Herz’s fastball as the pitch that makes everything work.
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