Pitch usage in 2020

Pitchers and catchers have already reported to spring training ballparks. So we are getting closer to the 2021 season. Top arms such as Trevor Bauer, James Paxton and Liam Hendriks are going to a different park this year since they each agreed to a deal with a new team. At the same time, Masahiro Tanaka already began his spring training in Japan because he returned to Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles. With several pitchers signing a new deal with a different organization, each team will surely have different ideas on using pitchers on the mound.

Let’s look back at 2020 and see pitch usage to see whether there is something worth noticing.

4-seam fastball is surely the most common pitch in the major league. In the 2020 season, Rockies pitchers used 4-seamers 41.8% of the time, leading the majors. However, the outcomes were not that good, hitters had a batting average of .308 against 4-seamers thrown by Rockies pitchers. The Dodgers and the Rays gave us a great 6-game world series last year. Their pitchers each used 4-seamer 31.5% of the time. Meanwhile, the Red Sox pitchers only threw four-seamers 24.7% of the time, the lowest four-seamer usage in the league last year.

Secondly, let’s take a look at slider usage. The Minnesota Twins are a team that loves to see their pitchers throw sliders. In total, Twins pitchers used sliders 28.1% of the time and throwing sliders was a good decision to make. Batters only hit .204 against sliders thrown by Twins pitchers. Chicago Cubs pitchers didn’t use sliders much, last season, Cubs pitchers used sliders only 6.4% of the time, lowest slider usage in the majors.

Thirdly, how about changeup? Chicago White Sox pitchers used changeups 19.1% of the time in the shortened 2020 season. Of these White Sox pitchers, Lucas Giolito used his changeup 33.7% of the time and it was a great weapon since batters only batted .157 against his changeup. Giolito tossed a no-hitter against the Pirates last season, in that game, Giolito used his changeup 38% of the time. Meanwhile, we can also see that 7 teams’ pitchers used changeups less than 10% of the time. In particular, Nationals pitchers only threw changeups 5.8% of the time in 2020.

Life threw a nasty curve last year and lots of things changed. The Cardinals might not forget that they played 53 games from August 15 to September 27. Life threw a curve and the Cardinals pitchers also threw a lot of curves. The Cardinals were a team that their pitchers used curveballs 15.6% of the time last season, leading the majors. And, it worked. Batters only batted .167 against curveballs thrown by Cardinals pitchers.

Finally, we can’t ignore the Dodgers because they won the 2020 World Series title. Dodgers pitchers used sinkers 23.7% of the time last season, leading the majors. Batters hit .251 against sinkers thrown by Dodgers pitchers. Meanwhile, xwOBA against sinkers of the Dodgers pitchers was .303, lowest in the majors.
   How to pitch effectively and use pitches effectively are always the most important thing for each team’s front office and coaching staff dedicated lots of time to identify the effective ways to execute pitching strategy. In the 2021 season, are we going to see any big changes on pitch usage from each team?