This article is part of our Todd's Takes series.
Guess Again
First off, I'm behind schedule with this series, but I promise to catch up over the last month and into October. Remember, the regular season ends on Wednesday, October 5, as it was extended to fit in the week lost to the lockout. Wow, that seems so long ago.
Anyway, a couple weeks ago I was listening to the radio pregame show for the Pirates and Red Sox. It was the Pittsburgh station, so they were interviewing skipper Derek Shelton about how the team would approach Boston starter Josh Winckowski. The interviewer pointed out Winckowski is essentially a two-pitch guy, and the Pirates hitters have had very little, if any exposure to the righty.
I've always thought the best approach against two-pitch guys is sitting on one pitch or the other, since you'll no doubt get at least one chance to hack away per plate appearance.
To put things in perspective, my experience as a guess hitter was guessing I should waddle back to the bench after the ump rang me up again.
To my surprise, Shelton offered an unexpected response, but one in retrospect makes a ton of sense. He pointed out there isn't much of a delta between Winckowski's pitches, so instead of guessing the type, his batters were instructed to focus on a zone. The premise is with a small difference in velocity between pitches, the hitter could adjust, so if they were narrowed in on one zone, they could get a good rip,
Guess Again
First off, I'm behind schedule with this series, but I promise to catch up over the last month and into October. Remember, the regular season ends on Wednesday, October 5, as it was extended to fit in the week lost to the lockout. Wow, that seems so long ago.
Anyway, a couple weeks ago I was listening to the radio pregame show for the Pirates and Red Sox. It was the Pittsburgh station, so they were interviewing skipper Derek Shelton about how the team would approach Boston starter Josh Winckowski. The interviewer pointed out Winckowski is essentially a two-pitch guy, and the Pirates hitters have had very little, if any exposure to the righty.
I've always thought the best approach against two-pitch guys is sitting on one pitch or the other, since you'll no doubt get at least one chance to hack away per plate appearance.
To put things in perspective, my experience as a guess hitter was guessing I should waddle back to the bench after the ump rang me up again.
To my surprise, Shelton offered an unexpected response, but one in retrospect makes a ton of sense. He pointed out there isn't much of a delta between Winckowski's pitches, so instead of guessing the type, his batters were instructed to focus on a zone. The premise is with a small difference in velocity between pitches, the hitter could adjust, so if they were narrowed in on one zone, they could get a good rip, regardless of the type of pitch.
This got me thinking as the notion begs a bevy of studies.
- What are the most common tandems for two-pitch guys?
- What is the delta between pitches for two-pitch guys?
- Do they move the ball around more to compensate for the smaller arsenal?
- In general, are two-pitch starters less effective than those with at least three offerings?
Most of the time, when I head down a rabbit hole of this nature, more ideas manifest, as I'm sure they will again.
Trust me, I'm not complaining, I love doing what I do, but one of the pitfalls is aiming to get my first set of projections ready by November 1, pretty much simultaneous with the NFBC opening up drafting season. I do the best I can, but there is a bunch of research I want to do to refine regressions and the like, and I can't do it in time for a November 1 rollout. The studies mentioned above are now added to the list. I'm up front about how projections will be refined over the course of the offseason as I complete some studies, especially with regards to pitching. Though, with the potential of the shift legislation and some humidor investigation, batters' numbers will be tweaked as well.
I began to pull some data for the two-pitch research and thought I'd share. Right now, it'll just be presented without much commentary. The tables can be sorted, and you can paste them into Excel if you want to do some of your own analysis.
Here is the pitch mix for all hurlers who have started at least five games so far this season. There are some openers which should be pruned for crunching the data, but I left them in for now. Please note, sinkers are classified as two-seam fastballs.
| Pitcher | GS | 4Seam% | 2Seam% | Cutter% | Slider% | Curve% | Change% | Split% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jordan Lyles | 27 | 33.1% | 17.1% | 2.2% | 23.4% | 12.6% | 11.7% | |
