“Hitters don’t hit his fastball.” In his brief outing in the 2015 MLB All-Star Game, that was all the announcers could talk about. The velocity, the extension, the rising effect. Back then, deGrom was only averaging 95.7 mph. Harold Reynolds put it well as he witnessed deGrom K’ing the side on 10 pitches: “That’s why... Continue Reading →

Opening Day is baseball fan’s Christmas. Anything is possible. You get the first glimpse at teams and players not knowing what lies ahead. For at least one day a year, every team can trick themselves into thinking they are championship contenders. It is tempting to jump on early season stats as indicators. In DJ Lemahieu’s... Continue Reading →

In last year’s spring training, Trevor Bauer made headlines by telling the batter what was coming. As is typical in bullpen sessions, he communicated through glove motions in what is essentially a universal language in baseball. He did manage to record an out, but needless to say such an experiment would be silly in the... Continue Reading →

In my last post I walked through an analyst’s perspective of crafting a visual, but never got to talking about how that particular visual could be used to derive insight. So as much as I would love to continue discussing nuances, let’s talk about what these beauties have to offer. Flashback to over a year... Continue Reading →

At the bottom of Yu Darvish’s baseball savant page is a wavy mess. Distributions of different colors bobbing up and down indicating the speed uncertainty batters face when stepping in the box against one of the best pitchers in the MLB. It may not be the most practically helpful to a pitcher, but it was... Continue Reading →

I have always loved long toss. As someone who has always struggled with command, the ability to just launch the ball was liberating. As it became an everyday habit, my velocity began to climb. Training everything to fire in-sync, full speed certainly aids the body’s ability to do so on the mound, but it may... Continue Reading →

The Padres are maniacs and I absolutely love it. Yu Darvish, Blake Snell, Dinelson Lamet, Chris Paddack… it is like they have gone wild on The Show’s franchise mode. How they managed these blockbusters without dealing their top prospects is worth its own conversation, but today I want to discuss the idea of marginal benefit.... Continue Reading →

Over his four year career, Adam Kolarek has grown a reputation for being one of the best lefty-killers in the MLB. With a low arm slot and bowling ball sinker, he is a tool perfectly designed for today's specialization and bullpen heavy game.  Against left handed batters, the scouting report is pretty straightforward: A heavy... Continue Reading →

Game 5 of the 2018 NLCS between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Milwaukee Brewers. Both teams were home run fueled and had caught fire in September leading into the playoffs. The Dodgers had future hall of famer Clayton Kershaw slated for the start. The Brewers, a more bullpen heavy team, indicated Wade Miley would... Continue Reading →

In 2020, Devin Williams took the league by storm. En route to posting a 0.33 ERA, Williams struck out 53% of batters he faced earning himself a spot in rookie of the year conversations. Fueling his rapid ascent was his screwball-like changeup, but how can we analyze what makes it elite? Plenty has been written... Continue Reading →

Mike Trout is the best player in baseball. He once again put up a ridiculous slashline in 2020 - .281/.390/.603 - although it was somewhat disappointing considering what he has done over the past half decade. He may be high on the list, but it is safe to say he will not defend his American... Continue Reading →

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBWXCSU4nHQ I am usually not one to make bold claims, but Kimbrel had a spectacular September. He may have only pitched 7.1 scoreless innings, but it was how he pitched those innings that gives them significance. He dominated striking out 13 batters and walking none. You can fake a good ERA for 7.1 innings far... Continue Reading →

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0oSpYKGOswc Luis Castillo's slider has averaged 0.0 inches of horizontal movement in 2020. This video breaks down why that number can be a little misleading. It can also be found on Johnny Asel's YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnvnQkFJpR5WubOr-xplBsQ