A few weeks ago, I watched a highlight of a postseason game. In the highlight, an analyst mentioned a pitcher’s curveball usage. That pitcher frequently used his curveball in the games.
After watching the highlight, I began to think about a question. During the regular season, which pitchers had frequently thrown their curveballs?
To understand a little bit more, I decided to check on the statcast website.
Pierce Johnson made 58 relief appearances for the Braves in 2024. He owned a 3.67 ERA and a 1.30 WHIP over 56.1 innings. Moreover, he threw 67 strikeouts. During the regular season, he used his curveball more than 70% of the time. His curveballs generated 52 strikeouts and opponents hit .243 against his curveballs. This season, the average spin rate of his curveballs was 2980 rpm and the average velocity of his curveballs was 85.4 mph.
In addition, Drew Smyly has relied on his knuckle curve for a while. His knuckle curve usage has been over 40% since 2021. In 2024, Smyly threw his knuckle curve 48.6% of the time and opponents hit .220 against his curveballs. Furthermore, his knuckle curves generated 49 strikeouts during the regular season. This season, Smyly’s knuckle curves spun at a rate of 2283 rpm, on average. Average velocity of his curveballs was 80 mph. Smyly made 50 relief appearances for the Cubs in 2024, posting a 3.84 ERA and a 1.40 WHIP.
Landen Roupp made his MLB debut on March 29, 2024. In his rookie season, he made 4 starts and 19 relief appearances, posting a 3.58 ERA and a 1.37 WHIP over 50.1 innings. Roupp used his curveball more than 40% in his rookie season. The average velocity of his curveballs was 77.4 mph and the average spin rate was 2964 rpm. Furthermore, his curveballs generated 35 strikeouts and opponents batted .224 against his curveballs.
At the same time, Charlie Morton also used his curveball more than 40% of the time. Curveball has been Morton’s primary pitch for several seasons. Additionally, in 2023 and 2024, he threw his curveball more than 40% of the time each season. In the 2024 season, Morton’s curveballs created 102 strikeouts and opponents hit .200 against his curveballs. His curveballs spun at a rate of 3085 rpm, on average. Meanwhile, the average velocity of his curveballs was 81.5 mph. Morton posted a 4.19 ERA and a 1.32 WHIP over 165.1 innings in 2024. He struck out 167 batters.
Finally, Tim Herrin’s curveball usage increased from 12.2% to 35.3%. His curveballs generated 45 strikeouts in 2024 and opponents hit only .137 against his curveballs. Average velocity of his curveballs dropped from 83.5 mph to 81.6 mph. In the meantime, the average spin rate of his curveballs declined from 2455 rpm to 2393 rpm.
When we look at the pitchers who used curveballs more than 40% of the time during the regular season, 3 of them use curveballs with an average spin rate over 2900 rpm. In particular, Morton’s curveball is quite unique with an average spin rate over 3000 rpm and that curveball is certainly a reason why he can still pitch in the majors at age 40. Moreover, Tim Herrin’s curveball usage went up in 2024. In the 2025 season, will he rely more on his curveball?
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