His fastball is the pitch everything else is built on
Sabathia's cutter averages 88.3 mph, and has touched 92.0.
726 thrown, 42% of his pitches.
One pitch of his runs sideways more than almost anyone's
Sabathia's sinker moves 99.0 inches toward the third-base side, the biggest horizontal move in his arsenal.
248 thrown, averaging 89.1 mph.
He gets by without much velocity, and it costs him
Sabathia averages 85.0 mph across his arsenal, 9th percentile in the league.
1729 pitches in 2019. 9th percentile among qualified pitchers in 2019, 681st in MLB.
He saves one pitch for one side of the plate
Sabathia throws the cutter 50.9% of the time against right-handers and 8.1% against left-handers.
1369 pitches to right-handers, 360 to left-handers.
One type of hitter does all the damage against him
Hitters do their damage on his breaking balls: a .409 expected average against them, against .327 on his fastballs.
522 of his breaking balls thrown.
The angle he throws from is unusual, and hitters notice
Sabathia releases the ball from a low three-quarters slot, about 31 degrees above horizontal and 2.2 feet to the first-base side of the rubber.
1729 tracked release points, averaging 5.8 feet off the ground.
This is the pitch he goes to when he needs the out
With two strikes Sabathia goes to the slider: 38.7% of his two-strike pitches, against 27% the rest of the time.
473 two-strike pitches in 2019.
There is one pitch of his that keeps getting hit
Contact off Sabathia's sinker leaves the bat at 89.1 mph, against 81.7 off his changeup.
248 and 211 of them thrown.
He pitches differently depending on which hand is up
Sabathia puts 41.6% of his pitches to right-handers in the zone and 46.9% of his pitches to left-handers.
1369 pitches to right-handed hitters, 360 to left-handed hitters.
Almost nothing hit off him is hit well
Only 32.7% of the contact Sabathia gives up is hit hard, 90th percentile.
1729 pitches in 2019. 90th percentile among qualified pitchers in 2019, 79th in MLB.
Hitters cannot square him up, the contact is weak
Contact against Sabathia is weak: 86.8 mph off the bat on average, 88th percentile.
1729 pitches in 2019. 88th percentile among qualified pitchers in 2019, 88th in MLB.
He lives on the edges rather than over the middle
16.1% of Sabathia's pitches land in the middle third of the zone, well below what most pitchers give away.
278 of 1729 located pitches.
How much of the zone he uses depends on the count
Sabathia puts 51.4% of his pitches in the zone when he is behind and 37% when he is ahead.
436 located pitches behind, 516 ahead.
His ball is straighter than it should be
Sabathia's stuff spins at 2,136 rpm, 26th percentile in the league.
1729 pitches in 2019. 26th percentile among qualified pitchers in 2019, 557th in MLB.
One pitch of his moves in a way hitters rarely see
Sabathia's cutter carries 10.4 inches of ride against a spinless ball, the biggest vertical move in his arsenal.
726 thrown, averaging 88.3 mph.
His pitches move in ways that fit together
Sabathia works with 4 pitches: Cutter, Slider, Sinker and Changeup. The cutter is 42% of everything he throws.
1729 classified pitches in 2019.
He throws strikes to one type of hitter and not the other
Sabathia lands 45.9% of his fastballs in the zone and only 33.6% of his offspeed pitches.
996 of his fastballs, 211 of his offspeed pitches.
He gets so far down the mound the ball arrives early
Sabathia releases the ball 6.7 feet down the mound, so the ball arrives sooner than the radar gun suggests.
1729 tracked pitches in 2019.
He cannot find the zone often enough
Sabathia works off the plate, with only 42.7% of his pitches in the zone, 37th percentile.
1729 pitches in 2019. 37th percentile among qualified pitchers in 2019, 472nd in MLB.
He gets ahead early and pitches from in front all night
Sabathia throws a strike on the first pitch 61.8% of the time.
468 plate appearances started in 2019.
The gap between his pitches is what makes them work
9.9 mph separates Sabathia's sinker from his slider, 89.1 against 79.2.
248 and 522 of them respectively.
The contact he allows should not turn into many hits
The quality of contact against Sabathia projects a .353 average, 64th percentile.
1729 pitches in 2019. 64th percentile among qualified pitchers in 2019, 268th in MLB.
One pitch exists only to make the hitter think
Sabathia has thrown 22 4-seam fastballs this season, 1.3% of his pitches, at 88.8 mph: a look rather than a weapon.
1729 classified pitches in 2019.
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The numbers behind these live in Pitch Data.
Take me there
His fastball is the pitch everything else is built on
Sabathia's cutter averages 88.3 mph, and has touched 92.0.
726 thrown, 42% of his pitches.
He saves one pitch for one side of the plate
Sabathia throws the cutter 50.9% of the time against right-handers and 8.1% against left-handers.
