I listened to a podcast show recently. It was a pre-game show, the guest and the host were talking about a starting pitcher. It was a great show and during the show, the guest indicated that the starting pitcher from the away team had to throw a strike early because batting average against him on a 0-1 count was very low. So, it’s important for him to throw a first pitch strike.
That discussion was very interesting and after the show, I decided to check on the MLB website to see which pitchers are actually doing a great job on a 0-1 count.
Due to injury, Luis Severino only tossed 6 innings for the Yankees last season. However, a healthy Severino is surely a great pitcher in the majors. He made 15 starts thus far, posting a 3.11 ERA and a 1.02 WHIP in 84 innings. Opponents hit .205 against him and on a 0-1 count, batting average against Severino is only .111. When he’s ahead in the count, opponents’ BA is .111 as well.
Luis Garcia tossed 155.1 innings for the Astros in 2021. By far this season, he already made 15 starts and threw 82.2 innings. On a 0-1 count, opponents only hit .130 and when he’s ahead in the count, batting average against him is .137.
Carlos Rodon had a great 2021 season, posting a 2.37 ERA and a 0.96 WHIP over 132.2 innings. He inked a 2-year contract with the Giants in March and he’s been pitching well for the Giants. Rodon made 16 starts and now has a 2.87 ERA and a 1.11 WHIP. Opponents hit .213 against him and on a 0-1 count, opponents’ batting average is under .200. When Rodon is ahead in the count, opponents only bat .213. Nonetheless, when he’s behind, batting average against him is .284.
In addition, Triston McKenzie had an ERA of 4.95 last season but now, his ERA is 3.71. Opponents hit .203 against him and, on a 0-1 count, batting average against McKenzie is under .200.
Marco Gonzales was traded to the Mariners in 2017 and since then, he has been a very reliable pitcher in the Mariners rotation. Gonzales already tossed 700+ innings for the Mariners. By far this season, he has a 3.24 ERA and a 1.31 WHIP. Opponents hit .253 against him, but on a 0-1 count, opponents’ batting average is under .200. When he’s ahead in the count, opponents hit just .192. However, when he’s behind in the count, batting average against him is nearly .300.
Meanwhile, it’s very important to take a look at Sandy Alcantara. He already made 17 starts this season and threw 2 complete games. Alcantara now has a great 1.82 ERA and a 0.91 WHIP. Opponents only hit .190 against him. He’s one of the most dominant pitchers in the MLB. When the count is 0-1, opponents’ batting average is .212.
Finally, on a 0-1 count, opponents’ batting average is under .220 against Yu Darvish. Additionally, opponents hit .216 against Jordan Montgomery on a 0-1 count, nonetheless, he gave up 3 home runs.
If a pitcher can throw a first pitch strike, he can get ahead in the count. By far, we’ve seen that on a 0-1 count, some pitchers do pitch well and opponents don’t hit well against them. And, for MLB batters, they might know that if some pitchers throw a first pitch strike and they are ahead in the count, it'll be really tough to get a hit against these pitchers.
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