Chase Allsup has faced some challenging lineups through 3 weeks into SEC play and, at times, has taken it on the chin. He faced a red hot Vandy team and was chased in the 4th. He followed this up with the game of the season against the number 1 Arkansas Razorbacks. He worked 6 strong, allowing 3 runs and striking out 5. Historically, he has been a fastball guy, as 80% of pitches in the Arkansas and Vandy starts were fastballs.
I walked away very Impressed today with Chase Allsup. He’s a hard-throwing righty that loves to pound the zone. In back-to-back starts, he has done a tremendous job of attacking hitters with his plus-plus fastball. He uses a fastball around 96 and a cutter that hovers around the 90 mark. His hardest thrown pitch was a fastball topped out at 97. While his 97 mph pitch was hit opposite field for a homer, it was a pitch middle away that LaViolette was able to barrel up, not him laying in a cookie.
It is tough to pitch in the SEC and not have an off-speed pitch. Chase Allsup is able to combat this by working both in and away to keep batters off-balance. He did a good job of mixing spots against a talented lineup that has been rolling of late. Texas A&M loves to ambush in the first inning and chase starters early. A&M was able to plate 2 on a Jace LaViolette homer. After a Braden Montgomery double, he did a great job of of flushing it and moving on. He would retire the next 9 he faced. He leaned heavily on his 90 mph cutter in these spots. He was able to throw it in to lefties as well as away to righties.
While he did not have a ton of faith in his off-speed throughout his outing, it was very effective pitch for him. He was able to get both Hayden Schott and Ali Camarillo to pull off the pitch. It’s not a high-spin curve, and seems to be more of a change in velocity and less of a sharp break. He leaned on it later in the game as his cutter velocity dipped. He did a good job pitching with his whole frame that allows him to get in his legs and provide good velocity as his pitch count rises. He threw a majority of his pitches over 90 with a velocity decrease once he got over the 60-pitch mark. However, Chase did a good job recognizing this and made the adjustment to move from fastball-cutter to cutter-curve. While A&M was able to chase him in the 4th, he was still making solid pitches. As Auburn's gauntlet of a slate settles down, we should expect to see Chase Allsup pitch deep into games. Auburn will be in nearly every game he is on the mound
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