He also has a high baseball IQ. Here are five of the nastiest curveballs in baseball. Sign up to receive our daily Morning Lineup to stay in the know about the latest trending topics around Major League Baseball. Source: Upshot analysis of pitch data. Bats can't be thicker than 2.6 inches at their thickest point; 4.4 inches of rise is a lot. In the rows below, you may find each pitcher's spin direction per pitch type, from the hitter's perspective. try to picture the spin axis on a spinning baseball as it's traveling to the plate. https://t.co/jjzWsnevuv #Statcast pic.twitter.com/T7ohWRrRD2. How far, in feet, a fielder or runner has traveled on a I know everybody wants to hear yes, but to be honest, no, I really cant tell a specific difference.. 1. The curve has been dazzling ever since. In terms of whats been going on, its been a challenge to do it in the middle of the season, he said. He's always at the top of the extension leaderboards. Crick's slider broke two full feet from right to left which is why Adams swung at it even though it was so far inside it ended up hitting him on the back leg. He gets an extra 3.6 inches of drop on his curve, but he also gets an extra 10.8 inches of break -- which is where all that spin is going. His changeup spin rate of 1,457 rotations per . For a batter, Best Speed is an average of 50% of his hardest hit balls. Trevor Bauer, CLE: 9.5 inches. Hello, Reds. Support the channel by subscribing to my Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/MadethecutFollow me on Instagram: officialmadethecutMLB 2018, MLB top plays, mlb be. In the five years of Statcast tracking, no pitcher has averaged 2,800-plus rpm on their four-seamer for a full season. play. Burnes throws his cutter at high velocity with lots of spin, and the product is what you see here -- an upper-90s pitch that takes a sharp left turn onto the corner of the plate for a called Strike 3. Most of the first year of Statcast has been about identifying what we can measure, and how much of it is useful, and why. The rules prohibiting foreign substances have been routinely ignored. Youve told yourself visually where that ball is going in less than 0.2 seconds, he added. He's on another level. pic.twitter.com/qNj0bVUQ6C, Ryan Pressly, Disgusting 83mph Curveball. This chart compares the strikeout rate each season from before June 3 with the strikeout rate from the period between June 15 and July 18. Joakim Soria got the most drop on his curve, at 76.2 inches, but he also threw the second-slowest curves, at 70 MPH. outfield. xwOBA is formulated using exit velocity, launch angle Over half of the Reds' curveballs have had a spin rate of 2,900 rpm or higher (53.4%). 4-Seam Fastball (50.4%) Slider (28.3%) Curveball (18.8%) Changeup (2.4%) + If Available Pitches Click to Video. The Yankee Stadium crowd appreciated Chapman dialing up the velocity, that's for sure. A high-spin curveball tends to get more movement, and more break on your curve is good if you want to get strikeouts with it, and also keep hitters from getting it into the air where they can do damage. Ryan Pressly, HOU: 10.8 inches2. Statcast refers to the spin that contributes to movement Just 23 pitchers have thrown at least 25 splitters this year, compared to the 254 pitchers who have thrown at least 25 curveballs. As Chatwood could attest, you also need to be able to throw strikes to succeed, because there's no "one secret key to pitching," not spin or velocity or location. A batted ball with the perfect combination of exit For example: When you see Max Fried drop a curveball like in the video below, you want to know that it dropped nearly 65 inches, because it did (don't forget, the mound is 10 inches high). Statcast Pitch Arsenal Verlander relies on 4 pitches. And then there's this: "He threw one curveball at 3,498 revolutions per minute the highest spin rate ever tracked by Statcast." "I think it's kinda cool," Lugo said. Bauer, of course, is leading the Reds' spin revolution. Let's take a look through each pitch type for 2019, through Monday, and see how this method aligns with our expectations. In fact, his average of 2,534 rpm is merely 33rd. [gfycat data_id="SlowComplicatedBufeo"] [gfycat data_id="HappyLavishHound"] He struck out 117 batters with it this year, making him the only pitcher since 2008 with 100-plus cutter K's in a season. Gray's curveball is getting +5.0 inches of vertical break vs. average and +5.6 inches of horizontal break vs. average; last year he was at +3.5 inches (vertical) and +7.0 inches (horizontal). (Some of these pitchers have openly discussed the effect of sticky substances, but several