We’re going granular, folks
Aesthetics are everything. Often time, how one thing looks defines how something is. With my travel baseball team I coach, we are constantly trying to find just the right uniform that looks good on a player. We have come up with some solid combinations, ones that make the players look like ballplayers. We’re also always harping on tucking in their jersey. “You look good, you play good!” is a common, through grammatically incorrect, refrain.
In the realm of professional baseball, the aesthetics of particular pitches help me sleep at night. For me, the beauty of the game is a changeup that has a hitter so fooled, the swing is almost completed before the pitch arrives at the catcher’s mitt. A curveball that begins above the head of the hitter only to drop into the strike zone at the same height as his knees. A two seam fastball that comes back so much, Greg Maddux himself sits on his porch and nods in approval. These are the things that make me happiest about baseball.
That means, it’s never too early to take a look at the team’s pitching staff and try to determine who has the best of each pitch on the team. With pitchers these days all employing more or less the same arsenal, we can see who has the best of which. How we’ll do so is by checking out Baseball Savant’s pitcher arsenal leaderboards and seeing, for example, whose slider has the highest run value. Some, you could probably guess without looking. Others were a little more surprising.
(Stats are prior to Wednesday’s game; min. 10 PA)
Four seam fastball
+3 runs – Ranger Suarez
You’d think that one of the high octane reliever would claim this pitch as their own, but it’s Mr. Rager atop the ol’ heater list. It’s been impressive watching him work this season, particularly with this pitch. He’s moved it all around the zone and thanks to its effectiveness, he’s been able to base the rest of his repertoire off of it.
Sinker/two seam fastball
tie: +3 runs – Aaron Nola and Yunior Marte
Personally, this pitch, no matter the pitcher, will always be my most favorite pitch in all of baseball. The two-seam fastball the batter gives up on out of the hand that sneaks back across the plate, whether that batter be left- or right-handed, it’s total <chef’s kiss>.
Slider
+2 runs – Yunior Marte
I wrote about Marte becoming a solid relief option for the team a while ago and the same has held true for a while. He’s been a little more erratic of late, likely a bit of regression to the mean for him. As a low leverage reliever? He’s perfectly fine. He might have even started to climb in the bullpen hierarchy a bit and his usage of a better slider is likely why. Chalk this one up to another win for the pitching development program the Phillies have created.
Curveball
+1 runs – Aaron Nola
When Aaron Nola signed his extension, there were some detractors from trolls that really don’t know what they’re talking about. Doling out that amount of money for someone who is not considered an ace was their main argument against the deal. It’s why we trust smarter people than us to make decisions for baseball, decisions based on Nola still possessing stuff like this curveball. My question would be: is the curveball or two-seamer his signature pitch?
Changeup
+5 runs – Ranger Suarez
I’ve been a travel baseball coach for three years now. I’ve seen kids trying to throw all kinds of offspeed stuff – curveballs, sliders, splitters. There are so many kids trying to throw these kinds of pitches that it makes me cringe a bit, wondering what their future looks like health-wise.
Were it me, I’d mandate each youth pitcher learn to throw a changeup. Hand size obviously plays a role in their being able to throw one, but if we can get kids to learn this kind of cambio that Suarez throws, leaning on that pitch more than things with spin, I think you’d teach kids how to actually pitch rather than rely on spin.
That’s totally off topic. Go back and watch that changeup from Suarez again. Beautiful.
Sweeper
+3 runs – Spencer Turnbull
Turnbull has been quite the find for the pitching staff. He’s given them that fifth starter every team wants to have, the one that is counted on to keep them in the game for five innings, but has been much, much more. He’ll likely lose his spot in the rotation to Taijuan Walker this weekend, but he could become quite the weapon out there if all of his stuff is able to tic up a bit.
Cutter
+1 runs – Ranger Suarez
Part of Suarez’s success this year has been improved defense behind him. Having Bohm get better each year is a boon to a pitcher that does rely on defense more than the pitchers ahead of him.
Of course, when you can get in on a hitter with this kind of a cutter and induce weak contact, it’s a boon to your pitch count as well.
It was a little surprising not to see Zack Wheeler on top of any list. He does have the best splitter on the staff, but he’s one of only two that actually throw the pitch, so it makes sense to just keep him on his own. He’s near the top of each of the other pieces in his arsenal, which is why he’s able to dominate on the mound when he’s got it all working.
The pitching staff as a whole has been very good. These are just a few examples of who is doing well with what pitch. Will these change later on with more samples? Of course. For now, let’s just bask in the amazing season Ranger is having thus far.