Sinkers?

In early August, I listened to a podcast show. A pitcher was interviewed by a long-time reporter. The pitcher was quite honest. He indicated that he threw a lot of sinkers while he was playing for the Pirates. After being traded, his sinker usage dropped significantly.

 

Well, that conversation was certainly an interesting one. After listening to the show, I was just thinking about the sinker usage in the majors. Over the last several seasons, did the Pirates throw more sinkers than any other teams?

 

To solve my doubts, I decided to check on the statcast website.

 

Pitch usage (Sinker (2-seam fastball), 2008~2024)
Team	%
Cardinals	27%
Pirates	24.6%
A’s	23.8%
Brewers	22.7%
Nationals	22.7%

 

According to the statcast website, sinker and 2-seamer are classified as the same. Looking at the stats from 2008 to 2024, the Cardinals pitchers threw sinkers 27% of the time. At the same time, the Pirates pitchers used sinkers more than 24% of the time. During the same period, the pitchers of the A’s used sinkers more than 23% of the time. The Brewers pitchers and the Nationals pitchers each threw sinkers 22.7% of the time. Interestingly, we see 3 teams from the NL Central on the list.

 

In addition, let’s take a closer look at the sinker usage between the Cardinals and the Pirates over the last several seasons. The Cardinals pitchers used sinkers 27% of the time from 2008 to 2024. In 2008, their sinker usage was 34.1% and the next season, they threw a lot of sinkers with a usage over 41%. In 2010, the Cardinals pitchers threw sinkers 39% of the time and in 2011, their sinker usage was over 34% of the time. In 2012, their sinker usage increased to 39%. In 2013, their sinker usage dropped to 25.7% of the time. Since then, the sinker usage of the Cardinals has never reached 30% of the time in a single season.

Finally, let’s look at the sinker usage of the Pirates pitchers. Back in 2008, the Pirates pitchers used sinkers 26.2% of the time, but the next season, it dropped to 19.1%. In 2010, the number went up to 24.8%. In 2011, the Pirates pitchers threw more sinkers with a usage over 30% of the time. Nonetheless, in 2012, the number decreased to 27.3%. Nevertheless, things have changed. In 2013, the Pirates pitchers used sinkers 36.2% of the time. In 2014, they threw a lot of sinkers with a usage over 40% of the time. In 2015 and 2016, the sinker usage of the Pirates pitchers was over 30% of the time each season. In 2017, the number dropped to 26%. Since then, the number hasn’t reached 30% again.

Looking at the stats from 2008 to 2024, it seemed that the Pirates pitchers used a lot of sinkers. From 2013 to 2016, their sinker usage was more than 30% of the time each season. In particular, they used sinkers more than 40% of the time in 2014. In the meantime, the Cardinals pitchers frequently used sinkers as well. Particularly, from 2008 to 2012, their sinker usage was over 30% each season. Nonetheless, a key thing is that the pitchers of those 2 teams haven’t thrown a lot of sinkers recently.