This is a well written article. I think you are right in saying that many people often announce things as fact, when in realty they are just the announcers’ opinion. Good job man!

Hamels changeup was not as good as it has been previously, but his wCH was still quite high and it was definitely his best pitch. His reverse split definitely was smaller, correlating his decreased wCH… To me, however, Hamels just wasn’t the same pitcher this year as before, with his wFB clearly a problem and his wCB negative as well. Hamels FIP was identical to last year, so I think we’ll have to wait and see if his reverse split returns next year. Maybe he’s just a different pitcher now, who is still quite effective.

In the case of Johan – his reverse split was even more pronounced this year despite having his worst wCH ever. Does that mean anything? I’m not able to pull up which pitches were thrown to which batters, but it if his changeup is the reason for his reverse split, you’d expect that his reverse split would decrease when the changeup isn’t as good. Yet the exact opposite happened.

And Lilly doesn’t throw a cutter from what I know. He throws a slider and change, but i didn’t think he threw a cutter – certainly nothing like Rivera’s. Where are his cutter stats? I can’t find them.

Finally, CC Sabathia had the best wCH of any left-hander in baseball and showed a dramatic non-reverse split. Maybe he doesn’t throw it to righties, and maybe he should – but again, I can’t find that data.

I realize all of this is pretty shoddy “research” – I just don’t see how we can determine that throwing “changeups to righties” results in a reverse split for the guys we’re discussing.

The fox broadcast is a considerable step down from most of the local broadcasts I’ve seen on directv mlb ticket (imo). I’ve been muting it most of the time – but could also turn on AM radio to listen. Anyone like the ESPN radio broadcast, or is that lame too?

Although I think everyone agrees that the broadcasters on some level are doing this because this is the sort of commentary fans prefer, we, as fans, have every right to criticize and make our voices heard and perhaps, at some stage, shift the balance (in favor of reason instead of certainty and faux-expertise) of what announcers are selected for.