| Miles Mikolas | 27 | 25.6% | 22.9% | 26.7% | 20.2% | 4.6% | ||
| Logan Webb | 27 | 2.8% | 32.0% | 32.5% | 32.7% | |||
| Gerrit Cole | 27 | 52.0% | 7.7% | 21.7% | 9.8% | 8.7% | ||
| Jameson Taillon | 26 | 35.3% | 11.1% | 12.4% | 18.0% | 14.3% | 9.0% | |
| Corbin Burnes | 26 | 0.2% | 7.2% | 56.0% | 8.7% | 18.8% | 9.2% | |
| Marco Gonzales | 26 | 36.7% | 18.0% | 13.9% | 31.5% | |||
| Jose Berrios | 26 | 29.6% | 24.7% | 32.2% | 13.6% | |||
| Madison Bumgarner | 26 | 32.1% | 0.2% | 37.8% | 0.2% | 18.3% | 11.4% | |
| Adam Wainwright | 26 | 9.9% | 28.2% | 25.7% | 30.3% | 5.9% | ||
| Jose Quintana | 26 | 36.4% | 16.1% | 27.1% | 20.4% | |||
| Merrill Kelly | 26 | 29.8% | 17.8% | 17.0% | 0.2% | 13.5% | 21.7% | |
| Martin Perez | 26 | 7.9% | 35.1% | 24.6% | 1.2% | 4.0% | 27.2% | |
| Robbie Ray | 26 | 39.3% | 19.9% | 38.2% | 2.2% | 0.4% | ||
| Nick Pivetta | 26 | 49.8% | 20.6% | 27.3% | 2.3% | |||
| Aaron Nola | 26 | 33.8% | 18.7% | 5.2% | 26.7% | 15.6% | ||
| Carlos Rodon | 26 | 60.7% | 31.7% | 5.8% | 1.8% | |||
| Alex Wood | 26 | 45.5% | 36.0% | 18.5% | ||||
| Pablo Lopez | 26 | 38.1% | 8.3% | 10.8% | 7.3% | 35.5% | ||
| Sandy Alcantara | 26 | 25.2% | 24.8% | 22.8% | 0.4% | 26.8% | ||
| Dylan Cease | 26 | 39.6% | 1.2% | 42.3% | 14.0% | 2.9% | ||
| Jordan Montgomery | 26 | 13.3% | 37.0% | 5.2% | 21.3% | 23.2% | ||
| Patrick Corbin | 26 | 20.5% | 40.5% | 30.9% | <0.1% | 8.0% | ||
| Logan Gilbert | 26 | 54.1% | 0.4% | 22.8% | 14.3% | 8.3% | ||
| Max Fried | 25 | 32.5% | 13.0% | 20.0% | 21.3% | 13.3% | ||
| Zac Gallen | 25 | 47.6% | <0.1% | 14.7% | 1.2% | 20.0% | 16.4% | |
| Corey Kluber | 25 | 1.1% | 26.8% | 33.7% | 27.3% | 11.2% | ||
| Kyle Gibson | 25 | 13.0% | 27.9% | 21.3% | 20.2% | 7.0% | 10.6% | |
| Kevin Gausman | 25 | 49.0% | 13.2% | 2.0% | 35.8% | |||
| Kyle Freeland | 25 | 23.3% | 22.1% | 21.9% | 18.2% | 14.5% | ||
| Cal Quantrill | 25 | 3.3% | 45.0% | 36.3% | 3.6% | 11.8% | ||
| Julio Urias | 25 | 47.3% | 1.9% | 32.6% | 18.2% | |||
| Dane Dunning | 25 | 0.1% | 40.5% | 10.6% | 28.5% | 20.3% | ||
| Kyle Wright | 25 | 21.0% | 22.5% | 7.0% | 34.2% | 15.3% | ||
| Alek Manoah | 25 | 36.9% | 23.8% | 28.2% | 11.1% | |||
| German Marquez | 25 | 30.4% | 23.7% | 21.1% | 21.7% | 3.1% | ||
| Charlie Morton | 25 | 33.5% | 10.1% | 10.3% | 37.9% | 8.1% | ||
| Framber Valdez | 25 | 4.1% | 49.7% | 9.2% | 27.7% | 9.2% | ||
| Jose Urquidy | 24 | 53.2% | 5.8% | 11.8% | 13.4% | 15.9% | ||
| Lucas Giolito | 24 | 47.4% | 24.7% | 3.0% | 25.0% | |||
| Frankie Montas | 24 | 27.5% | 22.9% | 9.6% | 14.7% | 25.3% | ||
| Yu Darvish | 24 | 23.2% | 9.9% | 35.6% | 18.8% | 4.8% | 7.7% | |
| Justin Verlander | 24 | 51.0% | 28.1% | 18.7% | 2.2% | |||
| Joe Musgrove | 24 | 24.2% | 6.9% | 18.0% | 25.2% | 19.7% | 6.0% | |
| Cole Irvin | 24 | 38.1% | 21.5% | 2.6% | 19.3% | 18.5% | ||
| Sean Manaea | 24 | 61.0% | 13.8% | 0.6% | 24.6% | |||
| Dakota Hudson | 24 | 19.5% | 35.9% | 27.0% | 13.4% | 4.2% | ||
| Eric Lauer | 24 | 43.5% | 19.0% | 17.5% | 16.9% | 3.1% | ||
| Justin Steele | 24 | 56.8% | 7.6% | 31.0% | 2.8% | 1.8% | ||
| JT Brubaker | 24 | 6.4% | 40.4% | 31.4% | 16.4% | 5.4% | ||
| Shane Bieber | 24 | 34.2% | 13.2% | 31.9% | 17.9% | 2.8% | ||
| Triston McKenzie | 24 | 56.6% | 21.2% | 22.2% | ||||
| Shane McClanahan | 24 | 35.2% | 15.2% | 24.3% | 25.2% | |||
| Chris Bassitt | 24 | 14.8% | 32.2% | 16.1% | 18.2% | 12.4% | 6.2% | |
| Zack Wheeler | 23 | 41.4% | 16.9% | 27.9% | 12.0% | 1.9% | ||
| Michael Kopech | 23 | 61.8% | 26.7% | 10.4% | 1.2% | |||
| Carlos Carrasco | 23 | 35.2% | 11.5% | 25.8% | 4.3% | 23.2% | ||
| Chris Archer | 23 | 35.8% | 44.2% | 5.3% | 14.7% | |||
| Dylan Bundy | 23 | 40.3% | 8.5% | 23.4% | 9.0% | 18.8% | ||
| Mitch Keller | 23 | 33.4% | 22.0% | 21.9% | 14.6% | 8.1% | ||
| Drew Rasmussen | 23 | 37.2% | 1.4% | 32.3% | 24.5% | 4.6% | ||
| Zach Plesac | 23 | 42.4% | 0.2% | 24.5% | 10.4% | 22.5% | ||
| Josiah Gray | 23 | 42.3% | 1.1% | 28.8% | 25.0% | 2.8% | ||
| Taijuan Walker | 23 | 29.8% | 10.3% | 7.3% | 17.2% | 7.5% | 27.9% | |
| Ranger Suarez | 23 | 18.6% | 42.4% | 6.6% | 4.5% | 6.6% | 21.3% | |
| Luis Garcia | 23 | 42.9% | 0.2% | 30.5% | 7.6% | 9.1% | 9.7% | |
| Tyler Anderson | 23 | 38.2% | 7.1% | 20.7% | 0.1% | 1.4% | 32.4% | |
| Tony Gonsolin | 23 | 39.0% | 21.4% | 11.9% | 27.6% | |||
| Nestor Cortes | 23 | 42.8% | 3.0% | 31.7% | 18.1% | 0.1% | 4.1% | |
| Brad Keller | 22 | 35.1% | 23.9% | 36.2% | 4.9% | |||
| Kris Bubic | 22 | 51.5% | 20.6% | 28.0% | ||||
| Tyler Mahle | 22 | 51.6% | 12.8% | 11.6% | 24.0% | |||
| Shohei Ohtani | 22 | 32.5% | 0.6% | 7.2% | 35.9% | 10.1% | 13.7% | |
| James Kaprielian | 22 | 54.1% | 1.4% | 21.5% | 14.0% | 9.0% | ||
| Patrick Sandoval | 22 | 23.7% | 15.1% | 27.2% | 9.5% | 24.5% | ||
| Ian Anderson | 22 | 47.9% | <0.1% | 18.7% | 33.4% | |||
