Analyzing Billingsley's Gem

by Brendan Scolari on Apr 16, 2009 5:42 AM EDT Comment 6 comments

Hey everyone. I write for the Dodger blog True Blue LA here at sbnation. You may recognize me from the comments section here at BTB, especially lately asking for help on PITCHf/x graphing. :-)

Anyway, this was my first attempt at making a post using my own graphs and I'm still relatively new to using PITCHf/x data in general. I analyzed Chad Billingsley's latest start against the Giants where he pitched 7 innings and allowed only 1 run with 0 walks and 11 strikeouts. So I just wanted to see what you all thought of my article, because most of you probably have more experience with this stuff than I do. Any comments and/or criticism are gladly welcomed. Thanks in advance for all the help.

Here's the link.

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well done sir

SuperStar Fred McGriff gives this post his "full endorsahment"!

by Molly Flogger on Apr 17, 2009 9:18 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Thanks.

by Brendan Scolari on Apr 17, 2009 4:02 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I really like how you used pitch f/x as a tool for further analysis and didn't just throw up pretty graphs.

Can you explain “nibbleyness” a bit more? Are you using the distance from each pitch to the closest corner of the plate? Are pitches in the zone and out of zone treated the same (i.e. using absolute distances?) Are you trying to measure command, or what?

Beyond the Boxscore // Calling BJ Upton lazy is lazy.

by Sky Kalkman on Apr 17, 2009 9:58 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I wasn't exactly sure myself (I got that stat from brooksbaseball.net)

so I emailed Dan Brooks (the owner of the site I presume) and this is what he said, “It’s actually the distance from the edge of a circle 1ft in diameter with its center in the middle of the strikezone.”

Does that make it clearer?

by Brendan Scolari on Apr 19, 2009 12:32 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs