Abner Uribe Threw Five Sliders to Finish His World Series Game 2 Work

Abner Uribe finished his World Series Game 2 assignment with five consecutive sliders to Junior Caminero. After a ball, two swinging strikes and a foul, the fifth slider produced a groundout. That single confrontation helps explain why his pitch mix looked different from the previous night.

Uribe threw 13 sliders and 13 sinkers in Milwaukee’s 5–4 win over Tampa Bay on October 24. The slider’s share rose from six of 15 pitches in Game 1, or 40%, to 13 of 26, or 50%. This is a comparison of two World Series relief appearances, not evidence of a season-long repertoire change.

One Hitter Changed the Distribution

Caminero saw three pitches from Uribe in Game 1: two sinkers followed by a slider for a swinging strikeout. In Game 2, all five pitches were sliders, and the result was a groundout. More breaking balls did not automatically mean more strikeouts. Uribe struck out two batters in the first game and one in the second.

The distribution of pitches against right-handed hitters also changed. Uribe threw three sliders among five pitches to right-handers in Game 1, compared with nine among 12 in Game 2. Against left-handers, the corresponding counts were three of 10 and four of 14. Much of the overall increase was concentrated in the right-handed matchups, particularly Caminero’s longer plate appearance.

The Workload Matters Alongside the Mix

Both appearances produced four outs, but Game 2 required 26 pitches rather than 15. Uribe opened the seventh by walking Taylor Walls, then needed seven pitches to strike out Yandy Díaz. Jonathan Aranda and Chandler Simpson grounded out before Uribe returned for Caminero in the eighth.

That sequence provides another explanation for the totals: longer plate appearances create more opportunities to use a pitch. The counts describe what happened; they do not establish a planned adjustment or what the hitters expected.

His scoreless Game 2 work contained three swinging misses across 14 swings, including fouls, a foul tip and balls in play. All three misses came on sliders. The additional sliders therefore mattered to individual confrontations, while the final outs still depended on contact. A larger sample would be needed to test whether this matchup pattern persists.

Sample and Method

The comparison was fixed as Game 1 versus Game 2 before choosing the finding. MLB’s October 23 record supplies the earlier appearance. Both samples reconcile to the official pitch totals and retain every physical pitch, including blocked balls. Automatic events are separate. All 41 pitches have pitch-type labels; none was excluded. Download the two-appearance pitch sample (CSV). This bounded study makes no full-season, chase-rate or command claim. More studies are available in TSP Pitching Data.