| Zach Thompson | 22 | 16.6% | 21.3% | 34.4% | 18.1% | 9.6% | ||
| Joe Ryan | 22 | 60.4% | 21.2% | 6.0% | 12.4% | |||
| Zack Greinke | 21 | 38.1% | 2.9% | 13.0% | 10.5% | 19.7% | 15.9% | |
| Zach Davies | 21 | 52.9% | 6.7% | 1.1% | 5.6% | 33.7% | ||
| Alex Cobb | 21 | 0.1% | 43.3% | 13.5% | 43.1% | |||
| Erick Fedde | 21 | 0.1% | 39.0% | 27.2% | 30.2% | 3.5% | ||
| Chris Flexen | 21 | 40.2% | 33.0% | 7.3% | 4.1% | 15.4% | ||
| Daniel Lynch | 21 | 44.0% | 2.5% | 32.0% | 4.4% | 17.1% | ||
| Paul Blackburn | 21 | 11.2% | 34.3% | 19.5% | 4.2% | 18.0% | 12.7% | |
| Tarik Skubal | 21 | 26.6% | 21.1% | 30.9% | 6.4% | 14.9% | ||
| Chad Kuhl | 21 | 2.9% | 41.7% | 35.8% | 11.8% | 7.7% | ||
| Hunter Greene | 20 | 52.6% | 42.3% | 5.2% | ||||
| Sonny Gray | 20 | 27.5% | 27.0% | 8.4% | 12.6% | 24.0% | 0.6% | |
| Brandon Woodruff | 20 | 38.9% | 22.2% | 9.7% | 13.4% | 15.9% | ||
| Yusei Kikuchi | 20 | 52.2% | 6.5% | 26.4% | 14.9% | |||
| Glenn Otto | 20 | 21.8% | 27.4% | 25.7% | 14.9% | 10.2% | ||
| Tyler Wells | 20 | 41.8% | 26.3% | 13.3% | 18.6% | |||
| Reid Detmers | 20 | 43.3% | 2.0% | 23.6% | 19.1% | 12.0% | ||
| Noah Syndergaard | 20 | 16.9% | 29.8% | 21.9% | 10.6% | 20.8% | ||
| Cristian Javier | 20 | 60.7% | 26.5% | 8.2% | 4.5% | |||
| Trevor Rogers | 20 | 52.0% | 18.6% | 29.3% | ||||
| Jon Gray | 19 | 49.1% | 36.5% | 4.2% | 10.3% | |||
| Antonio Senzatela | 19 | 54.0% | 5.0% | 27.0% | 6.5% | 7.6% | ||
| Brady Singer | 19 | 0.6% | 53.6% | 37.4% | 8.5% | |||
| George Kirby | 19 | 46.6% | 9.1% | 15.6% | 5.3% | 14.5% | 8.9% | |
| Rich Hill | 19 | 36.8% | 0.4% | 9.7% | 10.5% | 38.8% | 3.8% | |
| Max Scherzer | 19 | 45.4% | 9.9% | 23.1% | 8.9% | 12.7% | ||
| Luis Castillo | 19 | 31.5% | 23.9% | 20.3% | 24.3% | |||
| Marcus Stroman | 19 | 10.6% | 39.4% | 11.9% | 25.5% | 0.2% | 12.3% | |
| Johnny Cueto | 18 | 16.1% | 26.8% | 16.1% | 18.9% | 0.2% | 21.9% | |
| Nathan Eovaldi | 18 | 37.9% | 8.9% | 13.3% | 18.9% | 21.0% | ||
| Ross Stripling | 18 | 36.4% | 6.8% | 22.9% | 9.0% | 24.9% | ||
| Drew Smyly | 18 | 34.4% | 22.5% | 42.7% | 0.4% | |||
| Blake Snell | 18 | 55.4% | 22.5% | 16.8% | 5.3% | |||
| Spenser Watkins | 18 | 38.9% | 27.4% | 18.2% | 10.2% | 5.3% | ||
| Jeffrey Springs | 18 | 36.1% | 4.9% | 26.9% | 32.0% | |||
| Jake Odorizzi | 17 | 52.6% | 19.7% | 8.1% | 4.4% | 15.2% | ||
| Michael Wacha | 17 | 33.7% | 13.3% | 16.0% | 7.6% | 29.4% | ||
| Aaron Ashby | 17 | 3.7% | 32.1% | 28.6% | 13.6% | 22.0% | ||
| Keegan Thompson | 17 | 46.4% | 7.0% | 20.7% | 5.5% | 15.1% | 5.2% | |
| Adrian Houser | 16 | 15.8% | 49.1% | 13.4% | 11.6% | 10.2% | ||
| Mike Minor | 16 | 41.9% | 0.3% | 23.7% | 10.4% | 23.8% | ||
| Kyle Hendricks | 16 | 26.6% | 30.9% | 11.9% | 30.7% | |||
| Aaron Civale | 16 | 9.1% | 22.1% | 33.3% | 4.1% | 27.1% | 4.3% | |
| Austin Gomber | 16 | 43.0% | 23.8% | 16.6% | 16.6% | |||
| David Peterson | 16 | 38.1% | 11.6% | 29.6% | 4.5% | 16.2% | ||
| Graham Ashcraft | 16 | 19.8% | 51.0% | 28.4% | 0.8% | |||
| Kyle Bradish | 16 | 50.8% | 28.1% | 11.2% | 9.9% | |||
| Bryse Wilson | 16 | 21.7% | 34.4% | 18.2% | 12.5% | 13.2% | ||
| Spencer Strider | 16 | 66.0% | 27.6% | 6.3% | ||||
| Mike Clevinger | 16 | 36.6% | 12.6% | 14.9% | 21.9% | 2.4% | 11.5% | |
| Luis Severino | 16 | 46.3% | 1.0% | 8.1% | 21.2% | 23.3% | ||
| Clayton Kershaw | 15 | 38.2% | 0.6% | 44.4% | 16.1% | 0.9% | ||
| Dean Kremer | 15 | 39.2% | 4.2% | 31.5% | 11.2% | 14.1% | ||
| Lance Lynn | 15 | 43.9% | 15.2% | 23.0% | 5.6% | 7.7% | 4.7% | |
| Jose Suarez | 15 | 34.0% | 8.7% | 16.8% | 15.1% | 25.4% | ||
| Jonathan Heasley | 15 | 46.1% | 3.3% | 12.4% | 17.1% | 21.1% | ||
| Mitch White | 15 | 45.7% | 7.4% | 26.3% | 17.9% | 2.7% | ||
| Beau Brieske | 15 | 46.2% | 7.1% | 20.7% | 3.8% | 22.1% | ||
| Paolo Espino | 14 | 48.4% | 19.3% | 26.6% | 5.8% | |||
| Joan Adon | 14 | 65.4% | 4.0% | 0.7% | 23.2% | 6.8% | ||
| Jakob Junis | 14 | 0.3% | 33.1% | 3.8% | 47.3% | 15.6% | ||
| Freddy Peralta | 14 | 55.0% | 19.0% | 14.9% | 11.1% | |||
| Ryan Feltner | 13 | 40.8% | 15.8% | 27.0% | 10.6% | 6.0% | ||
| Michael Lorenzen | 13 | 21.1% | 27.4% | 13.0% | 19.3% | 0.2% | 19.1% | |
| Braxton Garrett | 13 | 26.3% | 21.1% | 32.7% | 9.9% | 10.1% | ||
| Nick Lodolo | 13 | 0.1% | 58.1% | 28.6% | 13.3% | |||
| Bruce Zimmermann | 13 | 30.9% | 8.4% | 18.4% | 12.7% | 29.7% | ||
| Zach Eflin | 13 | 16.7% | 38.4% | 14.6% | 3.8% | 19.7% | 6.8% | |
| Taylor Hearn | 13 | 42.9% | 16.7% | 3.6% | 26.0% | 10.8% | ||
| MacKenzie Gore | 13 | 61.1% | 15.3% | 17.9% | 5.7% | |||
| Dallas Keuchel | 13 | 5.8% | 43.6% | 15.3% | 8.5% | 26.7% | ||
| Josh Winckowski | 13 | 12.4% | 40.2% | 8.9% | 29.5% | 8.9% | ||
| Adam Oller | 12 | 34.9% | 100.0% | 21.9% | 9.3% | 10.8% | 13.1% | |
| Adrian Sampson | 12 | 34.3% | 29.1% | 4.9% | 17.0% | 14.7% | ||