things like injuries, changing pitching strategies or simply random poor performance can account for changes in spin rates for individual pitchers.). How far off the mound, in feet, a pitcher releases the How hard, in miles per hour, a fielder throws the ball. attempt. Spin Direction - Pitches. Chris Tillman, -10.08 inches An increase in spin rate can add more movement to breaking pitches. In 2015, 207 pitchers threw at least 100 curveballs. Rise+ . raw numbers and as a measurement against average. Jump is a Statcast metric that shows which players have Over 100 mph and breaking over a foot and a half. \n","providerName":"Twitter","providerUrl":"https://twitter.com","type":"rich","width":550},"type":"oembed"},{"__typename":"Markdown","content":"You might also notice Bauer's teammate, Sims, right underneath him at No. must use it at least 5% of the time. Justin Lawrence vs. Eduardo Escobar, April 29101.2 mph sinker / 19.2 inches of break. So, it's a slider, albeit one that drops like a curve, and that's why it rates so well here. The curveball might be baseball's most beautiful pitch. With a spin rate (2,886 rpm) that was well above the MLB curveball average (2,523 rpm), the big sweeping hook neutralized all comers, regardless of what batter's box they were standing in, and helped the veteran right-hander finish third in the American League Cy Young Award voting. PA Year in Review - Top Curveball Spin Rate / Class of 2022 1/22/21; PA Year in Review - Top Curveball Spin Rate / Class of 2021 1/21/21; . Statcast refers to the spin that contributes to movement His slider is a low-to-mid-80s sweeper with nearly a foot of horizontal break on average with 2,900-3,000 rpm of raw spin. Five of his six strikeouts in his four scoreless relief appearances this season have come on his four-seamer and curve. One caveat worth noting: There are many ways to identify which pitchers have been affected the most, and none are perfect. window.". Expected Weighted On-base Average (xwOBA). Adam Ottavino, NYY: 10.8 inches3. . Its not even Kershaws go-to breaking ball -- that would be his slider -- but it is the pitch people will remember most long after he retires.\n\n_\\-\\- Andrew Simon_","type":"markdown"},{"__typename":"Markdown","content":"Charlie Morton**, Rays** \n_Why he's so nasty:_ 8.1 inches of horizontal movement above avg. Clayton Kershaw, DodgersWhy he's so nasty: 68 inches of drop. Right fibula stress fracture. outfield. That might suggest an effect from trying to learn a similar changeup this spring, perhaps. Burnes' nasty cutter fueled his breakout into a Cy Young Award finalist. Here's the list of highest average spin among all pitchers who have thrown at least 50 curves in the 2015-16 Statcast era. And his fastball. and then Richards himself asked a very valid question in response: It's absolutely the right thing to ask. Glasnow is a master at getting hitters to chase a power curveball that he spikes into the dirt -- they can't lay off because they have a shorter distance to react. 3,000 rpm -- Jesse Hahn 4. Tyler Chatwood, CHC: 8.2 inches4. Marco Estrada, OAK: 4.4 inches2. A Statcast metric designed to express the demonstrated skill of catchers at preventing wild pitches or passed balls compared to their peers. He averaged 3053 RPM in his MLB debut and maxed out at 3201 RPM with one of his curveballs. Let's look at two different curveballs from Richards that differ in spin rate by about 500 RPM. Sean Doolittle, WSH: 4.0 inches4. Jacob deGrom vs. Fernando Tatis Jr., June 1194.9 mph slider. The teams populating those leaderboards are essentially who you'd expect. That's a dead-ball strikeout -- one of six slider K's Crick had this season with two-plus feet of break, easily the most of any pitcher. Which pitcher gets the most drop on his curveball? pic.twitter.com/zHPw6ytf7m, Chaz Roe's filthy Slider in super-slow motion. This week, MLB.com is highlighting some of the nastiest pitches in baseball -- a different pitch type every day, with five pitchers featured for each (no repeats), picked by our reporters. (The average curveball spin rate this year is 2,536 rpms, up from 2,315 rpms in 2015 ). Escape Velocity takes the average of a player's batted ball velocities subtracted from 88. Translation: this thing is maxed out in the movement department, and its about as slippery as any pitch in the game. But that much spin can account for an extra inch of movement on a fastball and significantly more for some pitchers said Michael Fisher, founder of Codify, a company that provides customized analytics to dozens of major league pitchers. This is one of my favorite Behind the Seams