Hot GIF: Ubaldo Jimenez, 99 mph Splitter?
UPDATE: Pitch F/x savant Mike Fast confirms what our better selves suspected — namely, that the above is not a splitter. Still, it’s 99 Sexy mph. And Brad Hawpe has no idea what’s happening.
The footage you see here is from the bottom of the sixth inning of last night’s Rockies-Padres game.
According to the Pitch F/x data (pitch id #321), this is Ubaldo Jimenez striking out Brad Hawpe on a 98.7 mph split-fingered fastball with 4.2 inches of arm-side run and 8.8 inches of sink.
Per the Pitch F/x data available at the site (which you can access by clicking “Show Averages” at Jimenez’ Pitch F/x page), the league-average splitter is thrown at about 85 mph, with ca. 5 inches of run and 3 or 4 inches of rise. (Predictably, Jimenez’ version is a bit more intense: his averages are 89.1, 4.6, and 5.9, respectively.)
Whatever’s going on here, it’s obvious that some manner of misclassification has occurred — either by Pitch F/x for calling the pitch a splitter, or by science for suggesting that Ubaldo Jimenez is human.
Hawpe’s reaction is great.
He is indeed questioning Ubaldo’s humanity at that moment.
Splitter? lol
2-seamer.
Isn’t it just as likely this is an average velocity (for him) yet still filthy four-seamer?
though I guess anything is possible, it would be odd if it was a standard 99mph 4-seamer that had 8.8 inches of sink
Jimenez seems to throw a lot of pitches that have unbelievable movement on them, enough that you wonder how anyone could possibly make contact with them. I’m kind of surprised that he has “only” 8.1 K/9 for his career.
That pitch doesn’t “look” like his splitter. The movement on it is smoother like a filthy two-seamer (like someone else suggested). His splitter usually starts out looking like that sinker and then dives down a rabbit hole.
Dumb question but how can you tell how much sink a pitch has by looking at pitch f/x?
I’m not sure if you’re simply asking where to find the data or for an explanation of what the PITCHf/x data means or how it is acquired.
But if you want to know where to find the data, BrooksBaseball.net is a great place for that. Dan Brooks pulls the data into a set of graphs for each pitcher for each game. There are other sites where you can view (TexasLeaguers.com) or download (JoeLefkowitz.com) the data for larger time periods.
If you want to see the raw data itself on MLB’s Gameday site in XML format, you can go here:
http://gd2.mlb.com/components/game/mlb/year_2011/month_06/day_07/gid_2011_06_07_colmlb_sdnmlb_1/inning/inning_6.xml
Sorry I was asking how you could tell? Is it just the horizontal movement on the pitch(with a negative being a sink)? That’s what I originally thought but I’m just kinda confused by it because since I’m a Tigers fan I tend to look at their pitchers’ f/x’s alot and I see that Verlander has quite a bit more negative movement on his fastball(especially the 2 seamer) than Porcello but Porcello is the one that is supposed to have the strong sinker.
If the question you’re asking is literally HOW to identify that data, here’s the brief answer:
1. Click on the link to Jimenez’ Pitch F/x page up there.
2. Scroll down a bit.
3. There are headings for horizontal (x) and vertical (z) movement.
4. A negative number for horizontal movement means it moves IN on a right-handed batter. Right-handed pitchers almost always have a negative x-number here; lefties, almost always positive.
5. A negative number for vertical movement means it the pitch sinks; positive, that it rises. Pitchers generally have fastballs with positive z-numbers.
6. Remember: the Pitch F/x numbers are in relation to a spinless ball. No, a fastball doesn’t technically rise, but, because of the backspin imparted by the pitcher’s delivery/hand, there’s rise RELATIVE TO A SPINLESS BALL.
7. I think that’s it.
Thanks Carson, that’s what I was looking for.
No problem. Fast’s too smart to answer regular-people questions sometimes.
“6. Remember: the Pitch F/x numbers are in relation to a spinless ball. No, a fastball doesn’t technically rise, but, because of the backspin imparted by the pitcher’s delivery/hand, there’s rise RELATIVE TO A SPINLESS BALL.”
Thanks for posting this because this is what really throws me off. This is why I thought it meant horizontal movement because everybody’s fastball that I seen said it had positive vertical movement so I figured that couldn’t be how to tell if it sank.
Rather than talking about the movement relative to the trajectory of a spinless ball, I prefer to describe it as the movement relative to the trajectory of a ball dropping under the influence of gravity alone.
The backspin on a fastball creates an upward force on the ball that partially counteracts the force of gravity. The topspin on a curveball creates a downward force on the ball that makes it drop even more than it would due to gravity alone.
For pitchers whose arm angle drops down from overhand to three-quarters (which is the majority of the league), the backspin force now acts at a bit of angle, so that it forces the ball toward the pitcher’s arm side as well as pushing it up against the force of gravity. If a pitcher goes completely sidearm, the backspin then is no longer counteracting gravity at all; instead it’s all working to push the ball toward the arm side.
Wait, how does the league-average splitter have 3 or 4 inches of rise? I thought splitters were supposed to drop…