He pitches differently depending on which hand is up
Uehara puts 56.6% of his pitches to right-handers in the zone and 44.6% of his pitches to left-handers.
387 pitches to right-handed hitters, 289 to left-handed hitters.
His fastball is the pitch everything else is built on
Uehara's 4-seam fastball averages 87.0 mph, and has touched 89.0.
424 thrown, 63.1% of his pitches.
One pitch of his moves in a way hitters rarely see
Uehara's 4-seam fastball carries 20.7 inches of ride against a spinless ball, the biggest vertical move in his arsenal.
424 thrown, averaging 87.0 mph.
He gets ahead early and pitches from in front all night
Uehara throws a strike on the first pitch 72.5% of the time.
178 plate appearances started in 2017.
He fills the strike zone and makes hitters beat him
Uehara lives in the strike zone: 51.5% of his pitches are in it, 98th percentile.
676 pitches in 2017. 98th percentile among qualified pitchers in 2017, 18th in MLB.
He gets by without much velocity, and it costs him
Uehara averages 84.3 mph across his arsenal, 7th percentile in the league.
676 pitches in 2017. 7th percentile among qualified pitchers in 2017, 655th in MLB.
One type of hitter does all the damage against him
Hitters do their damage on his offspeed pitches: a .482 expected average against them, against .395 on his fastballs.
217 of his offspeed pitches thrown.
He releases the ball about where everyone else does
Uehara releases the ball 5.5 feet down the mound, a shorter stride than most.
672 tracked pitches in 2017.
The contact he allows is the kind that finds grass
The quality of contact against Uehara projects a .426 average, 7th percentile.
676 pitches in 2017. 7th percentile among qualified pitchers in 2017, 656th in MLB.
His pitches move in ways that fit together
Uehara works with 2 pitches: 4-Seam Fastball and Splitter. The 4-seam fastball is 63.1% of everything he throws.
672 classified pitches in 2017.
How much of the zone he uses depends on the count
Uehara puts 61.8% of his pitches in the zone when he is behind and 37.5% when he is ahead.
123 located pitches behind, 248 ahead.
There is one pitch of his that keeps getting hit
Contact off Uehara's 4-seam fastball leaves the bat at 89.8 mph, against 84.3 off his splitter.
424 and 217 of them thrown.
One pitch of his runs sideways more than almost anyone's
Uehara's 4-seam fastball moves 11.4 inches toward the third-base side, the biggest horizontal move in his arsenal.
424 thrown, averaging 87.0 mph.
He pitches around the zone once runners are on
Uehara throws 48.5% of his pitches in the zone with a runner in scoring position and 52.2% with the bases empty.
134 pitches with a runner in scoring position, 542 with the bases empty.
This is the pitch he goes to when he needs the out
With two strikes Uehara goes to the splitter: 37.1% of his two-strike pitches, against 30.1% the rest of the time.
210 two-strike pitches in 2017.
He lives on the edges rather than over the middle
18% of Uehara's pitches land in the middle third of the zone, well below what most pitchers give away.
121 of 672 located pitches.
When he falls behind, hitters know exactly what is coming
Behind in the count Uehara throws a fastball 74% of the time, against 63.7% when he is ahead.
123 pitches behind in the count, 248 ahead.
He throws strikes to one type of hitter and not the other
Uehara lands 54.8% of his fastballs in the zone and only 44.7% of his offspeed pitches.
438 of his fastballs, 217 of his offspeed pitches.
The angle he throws from is unusual, and hitters notice
Uehara releases the ball from a three-quarters slot, about 54 degrees above horizontal and 1.1 feet to the third-base side of the rubber.
672 tracked release points, averaging 5.9 feet off the ground.
His ball is straighter than it should be
Uehara's stuff spins at 2,149 rpm, 36th percentile in the league.
676 pitches in 2017. 36th percentile among qualified pitchers in 2017, 452nd in MLB.
One pitch of his spins more than almost anyone's
Uehara's 4-seam fastball spins at 2,367 rpm, the highest in his arsenal.
424 thrown in 2017.
One pitch exists only to make the hitter think
Uehara has thrown 17 sliders this season, 2.5% of his pitches, at 81.6 mph: a look rather than a weapon.
672 classified pitches in 2017.
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The numbers behind these live in Matchups.
Take me there
He pitches differently depending on which hand is up
Uehara puts 56.6% of his pitches to right-handers in the zone and 44.6% of his pitches to left-handers.
387 pitches to right-handed hitters, 289 to left-handed hitters.