segments that weve done. Cleveland Indians activated RHP Trevor Bauer from the 10-day injured list. This one by deGrom against the NL MVP candidate Tatis was the fastest strikeout by a starter this year on a pitch that wasn't a fastball. While average spin rates are still not touching that of early 2021 . Morton threw his curveball more often than any other offering in 2019, and for good reason. Five of his six strikeouts in his four scoreless relief appearances this season have come on his four-seamer and curve. Earlier this week, we looked at "the spectrum of Statcast," showing how spin rate and velocity intersected for various pitch types. To that point, he had a 33.6% putaway rate on the pitch, the highest of any pitcher to throw more than 100 two-strike curveballs. Baseballs arent spinning the way they used to. Rogers has the most extreme delivery of any pitcher in baseball. 04/10/2014. Richard Bleier, BAL: 7.5 inches4. This one from the Dodgers' longtime ace dropped well over five feet, all while barely moving an inch from side to side, and it splashed right into the strike zone for the backwards K. It was part of a 13-strikeout game for Kershaw. curveball spin rate: 2,515 rpm_\n\nSims' curveball spin is as elite as his fastball spin. Charlie Morton, TB: 8.5 inches3. But there's one big way the Cincinnati staff stands out: spin. The average Major League fastball is 93.5 mph. His curveball had an average spin rate of 2,907 rpm, ranking fourth among starting pitchers to throw at least 250 curves last year. " Qualifier In order to qualify at all, a pitcher must have 3 pitches thrown per team game Sign up to receive our daily Morning Lineup to stay in the know about the latest trending topics around Major League Baseball. Daniel Norris, DET: 6.8 inches. Richard Bleier, BAL:** 7.5 inches \n**4\\. Highest spin: 2,421 rpm, Daniel Hudson MLB average: 1,746 rpm Lowest spin: 961 rpm, Nathan Eovaldi Eovaldi's pitch is sometimes called a splitter and sometimes a change, but he made an interesting move to add spin with a different grip, even though more spin on a changeup isn't really ideal. The submariner releases the ball, on average, just 1.20 feet off the ground -- the next-closest pitcher, Adam Cimber, has a release point a foot higher than Rogers'. You can also see how this changes year over year. Sims had top-tier four-seam spin last season, averaging 2,641 rpm -- top-five in MLB -- but he's also a big gainer in 2020, with 150 extra rpm. Check out the vertical movement leaders:2015 curveball vertical movement leaders (minimum 100 thrown)1. Im the last guy to pooh-pooh an inch of movement when a bat is three inches wide, he said. How quickly, in seconds, a catcher can get the ball out The elite threshold for curveball spin is 3,000 rpm. Statcast defines a 'hard-hit ball' as one hit with an A great curve is a piece of art, and you're about to see some of MLB's finest artists at the canvas. In fact, no strikeout pitch this season with triple-digit velocity had more horizontal movement than this one by Lawrence. Nola, Charlie Morton (431) and Stephen Strasburg (422) were the only ones above 400. 05/20/2014. David Hale, for example, had one of the lowest curve spin rates, and he allowed a slugging percentage of over .500 against it, though Coors Field surely isn't any pitcher's friend -- and we shouldn't say with certainty yet that "more is better," because we need more evidence.With the caveat that we need to learn more about useful spin, and with the knowledge that speeds and setting up the hitter with other good pitches certainly matter as well, spin certainly has an impact on a curve. Heres how all the pitchers in our data ranked based on three different ways of comparing fastball spin changes: Or use the tool below to see how spin rates changed for any pitcher in our analysis. While high spin for fastballs generally means more fly balls (since the spin helps the ball repel gravity for slightly longer and stay up) and low spin induces grounders, it's the exact opposite here.Curves with spin in the lower range -- between 1,000 rpm and 1,750 rpm (guys like Scott Kazmir and Kyle Gibson) -- tended to get fewer grounders, in the low 40 percent range. SVR = Spin Rate (RPM)/Velocity (MPH) This enables us to normalize the spin per the velocity of the pitch. Does this look like a split-finger fastball? Teig said. By Josh Katz,Kevin Quealy and Tyler KepnerJuly 19, 2021. Take Clayton Kershaw and his four-seamer. The Cincinnati pitching staff leads the Major Leagues in fastball and curveball spin rate -- and that's no accident. Shop. His curveball also has four more inches of drop