A Few AFL PITCHf/x Leaders

by Harry Pavlidis on Nov 9, 2009 7:42 PM EST in Pitch f/x Goodies

I like the Arizona Fall League. I've been tracking and classifying a lot pitches, thanks to the PITCHf/x installations in Peoria and Surprise. Nearly 10,000 pitches through Saturday's Rising Stars Game.

Let's take a look-see at some of my favorite stats. These are based only on PITCHf/x data. Some, such as ground ball rates, can be expanded to cover the non-PITCHf/x games, too. But I'm not. I'm also collapsing across pitch types due to sample size issues and a lack of finality on many of those classifications.

Anyway, on with the Strasburg. I mean Storen. I mean show.

The minimum pitch total I'm using is 59. Read Hardball Times on Tuesday and you'll figure out why. Hint: Aaron Crow's pitch total.

	Whiff
Lee Hyde	0.458
Sergio Santos	0.396
Michael Dunn	0.377
Scott Gorgen	0.373
Craig Kimbrel	0.353
Robert Wooten	0.345
Stephen Strasburg	0.339
Daniel Moskos	0.333
Zach Braddock	0.333
Jenrry Mejia	0.317

	B:CS
Drew Storen	1.4
Michael Dunn	1.4
Zach Braddock	1.4
Robert Wooten	1.4
Daniel Meszaros	1.4
Dustin Richardson	1.5
Matthew Long	1.6
Mike Leake	1.6
Logan Ondrusek	1.6
Aaron Hartsock	1.6

	In Wide Zone
Wilton Lopez	0.646
Logan Ondrusek	0.646
Mike Parisi	0.632
Jeff Lyman	0.604
Carlton Smith	0.597
Ryohei Tanaka	0.591
Bryan Augenstein	0.589
Ian Kennedy	0.580
Michael Dunn	0.579
Drew Storen	0.577

	GB%
Aaron Hartsock	75%
Stephen Strasburg	73%
Carlton Smith	69%
Josh Wilkie	67%
Connor Graham	64%
Jeff Mandel	63%
Jenrry Mejia	63%
Wilton Lopez	62%
Tommy Mendoza	59%
Javy Guerra	59%

	LD%
Wilton Lopez	0%
Spencer Steedley	0%
Steve Hirschfeld	0%
Brennan Garr	4%
Sergio Santos	5%
Joshua Fields	6%
Javy Guerra	6%
Aaron Hartsock	6%
Daniel Meszaros	7%
Drew Storen	8%

Notice how well Mejia and Strasburg rank in Whiffs and Ground balls? Storen is all over the place, along with Dunn.

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Comments

Atta boy, Lee Hyde

Keep throwin’ that Knuckle Curve!

http://www.capitolavenueclub.com/

by PWHjort on Nov 9, 2009 7:57 PM EST reply actions

Something tells me pitch f/x in the minor leagues isn't too far off

I think the two reasons they did put into those two ball parks was: 1. to test it in smaller minor league facilities and 2. Strasburg.

The Rays Party

by therayspartyleader on Nov 9, 2009 9:08 PM EST reply actions

These aren't the first

At least two teams have farm teams with installations.

by Harry Pavlidis on Nov 9, 2009 9:27 PM EST up reply actions

Chances that data becomes public?

by vivaelpujols on Nov 9, 2009 9:32 PM EST up reply actions

About zero

by Harry Pavlidis on Nov 9, 2009 9:43 PM EST up reply actions

by vivaelpujols on Nov 9, 2009 9:48 PM EST up reply actions

mejia is a bad mother

if/when he gets his control/command under … uh… control, he’ll be frightening.

he never had high walk totals prior to his middle finger injury, and it’s an injury that is known to have a negative impact on the control of a pitcher. so i’m hoping/positing that’s the case with him right now, because i want to see him drop truth bombs in the majors.

by firejerrymanuel on Nov 12, 2009 11:43 PM EST reply actions

You're claim isn't inaccurate

But his professional career is also a bit more than 200 innings old if you count his time in the DSL (where walks were a problem), a little less if you don’t. Not counting DSL time, his career BB% is 9.3%, good not great. And when a pitcher has stuff like Mejia’s, its tough to really analyze walk rates against lower level competition, not many hitters in the NYPL can catch up to 97 MPH heat, let alone determine whether the pitch is in the zone or not. Its a bit different in the upper levels. In this case, I’m going with the scouts and assuming he commands his fastball well for a 19/20 year old, but below average for a pitcher in Double-A. His two secondary offerings both feature great movement, but location can be a problem, and this is corroborated by the Pitch F/X. His curve, while feature lots of movement, doesn’t seem to consistently go where Mejia wants it to, and he has gotten burned by quite a few changeups that were left in the middle of the plate.

"All energy flows according to the whims of the great magnet

What a fool I was to defy him"

-HST

by Mark Himmelstein on Nov 14, 2009 3:14 PM EST up reply actions