| Austin Voth | 12 | 41.0% | 23.0% | 4.0% | 30.7% | 1.3% | ||
| Walker Buehler | 12 | 34.2% | 4.7% | 24.8% | 11.7% | 16.8% | 7.8% | |
| Alex Faedo | 12 | 51.8% | 35.0% | 13.2% | ||||
| Devin Smeltzer | 12 | 39.7% | 1.1% | 9.0% | 23.9% | 26.3% | ||
| Jesus Luzardo | 12 | 21.9% | 23.0% | 32.1% | 23.0% | |||
| Roansy Contreras | 12 | 51.1% | 32.3% | 13.4% | 3.2% | |||
| Kutter Crawford | 12 | 36.0% | 33.9% | 6.3% | 17.6% | 6.2% | ||
| Drew Hutchison | 12 | 40.2% | 12.3% | 35.9% | 11.5% | |||
| Jose Urena | 11 | 8.4% | 53.3% | 22.0% | 16.3% | |||
| Tyler Alexander | 11 | 22.5% | 19.5% | 27.4% | 11.6% | 19.0% | ||
| Michael Pineda | 10 | 60.5% | 20.3% | 19.2% | ||||
| Andrew Heaney | 10 | 63.5% | 33.2% | 3.3% | ||||
| Steven Matz | 10 | 49.0% | 2.9% | 19.3% | 28.8% | |||
| Nick Martinez | 10 | 28.8% | 16.8% | 15.0% | 15.5% | 23.9% | ||
| Andre Pallante | 10 | 47.9% | 12.6% | 22.7% | 16.8% | |||
| Aaron Sanchez | 10 | 19.5% | 40.4% | 28.2% | 11.8% | |||
| Eduardo Rodriguez | 10 | 41.0% | 14.1% | 23.3% | 4.8% | 16.7% | ||
| Zach Logue | 10 | 49.3% | 21.4% | 15.2% | 14.0% | |||
| Humberto Castellanos | 9 | 8.6% | 33.0% | 27.3% | 20.0% | 11.1% | ||
| Anibal Sanchez | 9 | 19.4% | 20.3% | 22.0% | 6.5% | 6.5% | 25.4% | |
| Elieser Hernandez | 9 | 40.4% | 8.4% | 37.3% | 13.9% | |||
| Tylor Megill | 9 | 55.5% | 2.7% | 19.0% | 2.9% | 19.9% | ||
| Garrett Whitlock | 9 | 4.0% | 56.3% | 19.4% | 20.3% | |||
| Konnor Pilkington | 9 | 62.4% | 7.2% | 6.5% | 23.9% | |||
| Trevor Williams | 9 | 50.6% | 11.7% | 10.3% | 12.2% | 15.1% | ||
| Ryan Yarbrough | 9 | 14.9% | 35.1% | 25.4% | 24.5% | |||
| Bailey Falter | 9 | 18.8% | 40.8% | 20.4% | 13.8% | 6.1% | ||
| Jordan Hicks | 8 | 0.8% | 64.0% | 30.0% | 5.3% | |||
| Vince Velasquez | 8 | 41.7% | 12.2% | 18.9% | 18.3% | 9.0% | ||
| Jason Alexander | 8 | 4.8% | 55.7% | 24.4% | 15.2% | |||
| Spencer Howard | 8 | 51.5% | 33.1% | 11.5% | 4.0% | |||
| Vladimir Gutierrez | 8 | 50.1% | 20.7% | 13.4% | 15.9% | |||
| Edward Cabrera | 8 | 20.6% | 11.1% | 15.8% | 18.3% | 34.3% | ||
| Domingo German | 8 | 28.2% | 12.4% | 35.6% | 23.8% | |||
| Daulton Jefferies | 8 | 11.5% | 35.9% | 19.5% | 13.4% | 19.7% | ||
| Matt Manning | 8 | 48.6% | 10.2% | 23.5% | 12.0% | 5.7% | ||
| Garrett Hill | 8 | 36.8% | 20.8% | 19.0% | 11.3% | 12.1% | ||
| Rony Garcia | 8 | 43.3% | 15.0% | 29.9% | 11.8% | |||
| Chase Silseth | 7 | 40.1% | 6.2% | 21.6% | 4.8% | 27.3% | ||
| Tyler Gilbert | 7 | 22.4% | 18.3% | 35.2% | 10.5% | 13.6% | ||
| Carlos Hernandez | 7 | 44.4% | 0.6% | 17.6% | 25.7% | 11.7% | ||
| Daniel Castano | 7 | 11.9% | 6.6% | 42.0% | 27.6% | 11.9% | ||
| Bailey Ober | 7 | 50.8% | 23.0% | 11.0% | 15.2% | |||
| Jalen Beeks | 7 | 49.5% | 1.5% | 49.0% | ||||
| Tucker Davidson | 7 | 40.1% | 5.6% | 38.5% | 10.9% | 4.9% | ||
| Ryan Pepiot | 7 | 56.7% | 18.3% | 25.0% | ||||
| Tommy Henry | 6 | 56.3% | 0.4% | 19.2% | 15.1% | 9.1% | ||
| JP Sears | 6 | 64.5% | 22.5% | 13.1% | ||||
| Hyun Jin Ryu | 6 | 41.8% | 13.4% | 21.0% | 23.8% | |||
| Jacob deGrom | 6 | 46.7% | 44.2% | 3.5% | 5.6% | |||
| Shane Baz | 6 | 40.1% | 37.2% | 14.4% | 8.3% | |||
| Matthew Liberatore | 6 | 29.6% | 26.0% | 12.5% | 22.1% | 9.8% | ||
| Sam Long | 6 | 46.7% | 1.5% | 23.1% | 28.7% | |||
| Josh Winder | 6 | 44.3% | 29.8% | 13.3% | 12.6% | |||
| Adrian Martinez | 6 | 52.8% | 18.2% | 28.9% | ||||
| Matt Bush | 5 | 50.9% | 16.4% | 32.7% | ||||
| Anthony DeSclafani | 5 | 13.4% | 24.6% | 38.6% | 13.1% | 10.3% | ||
| Tyler Beede | 5 | 10.6% | 26.9% | 17.0% | 19.2% | 26.3% | ||
| Matt Wisler | 5 | 8.3% | 91.7% | |||||
| Justin Dunn | 5 | 47.9% | 21.9% | 23.2% | 7.0% | |||
| Jared Koenig | 5 | 12.1% | 36.3% | 16.7% | 21.4% | 13.5% | ||
| Elvin Rodriguez | 5 | 52.0% | 1.3% | 26.1% | 6.6% | 14.0% | ||
| Davis Martin | 5 | 45.8% | 31.5% | 7.5% | 15.2% | |||
| Chris Paddack | 5 | 51.8% | 3.8% | 18.0% | 26.4% | |||
| Matt Swarmer | 5 | 42.6% | 54.7% | 2.7% | ||||
| Matt Brash | 5 | 43.0% | 33.2% | 22.0% | 1.8% | |||
| Bryce Elder | 5 | 34.1% | 21.0% | 28.9% | 0.2% | 15.8% | ||
| Brayan Bello | 5 | 20.2% | 35.3% | 17.2% | 27.3% |
Since Winckowski was the impetus, I checked him out to discover he throws five pitches, but uses his sinker and slider 70 percent of the time.
Here is a table showing the average velocity for each pitch. The last column is the delta between the fastest and slowest for each hurler.
| Pitcher | 4Seam | 2Seam | Cutter | Slider | Curve | Change | Split | Delta |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jordan Lyles | 91.8 | 90.9 | 83.9 | 80 | 79.1 | 86.3 | 12.7 | |
| Miles Mikolas | 93.5 | 92.9 | 87.8 | 75.9 | 82.6 | 17.6 | ||
| Logan Webb | 92.5 | 91.8 | 82.4 | 86.4 | 10.1 | |||
| Gerrit Cole | 97.8 | 92.1 | 88.6 | 82.8 | 89.7 | 15 | ||
| Jameson Taillon | 94.1 | 94.2 | 90.7 | 86.1 | 81 | 87.7 | 13.2 | |
