Front Page: Spin Cycle

[weams]

http://www.orioleshangout.com/2019/01/10/spin-cycle-under-the-radar-free-agent-pitchers/

A place for commentary.

[Moose Milligan]

Spin rate is cool, but I dunno if I'm the only one getting tired of hearing about it already.

That said, I liked this piece and would be curious to see if Silas could do anything with these guys to get them to be effective ML pitchers.  Spin seems to be an inherent trait, either guys have it or they don't.  I am assuming that's much like movement on a fastball, either you've got it or you don't.  How Silas can tweak things and make adjustments remains to be seen.  

At any rate, I'm glad there's a plan in place and hope that the Orioles take a look at these guys.  

[ScGO's]

Who has the best spin rates in our system? MLB squad included

[weams]

8 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

Spin rate is cool, but I dunno if I'm the only one getting tired of hearing about it already.

That said, I liked this piece and would be curious to see if Silas could do anything with these guys to get them to be effective ML pitchers.  Spin seems to be an inherent trait, either guys have it or they don't.  I am assuming that's much like movement on a fastball, either you've got it or you don't.  How Silas can tweak things and make adjustments remains to be seen.  

At any rate, I'm glad there's a plan in place and hope that the Orioles take a look at these guys.  

I think that Rich Hill and DeGrom have highly developed spinning of baseballs. Not a natural movement issue, like short or long fingers or grip.  I think both of those guys made careers of spinning, sometimes to their physical detriment. 

[weams]

1 minute ago, ScGO's said:

Who has the best spin rates in our system? MLB squad included

There is no MiLB data on spin rate available. 

[weams]

Here is an older data article.

https://www.mlb.com/news/statcast-spin-rate-compared-to-velocity/c-160896926

[weams]

http://m.mlb.com/statcast/leaderboard#pitch-velo,p,2018

[LookinUp]

Is there any evidence it can be taught, or is it a data point for scouts to use when ranking potential targets?

[Frobby]

20 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

Spin rate is cool, but I dunno if I'm the only one getting tired of hearing about it already.

That and launch angle.    

I’m not saying these things aren’t very important, or that people (especially the professionals) shouldn’t be studying them and utilizing the information in the best way possible.    But there are times when you just want to eat a delicious meal without obsessing over every ingredient that is in it.

[Moose Milligan]

3 minutes ago, Frobby said:

That and launch angle.    

I’m not saying these things aren’t very important, or that people (especially the professionals) shouldn’t be studying them and utilizing the information in the best way possible.    But there are times when you just want to eat a delicious meal without obsessing over every ingredient that is in it.

Launch angle is partially annoying cause it's not new.  Ted Williams talked about a slight upswing to drive the ball in the air.  And then all of a sudden it's a thing.

[Luke-OH]

1 minute ago, LookinUp said:

Is there any evidence it can be taught, or is it a data point for scouts to use when ranking potential targets?

Different grips can affect spin on breaking balls or changeups. Another important thing that affects the movement of a pitch is the spin axis, the angle at which the seams rotate through the air. Those things can sometimes be improved. Pitch design is going to be something that I think we'll hear more about in the upcoming years. Gone are the days when guys just throw pitches the way they learned as a kid and if they learn a new pitch, it's just because some veteran happened to show them his grip and it worked. High speed cameras like Edgertronic will let coaches watch how the ball comes out of a pitcher's hand and coaches can tweak grips and cues to achieve the movement profile that best fits the pitcher's repertoire and arm slot. 

Throwing harder does generally increase spin. Long flexible fingers have been attributed to high spin fastballs. 

For me, spin rate helps explain how pitches that don't look overly impressive by movement or velocity miss bats. 

[Redskins Rick]

33 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

Launch angle is partially annoying cause it's not new.  Ted Williams talked about a slight upswing to drive the ball in the air.  And then all of a sudden it's a thing.

My dad once said about life, most things are never new, just come back from the past to revisit us.

[Luke-OH]

1 hour ago, ScGO's said:

Who has the best spin rates in our system? MLB squad included

The 4S fastball list.

https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/statcast_search?hfPT=FF|&hfAB=&hfBBT=&hfPR=&hfZ=&stadium=&hfBBL=&hfNewZones=&hfGT=R|&hfC=&hfSea=2018|&hfSit=&player_type=pitcher&hfOuts=&opponent=&pitcher_throws=&batter_stands=&hfSA=&game_date_gt=&game_date_lt=&hfInfield=&team=BAL&position=&hfOutfield=&hfRO=&home_road=&hfFlag=&hfPull=&metric_1=&hfInn=&min_pitches=0&min_results=0&group_by=name&sort_col=spin_rate&player_event_sort=h_launch_speed&sort_order=desc&min_pas=0#results

The 2S/sinker list.

https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/statcast_search?hfPT=FT|SI|&hfAB=&hfBBT=&hfPR=&hfZ=&stadium=&hfBBL=&hfNewZones=&hfGT=R|&hfC=&hfSea=2018|&hfSit=&player_type=pitcher&hfOuts=&opponent=&pitcher_throws=&batter_stands=&hfSA=&game_date_gt=&game_date_lt=&hfInfield=&team=BAL&position=&hfOutfield=&hfRO=&home_road=&hfFlag=&hfPull=&metric_1=&hfInn=&min_pitches=0&min_results=0&group_by=name&sort_col=spin_rate&player_event_sort=h_launch_speed&sort_order=desc&min_pas=0#results

The curveball list.

https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/statcast_search?hfPT=CU|KC|&hfAB=&hfBBT=&hfPR=&hfZ=&stadium=&hfBBL=&hfNewZones=&hfGT=R|&hfC=&hfSea=2018|&hfSit=&player_type=pitcher&hfOuts=&opponent=&pitcher_throws=&batter_stands=&hfSA=&game_date_gt=&game_date_lt=&hfInfield=&team=BAL&position=&hfOutfield=&hfRO=&home_road=&hfFlag=&hfPull=&metric_1=&hfInn=&min_pitches=0&min_results=0&group_by=name&sort_col=spin_rate&player_event_sort=h_launch_speed&sort_order=desc&min_pas=0#results

The slider list.

https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/statcast_search?hfPT=SL|&hfAB=&hfBBT=&hfPR=&hfZ=&stadium=&hfBBL=&hfNewZones=&hfGT=R|&hfC=&hfSea=2018|&hfSit=&player_type=pitcher&hfOuts=&opponent=&pitcher_throws=&batter_stands=&hfSA=&game_date_gt=&game_date_lt=&hfInfield=&team=BAL&position=&hfOutfield=&hfRO=&home_road=&hfFlag=&hfPull=&metric_1=&hfInn=&min_pitches=0&min_results=0&group_by=name&sort_col=spin_rate&player_event_sort=h_launch_speed&sort_order=desc&min_pas=0#results

[Enjoy Terror]

I pulled some average spin rate data from 2018 and ran regressions against ERA and the r-squared was less than 2%. I’m sure spin rate means something, but I don’t know what.

[Luke-OH]

1 minute ago, Enjoy Terror said:

I pulled some average spin rate data from 2018 and ran regressions against ERA and the r-squared was less than 2%. I’m sure spin rate means something, but I don’t know what.

Did you break it out by pitch type or just average spin for a pitcher?