Exploring Jordan Montgomery's attack to neutralize Yordan Álvarez

Jordan Montgomery took control from his first matchup against the Astros lineup.

He could be seen all Sunday night before leading the Rangers to a 2-0 victory in Game 1 of the ALCS. But within his gem of 19 scoreless outs, there were key situations that made the difference. Without a doubt, neutralizing Yordan Álvarez with three strikeouts was one of them.

Yordan not only entered this Championship Series as the Astros' MVP in the victory against the Twins during the Division Series. He also combined with compatriot José Abreu to form a lethal duo that produced seven of the Astros' 10 home runs and 14 of the 20 RBIs against the Minnesota Twins' pitching. Neutralizing the Yordan-Abreu duo was paramount in the strategic pitching plan for the Rangers pitchers.

Of course, the Astros lineup is made up of multiple hitters who can guide the offensive attack. However, the prevailing story in Game 1 revealed the opposite: Montgomery limited Yordan, he also controlled Abreu, and the rest of the lineup could barely react. The Astros allowed only three opportunities with runners in scoring position. The first of them came at the end of the third. Trailing 1-0, Houston put runners on first and second with two outs. After striking out in the first inning, Yordan Álvarez came to the plate with a thirst for revenge. From his position as the designated hitter, he had enough time to go over adjusting his swing.

The challenge raised even more expectations because Montgomery's curveball had made Yordan look bad. The third strike of the first confrontation was not a typical power-to-power swing, but quite the opposite. What is unusual in a Yordan swing happened: he reacted very late to try to hit the curveball as if he were waiting for another offer. In some ways, the reasons seemed obvious: Montgomery didn't vary the location of his pitches, trying to keep Yordan from pulling comfortably. He mixed three sinkers and two curveballs, always attacking the inside low zone. He was true to his approach.

So how did Yordan react to the Astros' first threat with a runner in scoring position during the bottom of the third inning? His hands didn't arrive in time to hit Montgomery's fastballs. Still, he was able to extend the at-bat to the maximum count, but he gave up again with another missed swing trying to hit the curveball. Strikeout. The second of the night. And the Astros lost a great opportunity to at least tie the score. After mixing a sinker, four-seam fastball, and his changeup, Montgomery once again relied on his curveball.

That's how it has been throughout this postseason, him throwing his curveball to score strikes, or locating it in search of generating ground balls. The trends prove it. In decisive situations, such as two-strike counts, Monty has chosen his curveball on 30% of his pitches, as well as the changeup. After striking out in his first two trips to the batter's box, Yordan Álvarez was patient against Montgomery in the bottom of the fifth inning. The turn began with a 2-0 count. He let a strike be called and then missed a low curveball. On a 2-2 count, guess what's next? Yes, he chased another curveball, the most uncatchable of all, and ended up striking out for the third time.

Montgomery's plan was imposed again. Unlike throwing punchy pitches, he took advantage of Yordan's anxiety after his first strikeout. He took it where he wanted, chasing curveballs that rotated from the center of home plate to the outside. In that third of the strike zone, Yordan's swing has decreased contact against left-handed pitchers. He makes sense even for one of the most consistent hitters in the game today. Trends show opponents using their arsenal of breaking pitches to provoke Yordan's pursuit. We can analyze it here, through this graph that reflects where the majority of his swings and misses have been against left-handed pitchers in two-strike counts this season:

Let's look at where the rates of 20% or more are located: outside corner, outside the strike zone, and pitches hit in the high zone. If you remember, that was a big part of the strategy that Montgomery maximized against Yordan Álvarez. He devoured his most vulnerable spots and combined his quality pitches with careful command at the edges of the strike zone.

Three innings later, in the bottom of the eighth, Yordan failed for the fourth time. He finished one of the worst nights of his career dominated by compatriot Aroldis Chapman, hitting a flimsy ground ball (63 mph exit velocity) to first baseman Nathaniel Lowe. In short, Yordan couldn't solve Montgomery's curveball: he missed all four of his swings — and five of the 10 he took in the entire game. He struck out three times, always in the same situation, after two outs. Strikeouts closed each inning (first, third, and fifth), which prevented José Abreu from coming to the plate with runners on base.

“Yes, obviously, (Yordan Álvarez) is a very good hitter,” Montgomery said in a postgame press conference. “So you have to do a little bit of everything. But we worked the fastball in and out and threw some curveballs for strikes and expanded and made some big pitches when we needed to.”

Either way, the challenge continues. Yordan Álvarez and Jordan Montgomery will probably meet again in this Championship Series, and we will see who will be the winner in the expected lefty vs. lefty duel. For now, Monty is in charge: he has dominated Yordan Álvarez in five of his six matchups, and all of the outs have included the “K” of the strikeouts.

For his part, Abreu struck out a couple of times, although he singled to left field when he caught a changeup from Montgomery beginning the second inning. Yes, it's not a mistake: five of Montgomery's six strikeouts came against Cuban hitters. And, in the end, without the production of the Álvarez-Abreu duo, the Astros lineup failed to react either.

We'll see what happens this Monday in Game 2.