In less than two months, we are going to watch October baseball. Each team has already played more than 110 games so far. And, I’m just thinking of the best pitch arsenal in the majors.
So, I went to check the statcast website and tried to find out whose four-seamer is the most dominant in the majors.
Freddy Peralta has been pitching very well this season and it’s his first season to throw at least 100 innings in a single season. By far, he posts a 2.26 ERA and a 0.91 WHIP. Opponents only hit .141 against Peralta. In addition, Peralta uses his four-seamer 52.9% of the time and opponents only hit .133.
Brandon Woodruff is also very solid this season and he already tossed 137.1 innings with a 2.23 ERA and a 0.89 WHIP. Opponents only hit .182 against Woodruff. However, when Woodruff throws his four-seamer, opponents have little chances. The average velocity of Woodruff’s four-seamer is over 96 mph and his BAA is just .145.
Jacob deGrom is currently on the injured list and it’s unknown when he will return. The average velocity of deGrom’s four-seamer is 99.2 mph and opponents only hit .158.
Meanwhile, Tyler Matzek uses his four-seamer nearly 70% of the time this year and batters hit .162.
Jake McGee had a very good 2020 season with a 2.66 ERA and a 0.84 WHIP. Last year, he used his four-seam fastball 96.4% of the time and batters only hit .194 against McGee’s four-seamer. McGee and the Giants agreed to a deal in February and he became the closer of the Giants. McGee currently has 24 saves and posts a 2.44 ERA and 0.81 WHIP. McGee uses his four-seamer over 90% of the time this season and it’s still very effective. Opponents only hit .168 against McGee’s four-seam fastballs.
Moreover, James Karinchak throws four-seamers really hard and the average velocity of his four-seamer is 95.9 mph. Opponents hit just .169.
There’s no doubt that deGrom’s four-seamer is one of the most difficult pitches to hit in the MLB. When we look at quality of contact, xwOBA against deGrom’s four-seamer is only .231. MLB batters definitely have a hard time with deGrom’s four-seamer.
Lance Lynn is currently the ERA leader of the MLB. By far, Lance Lynn posts a 2.04 ERA and a 1.05 WHIP. Opponents hit .200 against Lance Lynn. Lynn uses his four-seamer 43.3% of the time and it works very well. Opponents hit just .182 against his four-seamer and it’s hard for MLB batters to make quality contact, xwOBA against Lynn’s four-seamer is only .235.
MLB batters really have problems at making quality contact against Woodruff’s four-seamer and xwOBA against his 4-seamer is .260.
Furthermore, it’s not easy to make good contact against McGee’s four-seamer, xwOBA against his four-seamer is .270.
Moreover, Richard Rodriguez has been pitching well this season and collected 14 saves so far. He throws four-seamer 87.1% of the time so far and opponents can’t really make good contact as xwOBA is only .272.
In addition, Brent Suter throws four-seamers nearly 70% of the time this season. Opponents hit .253 against his four-seamer, but xwOBA is .272.
By far this season, batters really can’t hit well against deGrom’s four-seamer since we see that batting average and xwOBA against deGrom’s four-seamer are both very low. Jake McGee mainly uses his four-seamer and the reason is obvious, his four-seamer is really hard for MLB batters to hit well. Moreover, Brandon Woodruff’s four-seam fastball is also one of the hardest pitches to hit in the majors.
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