1369 pitches to right-handers, 360 to left-handers.
There is one pitch of his that keeps getting hit
Contact off Sabathia's sinker leaves the bat at 89.1 mph, against 81.7 off his changeup.
248 and 211 of them thrown.
His pitches move in ways that fit together
Sabathia works with 4 pitches: Cutter, Slider, Sinker and Changeup. The cutter is 42% of everything he throws.
1729 classified pitches in 2019.
The gap between his pitches is what makes them work
9.9 mph separates Sabathia's sinker from his slider, 89.1 against 79.2.
248 and 522 of them respectively.
One pitch exists only to make the hitter think
Sabathia has thrown 22 4-seam fastballs this season, 1.3% of his pitches, at 88.8 mph: a look rather than a weapon.
1729 classified pitches in 2019.
The numbers behind these live in Pitch Data.
Take me there
One pitch of his runs sideways more than almost anyone's
Sabathia's sinker moves 99.0 inches toward the third-base side, the biggest horizontal move in his arsenal.
248 thrown, averaging 89.1 mph.
One pitch of his moves in a way hitters rarely see
Sabathia's cutter carries 10.4 inches of ride against a spinless ball, the biggest vertical move in his arsenal.
726 thrown, averaging 88.3 mph.
The numbers behind these live in Pitch Data.
Take me there
He gets by without much velocity, and it costs him
Sabathia averages 85.0 mph across his arsenal, 9th percentile in the league.
1729 pitches in 2019. 9th percentile among qualified pitchers in 2019, 681st in MLB.
The numbers behind these live in Pitch Data.
Take me there
One type of hitter does all the damage against him
Hitters do their damage on his breaking balls: a .409 expected average against them, against .327 on his fastballs.
522 of his breaking balls thrown.
He throws strikes to one type of hitter and not the other
Sabathia lands 45.9% of his fastballs in the zone and only 33.6% of his offspeed pitches.
996 of his fastballs, 211 of his offspeed pitches.
The numbers behind these live in Pitch Data.
Take me there
The angle he throws from is unusual, and hitters notice
Sabathia releases the ball from a low three-quarters slot, about 31 degrees above horizontal and 2.2 feet to the first-base side of the rubber.
1729 tracked release points, averaging 5.8 feet off the ground.
He gets so far down the mound the ball arrives early
Sabathia releases the ball 6.7 feet down the mound, so the ball arrives sooner than the radar gun suggests.
1729 tracked pitches in 2019.
The numbers behind these live in Pitch Data.
Take me there
This is the pitch he goes to when he needs the out
With two strikes Sabathia goes to the slider: 38.7% of his two-strike pitches, against 27% the rest of the time.
473 two-strike pitches in 2019.
How much of the zone he uses depends on the count
Sabathia puts 51.4% of his pitches in the zone when he is behind and 37% when he is ahead.
436 located pitches behind, 516 ahead.
He gets ahead early and pitches from in front all night
Sabathia throws a strike on the first pitch 61.8% of the time.
468 plate appearances started in 2019.
The numbers behind these live in Matchups.
Take me there
He pitches differently depending on which hand is up
Sabathia puts 41.6% of his pitches to right-handers in the zone and 46.9% of his pitches to left-handers.
1369 pitches to right-handed hitters, 360 to left-handed hitters.
The numbers behind these live in Spray Chart.
Take me there
Almost nothing hit off him is hit well
Only 32.7% of the contact Sabathia gives up is hit hard, 90th percentile.
1729 pitches in 2019. 90th percentile among qualified pitchers in 2019, 79th in MLB.
Hitters cannot square him up, the contact is weak
Contact against Sabathia is weak: 86.8 mph off the bat on average, 88th percentile.
1729 pitches in 2019. 88th percentile among qualified pitchers in 2019, 88th in MLB.
The contact he allows should not turn into many hits
The quality of contact against Sabathia projects a .353 average, 64th percentile.
1729 pitches in 2019. 64th percentile among qualified pitchers in 2019, 268th in MLB.
The numbers behind these live in Pitch Data.
Take me there
He lives on the edges rather than over the middle
16.1% of Sabathia's pitches land in the middle third of the zone, well below what most pitchers give away.
278 of 1729 located pitches.
The numbers behind these live in Pitch Data.
Take me there
His ball is straighter than it should be
Sabathia's stuff spins at 2,136 rpm, 26th percentile in the league.
1729 pitches in 2019. 26th percentile among qualified pitchers in 2019, 557th in MLB.
The numbers behind these live in Pitch Data.
Take me there
He cannot find the zone often enough
Sabathia works off the plate, with only 42.7% of his pitches in the zone, 37th percentile.
1729 pitches in 2019. 37th percentile among qualified pitchers in 2019, 472nd in MLB.
Yankees
Career team 2003–2019