GIF of Wonder: Daniel Bard’s 94 mph Changepiece
Daniel Bard threw 17 pitches in the Red Sox’ victory over the Yankees on Sunday night, but only one those (i.e. those pitches) was a changeup — the 3-2 pitch to Mark Teixeira you see GIF’d below.
Before we cut to the videotape, some notes on Bard’s offering:
• Per linear weights, this lone pitch was worth -0.35 runs — that is, it cost the Yankees that much.
• The pitch was recorded at 93.9 mph by Pitch F/x. Among pitchers who throw a changeup more than 1% of the time, Bard’s is the fastest, averaging 90.5 mph. This pitch was over three miles per hour faster than that.
• Provided the Pitch F/x data is correct in this situation, Bard’s changeup appeared to break even more than usual. On average, Bard’s changeup features 8.8 inches of armside run and 2.4 inches of rise (relative to a spinless ball, that is). This pitch (courtesy Brooks Baseball) was recorded as having 9.5 inches of armside run and 4.5 inches of drop.
If there’s a drawback to this situation, it’s that ESPN doesn’t appear to use the straight-on center-field camera at Fenway, which would give us a sense of how impractical Bard’s change really was.
11
My mind just blew
It isn’t quite The Pantless Velociraptor, but still a pitch that might as well steal the hitters’ pants on its merry way to the mitt.
I think you meant Hepatitis K
Cool gif. How is it an “impractical” pitch? Looks like it worked pretty well, to me.
Daniel Bard hits second serves at 150 MPH.
Nice. Almost as good as the 99mph 2-seamer (or whatever it was) he threw to Swisher that was featured here a while back.
Is it just me, or does the catcher grab the ball just below the knee, and then move his glove to the ground?
That’s just a testament to how much vertical drop the change-up had.
No.
THIS is a gif of Bardian wonder:
http://www.fangraphs.com/not/index.php/daniel-bards-filthy-whiffmaker/