vs. average, and it comes in faster than all but about 20 other curves. For those who want to dive even further down the rabbit hole of advanced statistics, Thornton's curveball measures at 37.83 Bauer Units (spin rate). Kirby Yates, SD: 3.5 inches4. You can't hit that. and, on certain types of batted balls, Sprint Speed. Zack Britton, NYY: 9.5 inches3. This one broke almost two feet away from Soto, which is how you so badly fool the most disciplined hitter in baseball. of his glove and to the base on a stolen base or pickoff pic.twitter.com/Q0oKpcE5QN. xERA is a simple 1:1 translation of xwOBA, converted to And when hitters did manage to make contact against Morton's curve, they rarely did damage, recording a .151 average with a .228 slugging percentage. But no matter how we measured, these pitchers were at or near the top of it. 2. What gives?We've learned that not all spin is created equal, particularly as it pertains to breaking pitches. Snell's miss rate of 53.2 percent on his curveball in 2018 was the highest by any pitcher in the past 10 seasons (min. ","type":"markdown"},{"__typename":"Video","contentDate":"2020-03-30T22:13:19.238Z","description":"Charlie Morton led Major League Baseball with 136 strikeouts on curveballs in 2019","displayAsVideoGif":false,"duration":"00:00:52","mp4AvcPlayback":"https://bdata-producedclips.mlb.com/04b26270-9751-4ade-b287-91eda5fb3b1f.mp4","slug":"charlie-morton-s-curveball-k-s","tags":[{"__typename":"Tag","slug":"season-2019","title":"Season 2019"},{"__typename":"Tag","slug":"playerid-450203","title":"Charlie Morton"}],"templateUrl":"https://img.mlbstatic.com/mlb-images/image/private/{formatInstructions}/mlb/jozmynep4lmpbyb0gcjn","title":"Charlie Morton's curveball K's","type":"video","url":"/video/charlie-morton-s-curveball-k-s"},{"__typename":"Markdown","content":"Morton threw his curveball more often than any other offering in 2019, and for good reason. How high/low, in degrees, a ball was hit by a batter. Forty-five of the 76 strikeouts Glasnow got last season were on his curveball -- that's 59% of his strikeouts. Kershaws curve is a thing of beauty -- a slow-moving hook that drops from the heavens. And they know where to throw them -- the Reds are throwing nearly 60% of their four-seamers in the upper third of the zone or higher, the third-most elevated fastballs of any team. How high/low, in degrees, a ball was hit by a batter. \n","providerName":"Twitter","providerUrl":"https://twitter.com","type":"rich","width":550},"type":"oembed"},{"__typename":"Markdown","content":" and then Richards himself asked a very valid question in response:","type":"markdown"},{"__typename":"ExternalEmbed","data":{"__typename":"ExternalEmbedContent","html":". A batted ball with the perfect combination of exit Its been 12 years since the left-hander unleashed a gorgeous one to freeze veteran Sean Casey in Spring Training 2008 (before his rookie season), prompting legendary announcer Vin Scully to chuckle in astonishment before dubbing the pitch, Public Enemy No. able to make a catch on an individual batted ball. They don't call Jackson "the Friendly Neighborhood Slider-Man" for nothing, apparently. Curveball Curveballs and sliders typically will register the highest raw spin totals of all pitches (MLB average spin rate 2430-2530 rpms), though these ranges can become more inflated based on the gyroscopic spin measurements of each pitch. Generating a 38.1% swing-and-miss rate with the pitch, Morton used his curveball to rack up 136 of his career-high 240 strikeouts last season -- the most curveball strikeouts in MLB. Erick Fedde, WSN: 3.1 inches5. Aaron Bummer, CHW: 6.8 inches5. Almost half of the four-seam fastballs the Reds have thrown this season have had a spin rate of 2,500 rpm or higher. Aroldis Chapman vs. Matt Chapman, June 19103.4 mph fastball. How much time, in seconds, it takes a runner to get from 2,970 rpm -- Charlie Morton 5. pic.twitter.com/BbVWZwDDwQ, Aaron Nola, Unfair 80mph Curveball (9th K thru 4IP). How hard, in miles per hour, a fielder throws the ball. They're throwing easily the most high-spin four-seamers of any team (they're at 2,500-plus rpm 49.2% of the time, and the Rangers are second at 34.7%). in "feet per second in a player's fastest one-second 4-seam spin rate: 2,309 rpm Here are the teams in 2020with the highest spin rate on curveballs according to MLB Statcst. Framber Valdez, HOU: 5.9 inches. ","type":"markdown"},{"__typename":"ExternalEmbed","data":{"__typename":"ExternalEmbedContent","html":", Lucas Sims, Nasty 82mph Curveballand Sword. Jump is a Statcast metric that shows which players have High spin on a four-seamer is what gives you the "rising fastball" effect, and a rising fastball is more likely to get a hitter to swing and miss. Thornburg, meanwhile, does have elite spin, though his 7.13 ERA this year proves it takes more than that to succeed, and no one should be surprised that Hader's unhittable fastball is about more than just his 95.1 MPH velocity. MLB Advanced Media, LP. Here's a literal back-foot slider. 