After blogging about the Giants for years — FOR YEARS! — one thing that I’ve noticed in recent times that seems to be a trigger for fan-rage is Tim Lincecum and perceived issues with his fastball. Or, in other words: he doesn’t throw as hard anymore and I’m freaking out. Someone please hold my hand. A graph: I just noticed… Read more →
From Alex Pavlovic’s Giants Extra blog: But here are the more concerning numbers: 89, 90, 89, 89, 89, 89, 90, 89, 89, 89. Those are his fastball velocity numbers from the fourth inning, when he gave up two doubles, a homer and four runs. In last night’s start, Madison Bumgarner, per Brooks Baseball, averaged 89 miles per hour on his… Read more →
Even though the Giants ended up losing this game and Lincecum only pitched five innings of four-run ball, I think it was the best this year that Tim has looked. After searching for his velocity game after game, Lincecum’s fastball was regularly above 90 miles per hour. Here’s a table that depicts the number of times per start that Lincecum… Read more →
If you care at all about fastball velocity, the horizontal and vertical movement of a slider, or anything else of a similar nature, you really should be reading more of Mike Fast at Baseball Prospectus – Could there be a better name for a man in their particular field, other than, perhaps, Home Run Baker? His most recent piece about… Read more →
I read an interesting quote from Dave Righetti after last night’s game in the Chronicle: Sanchez’s velocity has been down considerably in his last two starts. The fastball that Moreland hit out was 89 mph, 3 or 4 mph lower than Sanchez’s standard. Pitching coach Dave Righetti is concerned enough that when asked if he and Bochy must have a… Read more →
Question: You’re the general manager of a major league baseball team making a push for its first playoff appearance in 7 years. Among your rag tag group of players, you’ve got a very talented — and quite young — left-handed pitcher who’s been a blessing since he stepped into the rotation. The problem is this: Your Very Talented Pitcher has… Read more →
Tim Lincecum’s fastball velocity plot 2007-2009. Courtesy of FanGraphs. Also, note that FanGraph’s PFX velocity plot includes both home and away starts. When plotting velocity, you really only want to look at home starts because it will remove some of the stadium bias that often pops up in PFX data — ie: some stadiums read slower than others or some… Read more →