A few days ago, I was watching a game on TV. On the mound, a pitcher, who pitched well in 2022, threw a curveball in the first inning. However, that curveball was hanging and the batter just crushed it. Boom, the ball was gone and it was a home run. After watching the game, I was just thinking about a question.
After spending 7 seasons with the Mets, Seth Lugo and the Padres agreed to a 1-year deal. Lugo made 8 starts for the Padres so far this season, posting a 4.10 ERA and a 1.37 WHIP over 41.2 innings. A 1.37 WHIP doesn’t look very good and opponents’ batting average was .279 against him. A major problem is probably that his curveball doesn’t work well this season. By far this season, Lugo uses his curveball 35.1% of the time and opponents hit over .300 against his curveball. He’s currently on the IL. When Lugo comes back, it will be interesting to see whether his curveball could work better.
In addition, Jordan Montgomery was traded to the Cardinals last August. He made 11 starts for the Cardinals last year, posting a 3.11 ERA and a 1.08 WHIP over 63.2 innings. Nonetheless, he now has a 4.23 ERA and a 1.39 WHIP through 66 innings. He’s not so dominant this year and a major problem is that his curveball isn’t so effective. Montgomery used his curveball 22.2% of the time last season and opponents only batted .154 against his curveball. Nevertheless, batting average against his curveball increased to .288 this season.
Nick Lodolo made it into the big leagues last year and he had a good rookie season. Lodolo owned a 3.66 ERA and a 1.25 WHIP over 103.1 innings in 2022. However, this season, he now has an ERA over 6 after making 7 starts. He gave up 10 home runs so far this season and 4 came from his curveball. Opponents’ batting average against his curveball is .286. Last season, his curveball was a great weapon and opponents only batted .136. Now, Lodolo is on the IL.
Finally, Sonny Gray has a great season so far with a 2.15 ERA and a 1.22 WHIP after making 12 starts for the Minnesota Twins. Opponents bat .230 against him. Nonetheless, it’s worth noting that opponents’ batting average against Gray's curveball is .283. He uses his curveball 21.4% of the time. Last season, opponents only bated .191 against Gray’s curveball. Meanwhile, opponents’ batting average against Mikolas’ curveball is over .270. Moreover, Pierce Johnson uses his curveball 48.5% of the time so far this season and he gave up 5 home runs.
For several pitchers, a curveball is an important pitch arsenal to deceive batters. Some pitchers use their curveballs more than 20% of the time and they must make sure that their curveballs work when they are on the mound. Furthermore, Seth Lugo, Nick Lodolo and Pierce Johnson each throw curveballs more than 30% of the time thus far this season. They really need to figure out how to make their curveballs more effective in the rest of the season.
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