What new Cardinal Erick Fedde changed in Korea

The St. Louis Cardinals recently swung one of the biggest deals of the trade deadline when they acquired right-handed pitcher Erick Fedde from the Chicago White Sox in a three-team trade. Fedde will slot in the rotation in the second spot behind Sonny Gray.

Erick Fedde's career numbers are below average; his 4.92 ERA, 1.443 WHIP 4.87 FIP, and 7.2 K/9 numbers on his career aren't very inspiring. However, Erick Fedde's sabbatical in Korea in 2023 changed him for the better. He won the KBO's Cy Young equivalent last year, and the Chicago White Sox signed him to a two-year, $15 million contract this past offseason to reward him for his efforts.

Fedde has continued that success in his second stint in Major League Baseball. This year, he has a 3.11 ERA, 3.76 FIP, 1.142 WHIP, and he's striking out 8.0 batters per nine innings. This drastic change in results begs the question: what's different about Erick Fedde in 2024?

While in South Korea, Fedde added a sweeper, something the Cardinals are focusing on this year, he added velocity and break to his cutter, his changeup is sharper, and his sinker is more lively.

The folks at 101 ESPN had on Erick Fedde's previous pitching coach to discuss the changes on Tuesday afternoon, and the crux of the discussion was centered around pitch mix. Prior to his time in the KBO, Fedde primarily used his sinker. Batters hit .307 against this pitch in 2022, and it averaged 92.6 MPH. This pitch was not effective for him.

What's different about Fedde's sinker now is its horizontal movement. The pitch once broke only 8.8 inches horizontally. Fedde's bumped that number up to 9.6 inches of break this year. Its velocity now sits at 93.1 MPH as well, so the greater movement paired with an increase in velocity has made this pitch more useful.

Fedde's sweeper is the greatest and most effective change to his repertoire since 2022. Baseball Savant has that he threw a sweeper just 29 times in 2021, but the pitch was rarely used and highly ineffective. This year, his new sweeper has batters hitting just .167 against it. It generates whiffs at a 27.9% rate, and it breaks 11.6 inches horizontally, by far his pitch with the most movement.

Fedde is also going to his changeup far more often. He threw the pitch just 3.6% of the time in 2022, but he's using it 18.9% of the time this year. The changeup has less movement to it this year, but the lesser movement on it has made the pitch tighter and marginally faster (87.8 MPH in 2024, 86 MPH in 2022). The tightness on his changeup has allowed it to work well in conjunction with his sweeper.

Changeups and sweepers/sliders often pair well, as their opposite movements can baffle hitters. Fedde throws his sweeper down and away against righties and his changeup down and in against righties. This contrast has allowed the two pitches to work well in conjunction.

Erick Fedde isn't the pitcher he once was; a revamped pitch mix paired with better movement on his pitches has made him a legitimate starter this year. The Cardinals have Fedde for the remainder of 2024 and the entirety of 2025. He provides assurance to a starting staff that needed a boost.