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New Arm of the Week: Mat Latos

Mat Latos went from Futures to Majors in a week. Latos' debut with the Padres came on Sunday, making him the only rookie pitcher to make his debut in the weekend after the All Star break. Latos throws two fastballs (four-seam and two-seam), a breaking ball (let's call it a slider) and a straight change-up, according to KFFL:

Chris [Hadom] informed me that Latos actually ditched a knuckle change in favor of one with a more traditional grip.

Here's what I found, including the inning from the Futures Game:

Pitch                   #  MPH  PFX_X  PFX_Z
Change CH 1 83 -3.5 10.5
Two-seam Fastball F2 4 95 -6.3 8.0
Four-seam Fastball F4 59 96 -2.8 10.2
Slider SL 14 83 1.0 -0.2

Star-divide

Latos01_medium

Some Video

Interview:

 

Warm-ups from his debut:

 

Some Observations

  • Fly ball pitcher (28% GB, just 9% LD)
  • Attacks the zone (.610 with F4, .5 with SL)
  • Slider hasn't offered at (3 swings, 1 grounder, 2 fouls)
  • Missed a lot of bats with the fastball (.25 whiff rate on 32 swings)
  • Not enough two-seam fastballs (4) and change-ups (1) in the available data
  • Possibly three different looks on slider, or inconsistency, or fatigue

Take a look at the three sliders. #3 (shown in yellow) had less sink and more sweep. #2 (dark red) is about the same as the average variety (shown in bright green), #1 was the most curve-like of the bunch, sinking without sweeping like a 12-6 pitch.

Latos02_medium

Type "3" sliders appeared only at the end of his final inning on Sunday. Something to watch for next time out.

0 recs  |  Comment 8 comments |

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So his slider gets better as he tires?

Wow.

@bs_uf15bosox9be:OverTheMonster-ALLERGEN WARNING:May contain PB.

by bs.uf15bosox9bears23 on Jul 21, 2009 2:26 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

I dunno about that

First, I’m not certain he was tired, just wondering. It seems plausible, though. And I’m not sure which is better, one with sink or one with sweep. I guess it depends on what he’s trying to do, and if he even has any control over it.

by Harry Pavlidis on Jul 21, 2009 2:36 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

True.

Perhaps they’re different grips?

@bs_uf15bosox9be:OverTheMonster-ALLERGEN WARNING:May contain PB.

by bs.uf15bosox9bears23 on Jul 21, 2009 3:31 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

Even though there are only four

It’s surprising he doesn’t throw that two-seamer more often. Looks nasty.

by Tommy Bennett on Jul 21, 2009 3:38 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

Harry, what’s the best way to eyeball the 4 seamer from the 2-seamer with the raw data?

by Mike Rogers on Jul 22, 2009 1:09 AM EDT reply actions   0 recs

It's easier for some pitchers

Sometimes you get two distinct clusters. The spin axis is usually a good way to find the cut-off. Which reminds me, it’s time to write that pitch classification tutorial…..

by Harry Pavlidis on Jul 22, 2009 9:27 AM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

Pitch classification tutorial would be fantastic!

by Mike Rogers on Jul 23, 2009 2:27 AM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

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