Top arms in the World Series

Kevin Cash’s decision to pull Blake Snell is probably going to be remembered and people will probably be discussed again and again. Making pitching changes is not an easy decision, particularly in the postseason. In the World Series, a pitching change might cause you to blow the whole series. In the 2020 World Series, we saw 28 pitchers pitch on the mound. Here is something interesting.

Clayton Kershaw tossed 11.2 innings and Blake Snell threw 10 innings. They are only two pitchers who threw at least 10 innings in this World Series. Clayton Kershaw threw 15.2 innings in the 2017 World Series and threw 11 innings in the 2018 World Series. Madison Bumgarner threw 21 innings in the 2015 World Series, we probably won’t see a pitcher to throw that many innings again in the Fall Classic.

Adam Kolarek only threw 9 pitches against his former team and he completed a 0.2 inning job. Jake McGee spent 6 seasons with the Rays and 4 seasons with the Rockies. The Dodgers and McGee agreed to a deal a few days after he was released by the Rockies. Against one of his former teams, McGee used 16 pitches to complete 1 inning. Brusdar Graterol threw 22 pitches in the World Series and he effectively finished two innings. He was supposed to be traded to the Red Sox before the regular season, however, Red Sox had some concerns on his arm and refused the deal.
Meanwhile, Shane McClanahan, Joe Kelly and Ryan Thompson each threw 26 pitches in this Fall Classic. Shane McClanahan finished one inning and Ryan Thompson tossed 2.2 innings. McClanahan and Thompson did not give up a run.

Julio Urias’ dominance helped the Dodgers get the job done and win the first World Series title since 1988. In the World Series, Julio Urias had a 23.4% swing and miss rate.

Alex Wood only tossed 12.2 innings during the regular season due to shoulder injury. However, he was sharp in the World Series and tossed 4 innings without giving up a run. One reason is that Alex Wood generated 21.7% swing and miss and he threw 5 strikeouts in 4 innings.

Blake Treinen also threw 5 strikeouts in this World Series. His swing and miss rate was 21.4% and he collected a very important save in game 5.

Walker Buehler was truly amazing in the playoffs. He posted a 1.80 ERA this postseason and opponents only hit .196 against him. Buehler generated 19.4% swing and miss in the Fall Classic.

Nick Anderson’s swing and miss rate was 19.2% this World Series and he struck out three Dodgers batters. There must be some reasons that Kevin Cash did trust him to get the job done, but Anderson only generated one swing and miss in game 6.

Blake Treinen posted an xwOBA of .180 in the World Series. Clayton Kershaw’s xwOBA was .187. Rays hitters couldn’t make high-quality contacts against them. Ryan Thompson had a .189 xwOBA and he didn’t even allow a hit in this World Series. Two lefties Alex Wood and Aaron Loup each had a below .220 xwOBA. The Rays and Dodgers gave us an interesting World Series. There is really a lot to discuss about pitcher usage. The Dodgers carried 15 pitchers and the Rays carried 13 pitchers. We saw all 28 pitchers and this time, the Dodgers pitching staff did a better job this time.