The numbers behind these live in Pitch Data.
Take me there
His fastball is the pitch everything else is built on
Uehara's 4-seam fastball averages 87.0 mph, and has touched 89.0.
424 thrown, 63.1% of his pitches.
His pitches move in ways that fit together
Uehara works with 2 pitches: 4-Seam Fastball and Splitter. The 4-seam fastball is 63.1% of everything he throws.
672 classified pitches in 2017.
There is one pitch of his that keeps getting hit
Contact off Uehara's 4-seam fastball leaves the bat at 89.8 mph, against 84.3 off his splitter.
424 and 217 of them thrown.
One pitch of his spins more than almost anyone's
Uehara's 4-seam fastball spins at 2,367 rpm, the highest in his arsenal.
424 thrown in 2017.
One pitch exists only to make the hitter think
Uehara has thrown 17 sliders this season, 2.5% of his pitches, at 81.6 mph: a look rather than a weapon.
672 classified pitches in 2017.
The numbers behind these live in Pitch Data.
Take me there
One pitch of his moves in a way hitters rarely see
Uehara's 4-seam fastball carries 20.7 inches of ride against a spinless ball, the biggest vertical move in his arsenal.
424 thrown, averaging 87.0 mph.
One pitch of his runs sideways more than almost anyone's
Uehara's 4-seam fastball moves 11.4 inches toward the third-base side, the biggest horizontal move in his arsenal.
424 thrown, averaging 87.0 mph.
The numbers behind these live in Pitch Data.
Take me there
He gets ahead early and pitches from in front all night
Uehara throws a strike on the first pitch 72.5% of the time.
178 plate appearances started in 2017.
How much of the zone he uses depends on the count
Uehara puts 61.8% of his pitches in the zone when he is behind and 37.5% when he is ahead.
123 located pitches behind, 248 ahead.
This is the pitch he goes to when he needs the out
With two strikes Uehara goes to the splitter: 37.1% of his two-strike pitches, against 30.1% the rest of the time.
210 two-strike pitches in 2017.
When he falls behind, hitters know exactly what is coming
Behind in the count Uehara throws a fastball 74% of the time, against 63.7% when he is ahead.
123 pitches behind in the count, 248 ahead.
The numbers behind these live in Pitch Data.
Take me there
He fills the strike zone and makes hitters beat him
Uehara lives in the strike zone: 51.5% of his pitches are in it, 98th percentile.
676 pitches in 2017. 98th percentile among qualified pitchers in 2017, 18th in MLB.
The numbers behind these live in Pitch Data.
Take me there
He gets by without much velocity, and it costs him
Uehara averages 84.3 mph across his arsenal, 7th percentile in the league.
676 pitches in 2017. 7th percentile among qualified pitchers in 2017, 655th 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 offspeed pitches: a .482 expected average against them, against .395 on his fastballs.
217 of his offspeed pitches thrown.
He throws strikes to one type of hitter and not the other
Uehara lands 54.8% of his fastballs in the zone and only 44.7% of his offspeed pitches.
438 of his fastballs, 217 of his offspeed pitches.
The numbers behind these live in Pitch Data.
Take me there
He releases the ball about where everyone else does
Uehara releases the ball 5.5 feet down the mound, a shorter stride than most.
672 tracked pitches in 2017.
The angle he throws from is unusual, and hitters notice
Uehara releases the ball from a three-quarters slot, about 54 degrees above horizontal and 1.1 feet to the third-base side of the rubber.
672 tracked release points, averaging 5.9 feet off the ground.
The numbers behind these live in Spray Chart.
Take me there
The contact he allows is the kind that finds grass
The quality of contact against Uehara projects a .426 average, 7th percentile.
676 pitches in 2017. 7th percentile among qualified pitchers in 2017, 656th in MLB.
The numbers behind these live in Matchups.
Take me there
He pitches around the zone once runners are on
Uehara throws 48.5% of his pitches in the zone with a runner in scoring position and 52.2% with the bases empty.
134 pitches with a runner in scoring position, 542 with the bases empty.
The numbers behind these live in Pitch Data.
Take me there
He lives on the edges rather than over the middle
18% of Uehara's pitches land in the middle third of the zone, well below what most pitchers give away.
121 of 672 located pitches.
The numbers behind these live in Pitch Data.
Take me there
His ball is straighter than it should be
Uehara's stuff spins at 2,149 rpm, 36th percentile in the league.
676 pitches in 2017. 36th percentile among qualified pitchers in 2017, 452nd in MLB.
Red Sox
Career team 2013–2016