| Corbin Burnes | 95.9 | 96.3 | 95 | 87.9 | 81.7 | 90.2 | 14.6 | |
| Marco Gonzales | 88.3 | 86 | 76.4 | 79.4 | 11.9 | |||
| Jose Berrios | 93.9 | 93.8 | 82.8 | 84.6 | 11.1 | |||
| Madison Bumgarner | 91.3 | 91.2 | 87.5 | 83.3 | 78.6 | 85.4 | 12.7 | |
| Adam Wainwright | 88.2 | 88.8 | 84.4 | 72.7 | 82.4 | 16.1 | ||
| Jose Quintana | 91.1 | 91.4 | 78.5 | 86.4 | 12.9 | |||
| Merrill Kelly | 92.6 | 92.6 | 91 | 85.5 | 82.2 | 88.6 | 10.4 | |
| Martin Perez | 92.7 | 92.7 | 89.8 | 84.5 | 78.7 | 84.3 | 14 | |
| Robbie Ray | 93.4 | 93.5 | 87.1 | 79.7 | 86.3 | 13.8 | ||
| Nick Pivetta | 93.4 | 85.7 | 77.2 | 87.1 | 16.2 | |||
| Aaron Nola | 92.7 | 92.1 | 86.9 | 78.5 | 86 | 14.2 | ||
| Carlos Rodon | 95.7 | 85.3 | 80 | 84.9 | 15.7 | |||
| Alex Wood | 92.4 | 84.5 | 85.7 | 7.9 | ||||
| Pablo Lopez | 93.2 | 93.1 | 88.6 | 80.7 | 87.3 | 12.5 | ||
| Sandy Alcantara | 97.9 | 97.7 | 89.8 | 86.2 | 91.8 | 11.7 | ||
| Dylan Cease | 96.9 | 96.5 | 87.2 | 81 | 77.7 | 19.2 | ||
| Jordan Montgomery | 92.8 | 93 | 88.4 | 80.2 | 82.2 | 12.8 | ||
| Patrick Corbin | 92 | 92.8 | 81.8 | 74.2 | 82.3 | 18.6 | ||
| Logan Gilbert | 96 | 94.4 | 87.2 | 80.9 | 86.2 | 15.1 | ||
| Max Fried | 94.1 | 93.6 | 87.3 | 74.3 | 86.6 | 19.8 | ||
| Zac Gallen | 94.1 | 94.7 | 89.9 | 86.8 | 81.2 | 86.3 | 13.5 | |
| Corey Kluber | 88.8 | 88.8 | 86.3 | 80.7 | 82.9 | 8.1 | ||
| Kyle Gibson | 91.9 | 91.4 | 89.1 | 83.3 | 79 | 84.4 | 12.9 | |
| Kevin Gausman | 94.9 | 84.1 | 84.4 | 85.1 | 10.8 | |||
| Kyle Freeland | 90.3 | 89.6 | 85.5 | 80.8 | 84.7 | 9.5 | ||
| Cal Quantrill | 93.4 | 93.5 | 88.3 | 82.3 | 85.3 | 11.2 | ||
| Julio Urias | 93.2 | 93.8 | 81 | 86.3 | 12.8 | |||
| Dane Dunning | 86.9 | 89.4 | 86.8 | 78.5 | 83.9 | 10.9 | ||
| Kyle Wright | 95.2 | 94.4 | 90 | 84.5 | 88 | 10.7 | ||
| Alek Manoah | 94 | 93.3 | 81.5 | 86.7 | 12.5 | |||
| German Marquez | 95.6 | 95.2 | 87.5 | 86.7 | 87.6 | 8.9 | ||
| Charlie Morton | 95 | 94.7 | 88.4 | 81.1 | 87.1 | 13.9 | ||
| Framber Valdez | 94 | 94 | 83.3 | 79.2 | 88.9 | 14.8 | ||
| Jose Urquidy | 93.6 | 87.4 | 79.8 | 78 | 86.1 | 15.6 | ||
| Lucas Giolito | 92.9 | 84.5 | 79.4 | 81.4 | 13.5 | |||
| Frankie Montas | 96.2 | 95.7 | 89.5 | 87.1 | 86.4 | 9.8 | ||
| Yu Darvish | 95.2 | 94.8 | 86.6 | 82.5 | 73.2 | 89.3 | 22 | |
| Justin Verlander | 95 | 87.4 | 79 | 86.2 | 16 | |||
| Joe Musgrove | 92.9 | 92.3 | 90 | 83 | 81.4 | 86.2 | 11.5 | |
| Cole Irvin | 90.7 | 90.4 | 87 | 77.4 | 83.1 | 13.3 | ||
| Sean Manaea | 91 | 81.4 | 76.9 | 84.8 | 14.1 | |||
| Dakota Hudson | 91.4 | 91.9 | 87.9 | 80.4 | 86.5 | 11.5 | ||
| Eric Lauer | 93.3 | 89.9 | 87.1 | 78.2 | 87.1 | 15.1 | ||
| Justin Steele | 92.2 | 91.6 | 82.1 | 78.1 | 87.5 | 14.1 | ||
| JT Brubaker | 92.8 | 93.2 | 86.8 | 80.1 | 87.2 | 13.1 | ||
| Shane Bieber | 91.2 | 86.8 | 84.9 | 82 | 86.4 | 9.2 | ||
| Triston McKenzie | 92.4 | 87.4 | 79.5 | 12.9 | ||||
| Shane McClanahan | 96.7 | 89 | 81.8 | 87.6 | 14.9 | |||
| Chris Bassitt | 93.2 | 92.8 | 89 | 78.7 | 71.6 | 85.5 | 21.6 | |
| Zack Wheeler | 95.9 | 95.4 | 90.6 | 81.2 | 89.5 | 14.7 | ||
| Michael Kopech | 94.9 | 84.3 | 78.4 | 85.2 | 16.5 | |||
| Carlos Carrasco | 93.4 | 91.9 | 85 | 81.2 | 87.6 | 12.2 | ||
| Chris Archer | 93.1 | 88.8 | 81.8 | 87 | 11.3 | |||
| Dylan Bundy | 89.1 | 89.7 | 79.1 | 72 | 81.1 | 17.7 | ||
| Mitch Keller | 95.6 | 94.5 | 84.7 | 78.7 | 91.3 | 16.9 | ||
| Drew Rasmussen | 95.5 | 94.7 | 90.6 | 84.6 | 79.6 | 15.9 | ||
| Zach Plesac | 92 | 89.4 | 85.4 | 79.3 | 85.8 | 12.7 | ||
| Josiah Gray | 94.3 | 94.7 | 85.6 | 82.6 | 88.1 | 12.1 | ||
| Taijuan Walker | 93.7 | 93 | 88.6 | 84.9 | 74.8 | 88.8 | 18.9 | |
| Ranger Suarez | 93.2 | 92.6 | 89.6 | 82.2 | 76.9 | 85.2 | 16.3 | |
| Luis Garcia | 94 | 90.6 | 85.4 | 79.9 | 77.3 | 84.9 | 16.7 | |
| Tyler Anderson | 90.6 | 88.9 | 85.5 | 80.3 | 73 | 79 | 17.6 | |
| Tony Gonsolin | 93.1 | 87.5 | 80.7 | 83.4 | 12.4 | |||
| Nestor Cortes | 91.8 | 90.9 | 86.8 | 77.2 | 72.7 | 82.8 | 19.1 | |
| Brad Keller | 94.3 | 93.2 | 86.7 | 89.8 | 7.6 | |||
| Kris Bubic | 91.7 | 79.1 | 80.5 | 12.6 | ||||
| Tyler Mahle | 93.3 | 85.6 | 83.9 | 85.4 | 9.4 | |||
| Shohei Ohtani | 97.2 | 97.6 | 90.3 | 85.3 | 78.1 | 89.4 | 19.5 | |
| James Kaprielian | 93.9 | 93.7 | 85.2 | 79.4 | 84.9 | 14.5 | ||
| Patrick Sandoval | 92.9 | 93.5 | 86.3 | 79 | 83.7 | 14.5 | ||
| Ian Anderson | 94 | 93.5 | 81.7 | 88.2 | 12.3 | |||
| Zach Thompson | 92.3 | 92.2 | 86.6 | 77.1 | 85.8 | 15.2 | ||
| Joe Ryan | 91.9 | 82.1 | 74 | 84.2 | 17.9 | |||
| Zack Greinke | 89.2 | 89.4 | 86 | 82.2 | 72 | 86.6 | 17.4 | |
| Zach Davies | 89.4 | 87.6 | 76 | 74.6 | 79.5 | 14.8 | ||
| Alex Cobb | 95 | 94.8 | 83.9 | 89.7 | 11.1 | |||
| Erick Fedde | 93.1 | 92.6 | 88.9 | 78.3 | 85.7 | 14.8 | ||
| Chris Flexen | 91.7 | 87.4 | 81 | 74.8 | 81 | 16.9 | ||