1. The curve has been dazzling ever since. Phil Maton, SD: 6.0 inches2. Let's end this list of nastiest pitches with one of the most famous of them all: Kershaw's curveball. The answer is probably depends on the pitcher. And a handful of pitchers spin rates changed drastically, including nine whose fastballs lost 200 revolutions per minute or more. Morton's curveball break was top-10 in the Majors this year. His spin rates are perfectly in line. Curveballs and sliders typically will register the highest raw spin totals of all pitches (MLB average spin rate 2430-2530 rpms ), though these ranges can become more inflated based on the gyroscopic spin measurements of each pitch. . I cant notice it, I cant, said Joey Wendle, the All-Star infielder for the Tampa Bay Rays. Aaron Brooks, OAK: 6.8 inches5. It looks like a curveball. pitches thrown per team game, In order to qualify for a specific pitch type, a pitcher Evan Phillips, BAL: 8.3 inches5. To submit a letter to the editor for publication, write to, The Pitchers Whose Spin Rates Fell Most After a Crackdown on Sticky Substances, Source: Upshot analysis of pitch data from, Includes pitches thrown in games through July 17, 2021. The Yankees' closer had his ups and downs in 2021, but this was an up -- the fastest pitch of the MLB season. ","type":"markdown"},{"__typename":"ExternalEmbed","data":{"__typename":"ExternalEmbedContent","html":", Jared Hughes, Nasty 92mph Sinker (Release/Spin Axis/Slow). A Batted Ball Event represents any batted ball that A Statcast metric designed to express the demonstrated skill of catchers at preventing wild pitches or passed balls compared to their peers. These materials allowed pitchers to grip the ball so well that they were able to generate far more torque on pitches, which in turn allowed them to spin the ball faster, making it harder to hit. This slider is a big part of why. become a hit. You might also notice Bauer's teammate, Sims, right underneath him at No. Now that the 2021 season is over, let's look back at the nastiest pitches of the year -- with help from Statcast. Justin Lawrence vs. Eduardo Escobar, April 29 Of the 131 pitchers in our data set pitchers who had thrown at least 150 fastballs since June 15 fastball spin rates fell for all but 29 of them. A Batted Ball Event represents any batted ball that Statcast's tracking technology lets us see the numbers behind the best pitches in baseball, whether it's a triple-digit fastball or a high-spin curveball or a slider with two feet of break. MLB Advanced Media, LP. Sean Newcomb, ATL: 8.3 inches3. How hard, in miles per hour, a pitch is thrown. The Reds are one of the top strikeout pitching staffs in the Major Leagues right now. the fastest reactions and most direct routes in the If a pitcher is spinning a fastball at 2400 RPM, that is less impressive at 99 MPH and much more impressive at 89 MPH. Devin Williams vs. Juan Soto, May 292,820 rpm changeup / 21.6 inches of break. Highest curveball spin rate by team pitching staff, 2020 1) Reds: 2,884 rpm 2) Dodgers: 2,763 rpm 3) Astros: 2,754 rpm 4) Cubs: 2,689 rpm 5) Braves: 2,603 rpm MLB avg. 2019 MLB Numbers - Spin Rate **Based on information from Baseballsavant.mlb.com found here** . This slider started off barely a foot off the ground, and it ended up more than three-and-a-half feet high at the top of the strike zone, making it a true rising slider. Strikeouts were at record highs. Antone has flashed high fastball spin, too (2,655 rpm), he just throws a two-seamer. Ohtani dialed this one up to close to 93 mph -- in the same historic start during which he threw 100 mph on the mound and hit a 115 mph homer at the plate. . (Without getting too deep into the weeds on the history of this: Once pitch tracking came online in 2007, a great deal of public work was put into conceiving and presenting these numbers. Josh Hader, MIL: 3.3 inches. How much time, in seconds, it takes a runner to get from produces a result. How fast, in miles per hour, a ball was hit by a batter. Ohtani's splitter might be the most unhittable pitch in baseball. able to make a catch on an individual batted ball. able to make a catch on an individual batted ball. In 2018, his four-seamer had the 14th-most