Home College World Series: Breaking down UVA lefty Brandon Waddell
Sports News

College World Series: Breaking down UVA lefty Brandon Waddell

Contributors

college world seriesUVA sophomore lefty Brandon Waddell isn’t going to blow you away with his fastball, though he has a good fastball, consistently 90-92 on the gun.

He’s not a power pitcher. Hitters put lots of balls in play, almost maddeningly so, if you’re a Virginia fan.

#1 starter Nathan Kirby is a sort of mini-Randy Johnson on the ‘Hoos staff. Waddell, the #2 starter, is more a college Tom Glavine, who isn’t afraid to let you put the ball in play, because more often than not, you’re going to hit the pitch that he wants you to hit, and you’re going to hit it into an elite defense that will convert balls in play into outs.

Waddell (9-3, 2.66 ERA) started the year as Brian O’Connor’s ace, but after a rough start in 2014 was shuffled back to #3 for the bulk of the season, and he pitched well on Sundays. Virginia is 13-3 in his starts, including 2-0 in the NCAA Tournament, with Waddell getting the victories in both of his starts, a 9-2 Charlottesville Regional-clinching win over Arkansas and a 7-3 win in Game 2 of the Super Regionals over Maryland.

The Houston, Texas native has improved his numbers across the board from the 2013 season that he spent as O’Connor’s #1 starter, pushing his innings per start over the 6.0 mark, cutting his ERA down more than a run and shaving more than 40 points off his opponent batting average.

His WHIP is significantly down from 2013 (1.39) to 2014 (1.05), speaking to improvement in executing game plans aimed at getting hitters to put the ball in play where he wants them to.

With a defense ranked third in the nation in fielding percentage behind him, that’s not a bad strategy at all. That D has allowed just two unearned runs in Waddell’s starts in 2014.

There aren’t a lot of giveaways in general when Waddell is out there. He has walked just 16 and thrown only one wild pitch in 98 innings this year. (Kirby has walked 28 and thrown 11 wild pitches in 111 innings, for comparison.)

Basically, if you’re going to get runs on Brandon Waddell, you’re going to have to hit your way on base and then move those runners around by putting additional balls in play; you’re not going to get any gifts.

– Column by Chris Graham

Contributors

Contributors

Have a guest column, letter to the editor, story idea or a news tip? Email editor Chris Graham at [email protected]. Subscribe to AFP podcasts on Apple PodcastsSpotifyPandora and YouTube.

Latest News

driver pulled over by police
Virginia

Police release dashcam video from crash involving trooper, driver on side of road

2025 public service awards JMU
Education, Local

Four Shenandoah Valley residents honored by JMU for public service work

Four Shenandoah Valley residents are being honored for their public service work in regional government and nonprofit organizations.

police court law
Politics

Former top CIA official pleads guilty to acting as foreign agent, lobbyist

A former CIA official pleaded guilty on Wednesday to acting as an unauthorized foreign agent during his time in the spy agency. According to information from the plea agreement, Dale Britt Bendler, 68, of Miami, had retired as a member of the Senior Intelligence Service in 2014, and began working as a full-time contractor at...

interstate 81
Virginia

Virginia: 24-year-old woman dead, ejected from vehicle in I-81 crash

staunton-rolling-coal-incident-vehicle
Local, Politics

Staunton PD had past issues with tow-truck driver charged in April 5 rally incident

donald trump dei
Politics

Letter: The embrace of Trump’s anti-DEI edicts will leave scars for Black Americans

Education, Local

2025 Teachers of the Year: Waynesboro Schools honors ‘the best of the best’