How Much of an effect does pitch tipping have on a pitcher’s performance? Facebook  Twitter  Instagram Pitch Tipping is one of the oldest flaws in the game. Nevertheless, it appears to rear it’s head each postseason, with this year being no exception. Of course, this makes sense – the postseason is a time where intense scrutiny is placed on each player as teams try to gain a competitive advantage over each other. You will likely recall that pitch tipping was used to explain the early postseason struggles (and subsequent revivals) of two prominent pitchers for the Boston Red ..read more

The New York Yankees Starter has tried to reinvent himself in 2018 but the results are yet to come Facebook  Twitter  Instagram At some point in our lives, chances are we will encounter something that challenges the way we think of ourselves. Perhaps it’s your first office job breaking down your rebellious teenage world view. Perhaps it occurs trying show your kids ‘Dad’s still got it’. Whatever it is, it’s usually uncomfortable and is followed by some process of reflection and change. That’s probably deeper than some think piece about a struggling Yankees starter needs to ..read more

A look into the Crystal Ball for the Baltimore Orioles Facebook  Twitter  Instagram At 26-69, the 2018 Baltimore Orioles are not a very good team. They currently sit in last place in the AL East, almost 40 games behind the Boston Red Sox. At 75-87, the 2017 Baltimore Orioles were not a very good team either, they also finished in last place in the AL East, this time by 18 games. That much is bad, but it is very much likely that the 2019 and 2020 versions of the Orioles will be even worse than the ones fans have experienced over the last few seasons. Manny Machado, one of th ..read more

Should-Be-All-Star, Ross Stripling has had A Historically Good Start to the Season. Facebook  Twitter  Instagram These types of articles usually write themselves. First, you find a pitcher who is drastically outperforming his usual levels, then scroll through his profiles until something jumps out at you and finally. you try to present it in an interesting way. Los Angeles Dodgers starter, Ross Stripling at least fits that first step just fine. Through two seasons in the big leagues, Ross Stripling had emerged as a useful, if generic, right handed swingman. The former 5th r ..read more

The Podcast welcomes its first guest Facebook  Twitter  Instagram Episode 5 of the 7th Visit welcomes special guest, Zach Gifford to the conversation. In this episode, Daniel, Joe and Zach discuss James Paxton’s No-Hitter and Dylan Bundy’s rough start before moving on to new methods of pitch classification, Luke Weaver, as well as exit velocity and launch angle. Daniel’s Pitch Classification Article Joe’s Luke Weaver Article Zach’s Writings https://216stitchescom.files.wordpress.com/2018/05/the-7th-visit-ep5.mp3 Subscribe via iTunes (Image Credit: hj_West – Flickr ..read more

Perhaps the Hitter Knows Best… Facebook  Twitter  Instagram Baseball has been classifying pitch types for as long as… well, as long as we’ve had pitch types and we’ve had a fairly uniform method for doing so. While the steady growth of technology in the game has certainly digitised the process, the classification of pitches still relies on the same two inputs – movement and velocity. This of course makes sense. A pitcher throws these different pitches with the express intent of making them move differently and at different velocities. While we may argue over which movements ..read more

Episode 4 of ‘The 7th Visit’ takes a deep dive on some interesting St Louis Cardinals pitchers Subscribe on iTunes In the second episode of The 7th Visit, Daniel Beattie (216Stitches) and Joe Schwarz (Birds on the Black) discuss the possibility of buying a professional baseball team and how to use spin rate as an evaluative tool. They then break down the starts by Miles Mikolas, Jordan Hicks, Nick Pivetta and Jarlin Garcia. Daniel’s Jordan Hicks Article Joe’s Miles Mikolas Article ($) Daniel’s Tunnelling Article ABL Team Sold For $1 Bat Flip Gif https://216stitchescom.files.wordpress.com/2018 ..read more

To reach his ceiling, St Louis Cardinals Rookie Jordan Hicks, needs to add a little finesse Facebook  Twitter  Instagram Generally speaking, when we talk about finesse pitchers in 2018 you probably think of this guy: Kyle Hendricks, Nasty 78 mph Cut Changeup. pic.twitter.com/CQyxBNklML — Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) April 21, 2018 Or perhaps this guy: Dirty! RT @PitchingNinja: 59 seconds with Dallas Keuchel’s Movement/Command. pic.twitter.com/GVD41mpHiI — Los (@A_Dos_Of_Los) June 15, 2017 When we talk of power pitchers you probably think of this guy: Aroldis Chapman ..read more

Episode 3 of ‘The 7th Visit’ turns an eye towards the hottest starts in baseball Facebook  Twitter  Instagram In the second episode of The 7th Visit, Daniel Beattie (216Stitches) and Joe Schwarz (Birds on the Black) discuss the flurry of no-hitter attempts to start the 2018 season and the superhuman qualities of Shohei Ohtani. They then pivot to discuss the most interesting starts to the 2018 season including those of Charlie Morton, Carlos Martinez, Bryan Mitchell and plenty more. Links Daniel’s Shohei Ohtani Article (here) Joe’s Carlos Martinez Articles (1, 2) Follow us o ..read more

Los Angeles Angels Rookie, Shohei Ohtani is…. different Facebook  Twitter  Instagram Young, Japanese phenom, Shohei Ohtani has had an excellent first two weeks in his MLB Career. At the time of writing, the two-way star currently boasts a 278 (!) wRC+ with the bat and an equally ridiculous 1.72 FIP on the mound. Yes these are small sample anomalies. Ohtani obviously can’t keep this pace up over a full season, no one can – this isn’t MLB The Show. But just in this last week Ohtani homered in three consecutive games, one of which came against multiple time Cy Young Award winn ..read more