Title:
Jon Papelbon – pitch selection
Date: August 17, 2005
I
like to score games. I have 6
different types of scorecards I use, depending on what it is that I want to
track. Last night I broke out what
I call the Pitch Chart Card as it allows me to chart a pitchers game.
The batter, handedness, base out situation, pitch thrown, pitch velocity,
pitch location and result. This
specific card is useful when you want to get a better read on what a pitcher
throws in terms of selection, and when he uses those types of pitches.
Full
Game Stats
Strikes:
43
Looking:
9
Swing:
11
Foul:
23
Balls
27
HBP
1
BIP
13
fastballs:
72
split
finger
11
curve
ball
1
High
in zone 34
Mid
in zone 32
Low
in zone 17
Uknown
1
Inside
18
Away
38
Middle
27
Fastball
Spit Fingered
Curve
First
15
1
0
Second
5
1
0
Third
15
1
0
Forth
21
2
0
Fifth
16
6
1
He
started throwing more off speed stuff as the game went on.
However there is more to it than that – the fifth inning can be broken
down into 2 parts. The 10 pitches
before the 2 run single by Polanco, and 13 pitches after it.
Papelbon used the fastball in a similar manner prior to the 2 run single,
as 8 of the 10 pitches he threw were fastballs.
After the 2 run single though Papelbon got away from his fastball, at
least compared to the pitch selection he had used earlier in the game, as 5 of
his final 13 pitches were splitters.
Pitch
selection by base out
situation:
Fastball
Splitter
Curve Ball
XXX
24
4
1
OXX
30
1
0
XOX
4
3
0
XOO
5
2
0
OOX
9
1
0
First
Pitches in an at bat:
Strikes:
8
Looking:
5
Swing:
1
Foul:
2
Balls
11
BIP
3
fastballs:
19
split
finger
3
High
in zone 7
Mid
in zone 8
Low
in zone 7
Inside
5
Away
13
Middle
4
This
quick look at Papelbon start is just the beginning of the what you do with pitch
chart data. There is a lot more
than can be done, and a lot more ways you can slice the data.
If anyone wants to have a go, the raw data can be found here.
Please note there are a couple minor errors in the chart that I stumbled
on while slicing and dicing. Pitch
number 42 was actually a fastball, and pitch 9 I didn’t get a location on, my
hand writing was illegible.
All Material Property of Matthew Rauseo - Please link to www.baseballanlaysis.com if you wish to link or cite these pages