| Daniel Lynch | 94.1 | 93.7 | 85.9 | 80.6 | 84.8 | 13.5 | ||
| Paul Blackburn | 91.5 | 91.7 | 87.1 | 79.1 | 78.8 | 86 | 12.9 | |
| Tarik Skubal | 94.1 | 94.8 | 89.3 | 76.9 | 83.6 | 17.9 | ||
| Chad Kuhl | 92.7 | 92.7 | 86.5 | 79.3 | 87.9 | 13.4 | ||
| Hunter Greene | 98.7 | 88 | 89.7 | 10.7 | ||||
| Sonny Gray | 92.2 | 92.1 | 83.4 | 81.6 | 78.8 | 86.8 | 13.4 | |
| Brandon Woodruff | 96.2 | 95.7 | 88.3 | 84 | 86.1 | 12.2 | ||
| Yusei Kikuchi | 94.8 | 91.1 | 86.6 | 87 | 8.2 | |||
| Glenn Otto | 92.3 | 92.3 | 81 | 81.2 | 88.1 | 11.3 | ||
| Tyler Wells | 93.6 | 87.6 | 77.9 | 86.8 | 15.7 | |||
| Reid Detmers | 93.2 | 93.8 | 85.3 | 73 | 84.2 | 20.8 | ||
| Noah Syndergaard | 94.1 | 93.7 | 84.5 | 76.3 | 88.5 | 17.8 | ||
| Cristian Javier | 94 | 80 | 76.6 | 85.4 | 17.4 | |||
| Trevor Rogers | 94.6 | 80.6 | 85.6 | 14 | ||||
| Jon Gray | 96 | 85.2 | 77.9 | 88.8 | 18.1 | |||
| Antonio Senzatela | 94.2 | 92.8 | 86.1 | 78.2 | 87 | 16 | ||
| Brady Singer | 92.7 | 93.8 | 85.5 | 87 | 8.3 | |||
| George Kirby | 95.5 | 95.1 | 88.3 | 85.3 | 80.8 | 85.9 | 14.7 | |
| Rich Hill | 88.5 | 86.1 | 84.4 | 69.3 | 71.7 | 82.3 | 19.2 | |
| Max Scherzer | 93.9 | 89.2 | 84.9 | 75 | 84.1 | 18.9 | ||
| Luis Castillo | 97 | 96.8 | 86.6 | 88.4 | 10.4 | |||
| Marcus Stroman | 92.4 | 92 | 89.2 | 84.6 | 81.3 | 87.1 | 11.1 | |
| Johnny Cueto | 91.6 | 91.4 | 87 | 83.7 | 72.3 | 82.6 | 19.3 | |
| Nathan Eovaldi | 95.9 | 90.9 | 86.2 | 78.4 | 87.9 | 17.5 | ||
| Ross Stripling | 91.8 | 89.5 | 87 | 75.9 | 82.4 | 15.9 | ||
| Drew Smyly | 92.6 | 88.5 | 78.6 | 82.6 | 14 | |||
| Blake Snell | 95.7 | 88.8 | 81.2 | 86.9 | 14.5 | |||
| Spenser Watkins | 91.4 | 87.2 | 78.6 | 76.9 | 86.1 | 14.5 | ||
| Jeffrey Springs | 91.6 | 91.1 | 85.3 | 81.1 | 10.5 | |||
| Jake Odorizzi | 92.2 | 87.7 | 82.8 | 71.9 | 85.3 | 20.3 | ||
| Michael Wacha | 93.2 | 92.8 | 89 | 74.9 | 84.8 | 18.3 | ||
| Aaron Ashby | 95.4 | 95.7 | 83.5 | 79.5 | 89.2 | 16.2 | ||
| Keegan Thompson | 93.3 | 92.8 | 89.9 | 83.8 | 81.2 | 86.2 | 12.1 | |
| Adrian Houser | 94.6 | 93.9 | 84.8 | 81.1 | 85.6 | 13.5 | ||
| Mike Minor | 90.4 | 89.8 | 85.4 | 79.1 | 84.2 | 11.3 | ||
| Kyle Hendricks | 86.9 | 86.5 | 72.7 | 79.9 | 14.2 | |||
| Aaron Civale | 90.7 | 91.2 | 86.3 | 80.4 | 75.7 | 85.5 | 15.5 | |
| Austin Gomber | 91 | 84.1 | 75.6 | 82.2 | 15.4 | |||
| David Peterson | 93.6 | 93.2 | 84.3 | 77.9 | 85.8 | 15.7 | ||
| Graham Ashcraft | 97 | 97.2 | 85.7 | 89.8 | 11.5 | |||
| Kyle Bradish | 94.8 | 86.6 | 82.8 | 89.8 | 12 | |||
| Bryse Wilson | 92.9 | 92.3 | 83.3 | 77.3 | 86.1 | 15.6 | ||
| Spencer Strider | 98.1 | 86.5 | 88.9 | 11.6 | ||||
| Mike Clevinger | 93.7 | 93.1 | 87.2 | 79.8 | 76.5 | 86.5 | 17.2 | |
| Luis Severino | 96.1 | 95.4 | 90.4 | 85.1 | 88.9 | 11 | ||
| Clayton Kershaw | 90.7 | 90.8 | 86.6 | 73.2 | 83.8 | 17.6 | ||
| Dean Kremer | 93.4 | 92.1 | 87.6 | 76.1 | 83.9 | 17.3 | ||
| Lance Lynn | 93 | 91.6 | 89 | 86.7 | 82.4 | 85.8 | 10.6 | |
| Jose Suarez | 92.6 | 91.5 | 80.6 | 77.9 | 82.4 | 14.7 | ||
| Jonathan Heasley | 93.8 | 93.8 | 86.5 | 79.1 | 85.4 | 14.7 | ||
| Mitch White | 93.8 | 94.3 | 85.6 | 80.3 | 87.5 | 14 | ||
| Beau Brieske | 94.3 | 93.6 | 86.2 | 78.1 | 82 | 16.2 | ||
| Paolo Espino | 88.3 | 77.7 | 71.3 | 83.5 | 17 | |||
| Joan Adon | 95 | 95 | 86.2 | 79.7 | 87.4 | 15.3 | ||
| Jakob Junis | 86.1 | 91.8 | 85.4 | 82.9 | 84.4 | 8.9 | ||
| Freddy Peralta | 92.5 | 80.3 | 75.8 | 85.7 | 16.7 | |||
| Ryan Feltner | 94.5 | 93.3 | 83.9 | 77.5 | 83.7 | 17 | ||
| Michael Lorenzen | 94.7 | 93.9 | 90.5 | 83.2 | 81.3 | 86.4 | 13.4 | |
| Braxton Garrett | 91.4 | 90.9 | 84.2 | 78.9 | 86 | 12.5 | ||
| Nick Lodolo | 91.9 | 94.3 | 81.8 | 88.2 | 12.5 | |||
| Bruce Zimmermann | 90.6 | 90.6 | 85 | 81 | 84.6 | 9.6 | ||
| Zach Eflin | 93.1 | 92.6 | 89.9 | 85.5 | 78.2 | 87 | 14.9 | |
| Taylor Hearn | 94.4 | 93.5 | 88.6 | 83.9 | 87.5 | 10.5 | ||
| MacKenzie Gore | 94.7 | 87.4 | 80.8 | 84.8 | 13.9 | |||
| Dallas Keuchel | 88 | 87.2 | 85.2 | 77 | 79.2 | 11 | ||
| Josh Winckowski | 93.5 | 93.9 | 88.4 | 84.8 | 89.6 | 9.1 | ||
| Adam Oller | 93.2 | 93.4 | 89.4 | 84.3 | 80.3 | 86.4 | 13.1 | |
| Adrian Sampson | 92.6 | 92.2 | 84.9 | 83.2 | 85.5 | 9.4 | ||
| Austin Voth | 93.6 | 89.5 | 84.3 | 77.6 | 87.1 | 16 | ||
| Walker Buehler | 95.2 | 94.9 | 91.5 | 83.5 | 79.2 | 90.5 | 16 | |
| Alex Faedo | 92.7 | 85 | 86.2 | 7.7 | ||||
| Devin Smeltzer | 89.5 | 88.4 | 84.8 | 75.6 | 82.1 | 13.9 | ||
| Jesus Luzardo | 96.6 | 95.6 | 83.6 | 86.9 | 13 | |||
| Roansy Contreras | 95.8 | 84.6 | 79 | 89.9 | 16.8 | |||
| Kutter Crawford | 94.1 | 88.7 | 85.1 | 79.7 | 86.3 | 14.4 | ||
| Drew Hutchison | 92.5 | 92.8 | 85.9 | 86.5 | 6.9 | |||
| Jose Urena | 96.3 | 95.8 | 87.3 | 90.5 | 9 | |||
| Tyler Alexander | 89.9 | 89.8 | 85.4 | 78.1 | 82.6 | 11.8 | ||
| Michael Pineda | 89.8 | 80.5 | 85.3 | 9.3 | ||||
