What rank is Otani’s slider? Data reveals! MLB Magic Pitch Rankings
The United States is at the forefront of data and technology. Hawk-Eye devices have been installed at all stadiums to measure every play, and the data has been made public to analyze the factors that affect ball changes.
As a result, in addition to the axis of rotation, the effect of the seam (the seam on the ball), known as the seam shift wake (SSW), was revealed, and more balls this season use this effect. In essence, these are balls where the spin does not match the actual change.
These balls are difficult to hit because they contain a gyroscopic component and are slow to start bending and have a sharp “late movement” after the start of bending. Sliders, cutters, splits, 2-seams, and change-ups that contain a gyroscopic component tend to be sharply variable balls using the seam effect.
In a world where the average velocity of fastballs is over 150 km/h, a ball that uses this effect, where spin and change do not match and where the pitch has a free-fall velocity in gravity, functions like a “magic pitch” even in Major League Baseball, where the world’s best hitters gather.
The following is a ranking of the top five magic pitches of each pitcher, based on analysis of data such as “RV” (a value that reduces the expected value of runs scored by the opposing team; if RV-5, the expected value of runs scored by the opposing team is reduced by 5; if RV-0, the pitcher is considered to have performed at the league average) and hit rate in the year 2022. 〉
No. 5. Edwin Diaz (Mets) Slider (Gyro Cutter) RV-22
No. 5 is Edwin Diaz’s slider (gyro cutter). Edwin Diaz is having a record-breaking season as the Mets’ closer this season. He strikes out more than half of the batters he faces when he appears with his cool trumpet entrance music.
He throws only a 100+ mph shot-rise straight from a low angle and a gyro cutter around 93 mph with a form that uses his body similar to Akira Sasaki, but this gyro cutter is a magic pitch with a .114 batting average and 54.7% whiff% (swinging at/swinging from the sky). This gyro cutter is a magic pitch that boasts a .114 batting average and a 54.7% whiff% (swinging/walking), and it has led to the Warriors raising their pitching ratio to nearly 60%.
The gyro-rotating fastball with low rotational efficiency can produce a changeup effect if the seam shift wake (SSW) is working, and it falls with more bend than expected to get the most strikeouts. Diaz has proven that.
4th . Justin Verlander (Astros) Straight (4-seam) RV-24
In fourth place is Justin Verlander’s straight (4-seam). Verlander, an ace in the majors, is coming back from Tommy John surgery this season, and at 39 years old, he has a one-run defense, the most wins, and is the leading Cy Young Award candidate in the A-League with a dominant pitching performance.
Although he overcame a core injury in his early 30s that was thought to be over once and done with, his recovery from Tommy John surgery at an advanced age seemed like a quandary.
However, since his return, he has been pitching with great stability and has developed a more mature power pitch. In the majors, straight pitches are generally reduced because they are more susceptible to hits, but he still threw 50.4% of his pitches with an RV-24 and a .194 batting average, the highest mark for a 4-seam pitch.
His unique ball, which has a lot of rotation and a floaty trajectory that makes the ball seem hard to come by despite its fast velocity, has led to many strikeouts and pop flies, and in the 7th inning, he is able to keep the ball at a full 99 mph, as he did in the past. It is a Verlander pitch that is truly admirable to watch.
