This is the pure numerical data version.
A quick glossary of terms:
Average velocity is pretty simple.
Top-end is the highest recorded speed, and bottom-end is the lowest; used on breaking/off-speed stuff.
Usage is (Pitch total/total pitches)*100
Ball is (Pitch thrown for ball amount/total amount of pitch)*100
In play is (Amount of times pitch put into play/total amount of pitch)*100
Foul is (Amount of times pitch hit/bunted foul/total amount of pitch)*100
Swinging strike is (Amount of swinging strikes on pitch/total amount of pitch)*100
N = Number of pitch type thrown
Disclaimers:
1. These usage numbers will not add up to 100%. I reclassified the pitches and some were simply too close to call either way. I don't feel comfortable just throwing them in a bucket. The sum is about 97%. So we're talking about 30 pitches.
2. Since I did this on my own, I'm not claiming perfection, but I've dealt with pitchfx enough to know the difference between a change and a fastball, a curve and a slider, and so on. There should be a good level of accuracy involved since I weeded out the ~100 or so pitches I simply didn't feel comfortable calling. This also means the usage percentages won't match up exactly with the ones on FanGraphs.
On to the numbers...
Fastball
Average velocity: 93.5 MPH
Top-end velocity: 98.6 MPH
Usage: 66.3%
Ball: 38.1%
In play: 15.1%
Foul: 19.9%
Swinging strike: 8.6%
N = 675
Slider
Average velocity: 85.4 MPH
Bottom-end velocity: 80.2 MPH
Usage: 24.1%
Ball: 35.1%
In play: 16.7%
Foul: 24.5%
Swinging strike: 6.5%
N = 245
Change-up
Average velocity: 85.4 MPH
Bottom-end velocity: 80.7 MPH
Usage: 5%
Ball: 33%
In play: 17.6%
Foul: 17.6%
Swinging strike: 9.8%
N = 51
Spike Curve
Average velocity: 76.4 MPH
Bottom-end velocity: 74 MPH
Usage: 1.3%
Ball: 84.6%
In play: 7.7%
Foul: 7.7%
Swinging strike: 0.0%
N = 13
For easier comparison:
Pitch | Velocity | Usage | Ball | In Play | Foul | SwStr |
FB | 93.5 | 66.3 | 38.1 | 15.1 | 19.9 | 8.6 |
SL | 85.4 | 24.1 | 35.1 | 16.7 | 24.5 | 6.5 |
CH | 84.5 | 5 | 33 | 17.6 | 17.6 | 9.8 |
CU | 76.4 | 1.3 | 84.6 | 7.7 | 7.7 | 0 |
In simple terms:
- His fastball is good.
- The slider gets fouled off a lot, not a ton of swings and misses.
- He seems to be using the change-up well, at least that's what the fouls and swinging strike rate suggest.
- Zero spike curves thrown for a called or swinging strike to date. One foul strike, but wow. 85% balls? If we had a definition for a replacement level pitch, the results of this one probably qualify.