Article: On Twins Pitching and Philosophy

[Thrylos]

I think that the best pitch depends on the pitcher and the situation.  The one problem with the Twins' philosophy is the cookie cutter approach that the former pitching coach was the father of, and unfortunately, seems to be running around the organization.

 

Got to play to each pitcher's strengths and ignore their weaknesses.   If someone has a horrible sinker, don't teach him one and make him throw it, focus on improving his good stuff.  Better results, more impact right away and less work to get from good to great than from average or below average to great.

[Paul]

"I think that the best pitch depends on the pitcher and the situation."

 

Exactly!  No matter what you throw, or where you throw it, if the hitter is sitting on it you're in trouble.

 

Nice to see the new technology supporting the old axiomatic thought of  "4-seamer up and in...softer stuff low and away".

[ShouldaCouldaWoulda]

Yes, the common belief passed down is that low-and-away is the best fastball location, but it's not -- up-and-in is the best at creating outs:

 

down/away: .254 avg/711 OPS -- 3.8% swinging strike

up/in: .197 avg/658 OPS -- 8.9% swinging strike.

 

The biggest difference is the tendency to allow home runs -- down/away: 0.6% vs up/in 2.4% -- which I think pitchers/coaches error far too cautious on. 

 

The problem with down/away is that that location diminishes Effective Velocity:

 

"Escobar's stuff was about as good as it gets," he said. "But at the time I did the study, the league was hitting his fastball combo at a .369 clip. If movement is everything for a pitcher, this guy should have been a world-beater. But if movement is so important, why was he getting killed?

 

"It turned out that he was throwing 97 down and away, which is about 92 EV. Then he throws the cutter to lefties at 92, and the sinker down and in, at about 91. He's throwing all his pitches within 2 or 3 mph of each other [in EV terms], and he's neutralizing all the effects. Even though the movement is there, it's killing him.

 

Guys are getting ready for one pitch at one speed, and receiving two bonus pitches at the same speed. He was throwing pitches that moved right into hitters' bats, even if they were guessing wrong."

 

Had Escobar reversed himself, he could have created a spread of up to 16 mph utilizing exactly the same pitches. Husband paused for a moment, and sighed.

 

So, no, down and at the knees is not the optimal location for a fastball. Now just below that zone outside of the strike zone is a solid location:

 

http://cdn0.vox-cdn.com/assets/4631875/EVchart.png

 

It is good to hear that somewhere in the organization pitchers are working on going up in the zone.

I have never heard of this before and am loving this information.

[Molitor4manager]

Great piece Parker.  As you said, location is important, but so is the sequencing of pitches.  I've just gotten tired of anybody involved with commenting on the Twins pitching situation continually spouting all the tired old cliches.  An in-depth piece like this really shows the reality of the importance of pitch sequencing.

[Rosterman]

Great and enjoyable piece. Baseball has come such a long way from "throw it over the plate and make him swing" days of yore. There is still some pitch-to-contact mentality, as you can place your fielders and they need to do something out there. And so many pitchers HAVE to have up to four solid pitches, not that throw 1-2 of them more than a couple of times in a game. And as long as no one is on base, a closer or setup guy can just throw, depending, of course, on the batters he is facing.

 

You always shudder when you hear system-wide edicts about what players should do ("take the first pitch"). A coaches job is to work on a player's strengths, and to make comments on how to work around trouble areas, and to reinforce both thru word and practice. Especially when you now have infield coaches, outfield coaches, hitting coach, assistant coach, bench coach, bullpen coach, pitching coach. One coach for every three players almost. Not to mention the folks you can sneak into practice (Smalley, Laudner, Bert, T.K., Marni et al).