| Andrew Heaney | 92.7 | 82.9 | 85.3 | 9.8 | ||||
| Steven Matz | 94.5 | 89.6 | 77.8 | 85.1 | 16.7 | |||
| Nick Martinez | 92.9 | 92.8 | 87.5 | 81.4 | 79.4 | 13.5 | ||
| Andre Pallante | 95.3 | 94.8 | 87.3 | 77 | 18.3 | |||
| Aaron Sanchez | 92.4 | 92.2 | 79.1 | 87.8 | 13.3 | |||
| Eduardo Rodriguez | 91.7 | 91.9 | 88.5 | 82.7 | 85.1 | 9.2 | ||
| Zach Logue | 90.1 | 85.9 | 77.5 | 81.9 | 12.6 | |||
| Humberto Castellanos | 89.4 | 90.4 | 86.3 | 76.5 | 84 | 13.9 | ||
| Anibal Sanchez | 90 | 89.3 | 87.5 | 83.2 | 75.5 | 80.6 | 14.5 | |
| Elieser Hernandez | 91.3 | 92 | 79.6 | 83.9 | 12.4 | |||
| Tylor Megill | 95.7 | 87.6 | 85.3 | 80.4 | 89.1 | 15.3 | ||
| Garrett Whitlock | 94.9 | 95.1 | 83.2 | 84.5 | 11.9 | |||
| Konnor Pilkington | 92.1 | 82 | 76.1 | 84.4 | 16 | |||
| Trevor Williams | 90.8 | 88.7 | 82.8 | 78.6 | 84.1 | 12.2 | ||
| Ryan Yarbrough | 86.5 | 82.8 | 71.4 | 78.7 | 15.1 | |||
| Bailey Falter | 91.7 | 91 | 83.6 | 76.6 | 83.1 | 15.1 | ||
| Jordan Hicks | 98.7 | 99 | 84 | 92 | 15 | |||
| Vince Velasquez | 93.4 | 91.8 | 84.5 | 81.7 | 88.2 | 11.7 | ||
| Jason Alexander | 93.3 | 92.6 | 80.9 | 81.7 | 12.4 | |||
| Spencer Howard | 94.2 | 84.4 | 74.9 | 79.5 | 19.3 | |||
| Vladimir Gutierrez | 92.8 | 82.4 | 78.4 | 82.9 | 14.4 | |||
| Edward Cabrera | 96.2 | 95.8 | 86.6 | 83.4 | 92.7 | 12.8 | ||
| Domingo German | 92.9 | 92.9 | 81.2 | 86 | 11.7 | |||
| Daulton Jefferies | 92.3 | 92.5 | 89.5 | 80.1 | 86 | 12.4 | ||
| Matt Manning | 93.6 | 93 | 84 | 79.6 | 86.7 | 14 | ||
| Garrett Hill | 91.2 | 91.3 | 82 | 76.9 | 81.7 | 14.4 | ||
| Rony Garcia | 92.7 | 92.3 | 79.9 | 87.3 | 12.8 | |||
| Chase Silseth | 95.4 | 94.3 | 83.7 | 78.9 | 86.3 | 16.5 | ||
| Tyler Gilbert | 89.5 | 89.7 | 86.2 | 76.3 | 81.7 | 13.4 | ||
| Carlos Hernandez | 95.2 | 94.1 | 84.5 | 80.9 | 84 | 14.3 | ||
| Daniel Castano | 91.8 | 89.4 | 86.4 | 81 | 83.9 | 10.8 | ||
| Bailey Ober | 91.6 | 83 | 76.3 | 84.2 | 15.3 | |||
| Jalen Beeks | 95.3 | 88.4 | 90.2 | 6.9 | ||||
| Tucker Davidson | 93.1 | 93.1 | 86.5 | 78.5 | 85.7 | 14.6 | ||
| Ryan Pepiot | 94.1 | 86.9 | 86.7 | 7.4 | ||||
| Tommy Henry | 91.6 | 90.8 | 85.8 | 80.4 | 84.6 | 11.2 | ||
| JP Sears | 93.4 | 79.6 | 83 | 13.8 | ||||
| Hyun Jin Ryu | 89.3 | 86 | 71.9 | 79.6 | 17.4 | |||
| Jacob deGrom | 99.3 | 93 | 83.4 | 92.8 | 15.9 | |||
| Shane Baz | 96 | 87.7 | 82.3 | 88.5 | 13.7 | |||
| Matthew Liberatore | 93 | 92.7 | 85.8 | 73.9 | 85.1 | 19.1 | ||
| Sam Long | 94.8 | 93 | 76.7 | 84.4 | 18.1 | |||
| Josh Winder | 94.1 | 84.3 | 80.7 | 88.6 | 13.4 | |||
| Adrian Martinez | 93.7 | 81.6 | 83.4 | 12.1 | ||||
| Matt Bush | 97.1 | 92.7 | 81.4 | 15.7 | ||||
| Anthony DeSclafani | 92.7 | 92.5 | 87.4 | 80.9 | 87.9 | 11.8 | ||
| Tyler Beede | 95.6 | 95.2 | 88.6 | 79.3 | 84.8 | 16.3 | ||
| Matt Wisler | 89.8 | 80 | 9.8 | |||||
| Justin Dunn | 92.1 | 83.2 | 79.7 | 87.9 | 12.4 | |||
| Jared Koenig | 89.1 | 88.7 | 83.1 | 77.5 | 82.7 | 11.6 | ||
| Elvin Rodriguez | 92.9 | 92.7 | 83 | 77.9 | 86.5 | 15 | ||
| Davis Martin | 93.9 | 84.4 | 79.1 | 85.7 | 14.8 | |||
| Chris Paddack | 93 | 83.5 | 76 | 82.5 | 17 | |||
| Matt Swarmer | 90.5 | 81.8 | 85.7 | 8.7 | ||||
| Matt Brash | 95.9 | 84.3 | 83.2 | 85.5 | 12.7 | |||
| Bryce Elder | 91.3 | 89.9 | 82.6 | 78.6 | 86.2 | 12.7 | ||
| Brayan Bello | 97 | 96.4 | 85.7 | 88.1 | 11.3 |
Sure enough, Winckowski demonstrates one of to smallest differences, magnified by throwing five pitches. For what it's worth, the Pirates lit him up.
One general observation: I know there's some cause and effect in play, but it's still amazing that only 13 pitchers who have started at least five games throw a splitter at least 10% of the time, considering the splitter is, by the numbers, the most effective MLB pitch.
Stick to Pitch Talk
One of my pet peeves is how verbatim announcers (and thus fans) treat pitches shown on TV, when their perceived movement and location is influenced by the camera angle. This video is fantastic, though the dude's attempts at humor leave much to be desired.
Box Score Blitz, August 31
- HOU 5, TEX 3: After a short stint as a reliever, Cristian Javier returned to the Astros rotation in Justin Verlander's spot. Javier did his job, keeping Houston in the game before tagging in the bullpen for four scoreless frames. Rafael Montero secured his 10th save, filling in for Ryan Pressly, who is on the IL again. The Astros game plan appeared to be patience against Martin Perez, and it paid off, though he helped with only 18 of 28 first pitches for strikes. David Hensley (filling in for Yordan Alvarez and Aledmys Diaz) had his best game in the majors with three singles and a walk. Hensley will hit low in the order when he plays, but the Astros lineup scores enough so he can be used in daily leagues or as a cost-saver in a DFS stack.
