Last month, I watched a game on TV. A starting pitcher threw a pitch that was just 40+ mph. That pitch looked so weird and surprised many people. What is that?
Well, it turned out that the pitcher probably intentionally did that to confuse the batter. After watching the game, I was thinking if some pitchers did the same as that pitcher. If so, how often did they do that?
To solve my doubts, I decided to check on the statcast website.
This time, position players pitching isn’t included. From 2012 to 2015, Shawn Kelley threw 26 pitches that didn’t reach 50 mph. Well, the reason for throwing those pitches was to intentionally walk a batter.
In addition, Tim Hudson threw 18 pitches that were below 50 mph from 2008 to 2015. And the reason is the same. He intentionally walked a batter. Moreover, Ricky Nolasco threw 18 pitches that didn’t reach 50 mph from 2009 to 2014 because of walking a batter intentionally.
In 2011 and 2013, Hall of Famer CC Sabathia threw 17 pitches that were below 50 mph and the reason was to walk a batter on purpose. Also, Kevin Jepsen threw 17 pitches that didn’t reach 50 mph to intentionally walk a batter.
It seems that most of the time, those pitchers threw a pitch that didn’t reach 50 mph was to intentionally walk a batter.
I was just thinking about another question. How about pitches that were less than or equal to 60 mph?
Tim Wakefield passed away in 2023. However, no one would forget his knuckleball. From 2008 to 2011, Wakefield threw 300+ pitches that were less than or equal to 60 mph. And opponents didn’t hit well against those pitches with a batting average of .200.
Additionally, Vicente Padilla pitched in the majors for 14 seasons. From 2008 to 2012, he did throw 200+ pitches that were less than or equal to 60 mph. Nonetheless, less than 30 pitches were to intentionally walk a batter. So, he certainly tried to use an eephus to confuse batters in the majors.
Finally, from 2008 to 2024, Clayton Kershaw threw 63 pitches that were below 60 mph. Most of those 63 pitches were to intentionally walk a batter. However, he threw 2 pitches that were below 50 mph to confuse batters. Furthermore, Tim Hudson, Ricky Nolasco and R.A. Dickey each threw 50+ pitches that were less than or equal to 60 mph.
Looking back at the stats from 2008 to 2024, pitchers did throw pitches that were less than 50 mph or 60 mph. The main reason was to intentionally walk a batter. Well, I guess that many baseball fans might still remember that a pitcher had to throw 4 balls to intentionally walk a batter. Nevertheless, things have changed. Nonetheless, some pitchers’ plans were different. A lot of baseball fans, in particular, the Red Sox fans, should still remember Tim Wakefield’s knuckleballs, which were slow and beautiful. Moreover, Vicente Padilla occasionally threw a pitch that was quite slow to confuse a batter.
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