The Life of Brian’s Fastball

The Giant’s Brian Wilson is a fun player. He looks more rock star than ballplayer, what with his mop hair, tattoos and tight pants. He even brings his own brand pyrotechnics to the mound with a blazing fastball that at times has been clocked in the triple-digits. While Wilson accumulated 41 saves for the Giants last year, those saves came with a bloated 4.62 ERA. His 3.93 FIP indicates that he pitched a little better than his ERA, but that is not what you would by and large hope for from your closer.

This year, Wilson has emerged from being a .6 win player to a 2.3 win relief ace. 2+ wins represents the upper echelon for relievers. So why the improvement?

Wilson’s heater has long been his meal ticket. His average velocity has seen a nice bump from this year to last, from 95.7 to 96.5 MPH.

6485_P_FA_20090905blog

Not only has he been able to crank up the heat, but perhaps more importantly the pitch also has considerably more movement than before. Looking at his Pitch F/x numbers, Wilson’s fastball used to be straight as an arrow, averaging just less than half an inch of horizontal movement. This season, Wilson’s fastball has much more tail, with -3.5 inches of horizontal movement. It’s probably no coincidence that batters went from slugging .390 against Wilson in 2008 to just .301 this season.

What’s more, Wilson has improved upon his control. Last season he walked a little over 4 batters per nine innings, this season he’s down to about 3.4 per nine.

With an enhancement in ‘life’ to his fastball and increased control of the pitch, “B-Weez” has blossomed into one of the game’s best closers. Giant fans haven’t enjoyed this kind of “Smoke on the Water” in quite some time.





Erik Manning is the founder of Future Redbirds and covers the Cardinals for Heater Magazine. You can get more of his analysis and rantings in bite-sized bits by following him on twitter.

15 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
B
14 years ago

It’s great that Wilson’s been so good, but at the same time…he’s just kind of a douche, so I don’t find myself rooting that hard for him. Giants come before anything, though, so I’ll take his performance and be happy.

scott
14 years ago
Reply to  B

can you clarify why, exactly, you think someone you’ve a) never met b) will never meet and c) have almost no gauge of his personality outside of a 97.5 mph fastball, is a douche?

B
14 years ago
Reply to  scott

He did have his own reality show to try to let fans in on his personality. He’s been pretty active in trying to get his personality out there for people to see.

big baby
14 years ago
Reply to  scott

he’s really into UFC and he does a retarded hand gesture after every save. there’s a whole interview with him about it. consensus = douche.

scott
14 years ago
Reply to  scott

well when you become a baseball player and you come up with something to honor your dead father, i’ll be sure to call you a douche for it.

big baby
14 years ago
Reply to  scott

“One More Round is a clothing line. It has to do with the drive and determination that certain fighters have when their backs are against the wall. It’s, `No matter how deep I am in this fight, no matter how badly burned I am, I’ve got one more round in me.’ That’s basically the motto, the creed, of One More Round. No matter what it takes, I’ve got one more in me.”

““Now, one of the main things I do after a game is the crossing of the arms. That’s on a T-shirt I wear underneath my jersey when I pitch. (He wore that T-shirt in an ESPN interview last month.) That’s just respecting the fighters and their commitment and determination and the hard work they put in.”

http://blogs.mercurynews.com/extrabaggs/2008/07/14/at-long-last-brian-wilson-reveals-the-meaning-behind-his-crossed-arms-gesture-after-he-saves-a-game/

has little to do with his father, actually. even if it did, you can still be a douche about it.

scott
14 years ago
Reply to  scott

so you’re trying to tell me that he peed his pants when casey blake did it after hitting the HR because he takes offense to having “one more round?”

“San Francisco Giants closer Brian Wilson said he wouldn’t forget that Casey Blake mocked the cross-armed gesture he makes after every save as a tribute to his faith and deceased father.

The incident so upset Wilson that he wouldn’t speak to reporters about it Sunday and had to be consoled by teammates”

http://articles.latimes.com/2009/may/12/sports/sp-dodgers-fyi12

that worked up about a t-shirt? probably not.