Shane Bieber Creates Deceiving Spin On His Pitches
4 years agoCleveland starting pitcher Shane Bieber won the American League Cy Young award in 2020 by allowing just 14 earned runs in 12 starts (77 1/3 innings) while striking out 122 batters. He has a 2.84 ERA and more than six times as many strikeouts as walks in the last two years. Bieber doesn't throw that hard; his 2020 average of 94.1 mph on his four-seamer is around the major league average. He doesn't have elite spin on his pitches but does have the eighth-lowest walk rate in the last three seasons. Bieber's fastball and curveball are mirror images of each other, with his curve spinning exactly the opposite direction of his heater. The right-hander also has almost identical speed on his curve and slider, with different breaks at the end. Bieber isn't successful because he throws hard, but rather because he has elite command and control and is able to disguise his various pitches out of his hand.
Source: MLB.com - Mike Petriello
Source: MLB.com - Mike Petriello