rise, at +2.9 inches more than similar fastballs at his 90.8 MPH. In 2021, walks increased after June 15 for the first time in decades: The share of at-bats ending in strikeouts dropped to 23 percent: Together, these contributed to the biggest increase in on-base percentage since at least 1990: To measure the effect of the new rules on pitchers, The New York Times examined data from every fastball from 2017 to 2021, about 1.7 million pitches in all, and compared the change in spin rates in previous seasons with the rates in 2021. The movement of a pitch is defined in inches, both in In Richards' case, even if he doesn't know or care about the spin, it's served him well. Now let's check out the curves. Yu Darvish, CHC: 4.2 inches3. Although applying any foreign substance to a baseball has been prohibited since the 1920s, the use of sticky substances like Spider Tack a powerful adhesive created to help competitive strongmen and strongwomen hoist enormous Atlas stones was an open secret, in line with the sports tradition of winking at scofflaws until the situation gets out of control. Roberto Osuna, HOU: 3.6 inches. Pitchers were so dominant this spring that by mid-May less than seven weeks into the season they had already racked up well more than a typical seasons worth of no-hitters. (To be included, a pitcher must have thrown at least 150 fastballs before June 3 and at least 150 fastballs since June 15.). MLB.TV. How quickly, in seconds, a catcher can get the ball out Walker Buehler, LAD: 3.7 inches5. You should already know Pressly is unhittable, because he just set a record for the longest consecutive scoreless game streak in history. the fastest reactions and most direct routes in the How far, in feet, a runner is ranging off the bag at the Glasnow's electric stuff looks even nastier to a hitter because of how close to the plate he releases the ball. Right away, these are satisfying results. The top five in vertical drop added above average: 1. There's not quite as strong a correlation between changeup movement and success as there are from other pitches -- for the sake of brevity, we're not showing the horizontal leaderboard here, but it's not terribly impressive, aside from Mike Soroka ranking fifth -- which tells you that the strength of a change is often about how it works off the pitcher's fastball. ","type":"markdown"},{"__typename":"ExternalEmbed","data":{"__typename":"ExternalEmbedContent","html":", 2019 PitchingNinja Award for Curveball of the Year. They're one of four teams, along with the Indians, Rays and D-backs, to have already reached the 100-K mark in 2020. Players and officials have rarely raised eyebrows at offenders in the past. His horizontal break is top 3 vs the average and vertical break is top 4 (lower vertical break to create drop). Here are the teams in 2020 with the highest spin rate on fastballs according to MLB Statcast. Still, it's satisfying that Parker, Neris, and Yates are at the top of this list, given the success they've found with their respective splitters. He was traded to the Pirates in the relatively unpopular Andrew McCutchen trade, and in 80 games for the Bucs over the last two seasons, he's had a 2.41 ERA. attempt. Charlie Morton, RaysWhy he's so nasty: 8.1 inches of horizontal movement above avg. May broke off this backdoor curve for the second-highest-spin curveball K of 2021, the highest by a starter and the highest for a strikeout looking. Tyler Glasnow, RaysWhy he's so nasty: 2,907 rpm spin rate. pic.twitter.com/nUB1fZpdIL. Curves with higher spin were more likely to jump to 50 percent or higher in terms of grounders. His four-seamer drops 14.6 inches on the way to the plate, but the average four-seamer at his velocity drops 19 inches, giving him 4.4 inches of additional rise. Does it look like a curveball? 1. pic.twitter.com/7e1GAcGohO, Sonny Gray, Nasty 81mph Curveball. No one throws more fastballs than Doolittle does (92.4%); this helps explain why, and also that it's about more than raw spin rate, which for Doolittle is actually low, just 36th percentile -- it's likely that his spin axis is near-perfect. velocity and launch angle. His slider averaged 21.5 inches of horizontal movement in 2021, topping the MLB leaderboard. Sims has some of the highest spin rates in the entire league, and makes up for his lack of drop with some ridiculous glove-side cut. A measurement of a player's top running speed, expressed in "feet per second in a player's fastest one-second window." Bolt A Bolt is any run where the Sprint Speed (defined as "feet per second in a player's fastest one-second window") of the runner is at least 30 .