- MIL 6, PIT 1: Freddy Peralta continued getting the job done despite not racking up strikeouts, punching out only three Pirates in five frames. His velocity is down a couple ticks, though he isn't much of a velocity guy. He gets his whiffs on secondary stuff and appears to be tweaking his pitch mix to determine what works best. Keston Hiura continued a productive stretch as his 2-for-5 effort raised his slash to .281/.343/.688 over his past nine games, but he's fanned at a 34.5 percent clip in that span. Until Hiura can cut down on his strikeouts, his hot streaks such as this one will be balanced by cold spells.
- SD 5, SF 4: Joe Musgrove tossed his fourth quality start in his last five outings, fanning a season-high 11 while earning his first win since June 16. Josh Hader returned to the closer role, capturing his 30th save. Hader is another reminder that players are human, as he and his wife dealt with a pregnancy scare earlier this season. Who knows how that and becoming a father has affected Hader's mental state this season. Brandon Drury's OPS is only .628 since being acquired by the Padres, but that's still better than Josh Bell's .612 mark. Alex Wood's misfortune continued as his ERA is now 5.10. The southpaw's LOB mark is 63.9 percent, which is the 10th-lowest level among pitchers with at least 130 innings over the last decade.
- BAL 4, CLE 0: Good defense propelled Jordan Lyles to his 10th win as he only fanned two Guardians in 6.2 frames. However, the big story was Gunnar Henderson clubbing his first career homer and his blonde moss crossing home plate before the rest of his body. Henderson's rise has been meteoric. It will be interesting to see if Baltimore suppresses his at bats to remain below the Rookie of the Year threshold. It may depend on whether they hang around the wild card chase.
- STL 5, CIN 3 (F/13): Albert Pujols failed to take advantage of facing Mike Minor with an 0-for-5 effort, so he's still six homers shy of the 700 club. Lars Nootbaar didn't start, but still ended up with a combo meal (an homage to my ESPN friends Erik and Tristan) with his 10th homer and fourth steal. Over a 650 plate appearance season, that's 26 dingers and 10 swipes.
- TB 2, MIA 1 (F/10): Jalen Beeks became the seventh Rays reliever to record more than one save as another pitchers' duel was blemished by a zombie scoring the game winner. Drew Rasmussen's quality start dropped his ERA to 1.84 with a 0.86 WHIP since the break. He's fanned 41 over those 44 stanzas, allowing only two homers in that span. Trevor Rogers posted an encouraging effort in his return, fanning five in six frames. It seemed a longshot a few months ago, but among the struggling Jose Berrios and Lucas Giolito, Rogers may be the most useful of the trio down the stretch.
- WSH 5, OAK 1: It's Pavlovian: stream pitchers against the Athletics. Anibal Sanchez is the latest beneficiary with seven innings of one-run ball. Joey Meneses had his nine-game hitting streak snapped. Meneses has compiled a .959 OPS since joining the Nationals. A .357 BABIP has helped, but so has a stingy 17.3 percent strikeout rate.
- CHC 7, TOR 5: Mitch White posted his second straight subpar effort against a lesser lineup, surrendering six runs to the Cubs in 4.2 innings after the Angels tallied seven in five frames against White in his prior outing. The Cubs spread the wealth, with only Christopher Morel failing to collect a hit. Franmil Reyes cracked his second long ball this week. Alejandro Kirk and Cavan Biggio went deep for the Blue Jays, but the team couldn't take full advantage of the Cubs' weak pitching.
- NYM 2, LAD 1: Retiring Trea Turner, Freddie Freeman and Will Smith to save a 2-1 game is challenging enough, but to do it following a live trumpet entrance is even more impressive. Edwin Diaz is experiencing one of those years. Jacob deGrom was hoping to get through six innings with 100 pitches, but he needed only 93 to complete seven stanzas. Tyler Anderson also hurled seven frames, but the Mets scratched out a pair of tallies on Starling Marte's 16th homer. It's clear Marte can't run as much as last season (his sprint speed has dropped to 70th percentile), but he's gone deep in two straight games.
- SEA 5, DET 3: Seattle's lights-out bullpen did it again as Marco Gonzales' six-inning, three-run effort stood up. Paul Sewald managed his 17th save, but it took 24 pitches, so don't be surprised if someone else takes the ninth on Thursday (though the game is in progress as this is being written, so hopefully you already adjusted in daily leagues). It's unclear how much he'll play, but Spencer Torkelson was recalled by the Tigers. After struggling following his demotion, Torkelson posted a .319/.448/.468 for Triple-A Toledo over the second half of August.
- ATL 3, COL 2: Another solid effort from Kyle Wright, supported by homers from Austin Riley and Ronald Acuna — par for the course. However, after the game, Acuna was asked about his knee, and via an interpreter he replied, "It's terrible. We're just going to play through it until the season's over." I watched the clip, and the quote (hopefully) appears worse than it seems. That said, don't expect many more steals, though the 25 he's garnered are likely more than expected already.
- BOS 6, MIN 5: Matt Barnes closing out a win salvage one game of a series with the Twins to end August is not what Red Sox nation envisioned. Neither was only 11 homers from J.D. Martinez and 12 from Xander Bogaerts, but after each went deep, that's where they are heading into September. There are whispers Boston may promote Triston Casas, but as of this writing there is no announcement.
- CHW 4, KC 2: After limiting the Royals to just one run over seven stanzas, Lynn finished September with a 2.45 ERA and 0.85 WHIP for the month, whiffing 42 in 36.2 innings. Elvis Andrus hit his first homer for the White Sox. He's batting leadoff, so he's in play for deeper leagues until Tim Anderson returns in about three weeks. Liam Hendriks registered his 29th save. Last September, Hendriks collected eight saves in 13.2 scoreless innings. Hoping for history to repeat itself is aggressive, but Hendriks looks primed for another solid finish.
- LAA 3, NYY 2: Sometimes, the box score doesn't tell the whole story. In the sixth inning, David Fletcher hit a sharp grounder down the line. Josh Donaldson snared it, but his throw skipped by the outstretched Anthony Rizzo. It's easy for me to say while watching, but I thought Rizzo should have left the bag to make sure the throw didn't get by him. He opted to stretch, and Fletcher was credited with a hit while reaching second on an error. Mike Trout then grounded to shortstop, but Isiah Kiner-Falefa took his eye off the ball while checking the runner, so Trout reached. In an alternate universe, Rizzo fielded Donaldson's throw, keeping Fletcher at first, then Kiner-Falefa turned Trout's grounder into a twin-killing, so Shohei Ohtani was up with no one on and two outs, meaning his three-run homer would have been merely a solo shot. On the other side, Patrick Sandoval was quite impressive, mixing up pitches and location throughout his seven frames. I know Sandoval has been a fantasy favorite for a couple of years, and while I wasn't a non-believer, his performance against the Pinstripes has me expecting a Top-30 starting pitching rank next season.
- PHI 18, ARI 2: I can't imagine there's a desire, but I wouldn't complain one iota if they somehow tacked on prohibiting position players from pitching when they legislate the shift. Anyway, lost in the laugher was a solid effort from Bailey Falter, though the righty was lifted with a groin issue with one out in the seventh after throwing only 83 pitches. This was Falter's fourth straight quality start. If the injury isn't serious, Falter is a sneaky asset down the stretch. Oddly, the Phillies scored 18 times without leaving the yard.
