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What is Statcast Pitch Tracking? Rick Lucks looks at how to interpret the Statcast Pitch Tracking tables as part of RotoBaller's sabermetrics glossary for fantasy baseball.
Welcome, RotoBallers, to our overview of Statcast Pitch Tracking. This article is a deeper dive into Statcast Pitch Tracking and is part of our ongoing series "Using Sabermetrics for Fantasy Baseball."
In this article, we'll explore how to interpret the Statcast Pitch Tracking table and how it can help place Pitch Info in context. Of course, we'll use common terminology and specific examples to make the information easier to grasp.
You can find our entire sabermetrics glossary, which includes links to many other sabermetric stats, as part of this series. Each stat deep dive will be released over the next few days. Stay tuned!
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What Is Statcast Pitch Tracking? Sabermetrics Glossary
When you're evaluating a pitcher by Pitch Info on FanGraphs, sometimes you see pitches that don't seem to accomplish anything. If Pitch X is seldom a strike, rarely chased outside of the zone, and not generating whiffs or a favorable batted line against, why doesn't the pitcher scrap it entirely?
Some pitchers could improve by dramatically decreasing how often a particular pitch is thrown or even removing one from their arsenal, but the rate of this is much lower than you'd expect at first glance. The reason why is a key piece of baseball that Pitch Info doesn't get into: platoon splits.
Baseball Savant gives fantasy managers access to platoon splits by pitch type, allowing us to make an informed decision about whether a pitch mix change would truly prove advantageous.
The best way to access this information is by typing a pitcher's name in the search bar on the top-right corner of Baseball Savant and scrolling to the second table labeled "Pitch Tracking." Next, toggle "Handedness" to either righties or lefties and give it a few seconds to refresh. You're ready to rock!
Interpreting Pitch Tracking Data
The Pitch Tracking table can be intimidating when you first look at it, so let's get that out of the way right now.
We start with the total number of pitches thrown, pitches thrown versus RHB and LHB, and pitch usage percentage. Adding pitch velocity, plate appearances, at-bats, hits, singles, doubles, triples, homers, and batted ball events (BBE) is probably unnecessary on this chart, but you can ignore them fairly easily.
Similarly, average exit velocity and launch angle feel extra when the xStats are right there.
One of the biggest downsides of platoon splits for individual pitches is that you're almost always working with small sample sizes, meaning that fortunate bounces could skew the results. Luckily, the table's inclusion of xStats lets you know how hitters fared against a particular pitch and how they should have fared.
Whiff% is tempting, but remember it isn't the same as the SwStr% from FanGraphs.
Let's consider Zack Wheeler as an example of these numbers in action. Wheeler features a six-pitch mix: fastball (thrown 41.1 percent of the time), sinker (19 percent), sweeper (12.5 percent), curve (10.1 percent), cutter (9.6 percent), and splitter (7.3 percent).
Pitch Info identifies Wheeler's cutter as the weak link in his arsenal. Its .254/.287/.407 line against is arguably the worst in his repertoire; its 8.1 percent SwStr% is the second lowest behind the sinker (6.7 percent), and its 47.3 percent Zone% doesn't get Wheeler ahead in the count. The lazy analyst would conclude that Wheeler should axe it entirely.
However, Statcast Pitch Tracking tells us that Wheeler's cutter is his second-most-thrown pitch to LHB at 17.2 percent. Furthermore, its .228 xBA vs. LHB suggests that it did its job. Wheeler's cutter serves a purpose that Pitch Info doesn't capture.
What's Below the Pitch Tracking Table?
There is a ton of information beneath the Pitch Tracking table, but most of it is available elsewhere or of limited use in fantasy. The Quality of Contact table is way too abstract to use, and the list of comparable pitchers underneath it is completely random in this author's experience.
Next is Pitch Movement. You may have seen analysts citing Vertical and Horizontal Movement for individual pitch types, but that's not applicable for fantasy purposes.
Furthermore, the graphic comparing pitch movement to a hypothetical "average" pitch draws from all offerings within 2 miles per hour and six inches of extension in either direction. A high-spin breaking pitch and a low-spin change could be compared to the same "average" pitch despite doing completely different things. That's incredible!
The rest of the charts feel superfluous. Run Values by pitch type are way too abstract. The Spin Direction table includes active spin, but this author feels that it's easier to put it into context on the leaderboard. Plate Discipline metrics are available in cleaner forms elsewhere, and the Expected HR by Ballpark table was covered previously.
Shift statistics are no longer relevant, with "Shades" becoming the new term with the rule changes. Shifts still have a full table, though. Pitch Distribution is already covered by the Pitch Tracking table. Generally speaking, fantasy managers have no reason to scroll below the Pitch Tracking table.
Parting Thoughts
Platoons matter in baseball, and Baseball Savant gives us the tools we need to identify which pitches are a given arm's preferred weapons to go after righties and lefties. As always, it's best to combine this information with other data sources to determine whom you want to roster to dominate your fantasy leagues.
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