What I want to cover is how to identify the pitches of any pitcher’s repertoire, given the fabulous pitch-f/x data that several others and I have been working with this season. What does he throw? How hard does he throw each kind of pitch? What sort of movement is he getting?

In addition to describing basic pitch types and what they look like in the data, John examines the repertoires of 17 current big-league pitchers. I find the side-by-side comparisons of “similar” pitcher types (e.g., sidearmers Chad Bradford, Cla Meredith, Peter Moylan, Pat Neshek) particularly intriguing.

I need to chew on this a lot more — I mean, a lot more. John has provided something here that promises to be useful to researchers and, eventually, casual observers of baseball. Fascinating stuff…

Post from: Knuckle Curve

A couple things stand out to me. First, it’s amazing how much mileage Earl Weaver got out of John Lowenstein and Gary Roenicke in left field. Both were good players with flaws. The genius of Weaver, of course, is that he found a way to maximize their utility while minimizing their flaws. (As an aside, I’m doing some research on the ‘73 draft — Roenicke was the third shortstop taken that year, behind Robin Yount and Johnnie LeMaster.)

Second, I remember as a kid watching Lee Lacy play for the Dodgers. He didn’t get into the game all that often, but when he did, he was pretty effective. As a part-timer, he posted some terrific numbers in 1975 and 1978 before moving on to Pittsburgh.

After several more productive seasons with the Pirates, Lacy got his first shot at a (mostly) everyday gig in 1984, hitting .321/.362/.464 in the process. How many guys do you suppose have (a) qualified for a league batting title for the first time at age 36 and (b) finished second in the league that year?

Post from: Knuckle Curve

Post from: Knuckle Curve