One type of hitter does all the damage against him
Hitters do their damage on his breaking balls: a .405 expected average against them, against .287 on his fastballs.
135 of his breaking balls thrown.
One pitch of his runs sideways more than almost anyone's
Pennington's sinker moves 112.6 inches toward the third-base side, the biggest horizontal move in his arsenal.
100 thrown, averaging 91.5 mph.
The angle he throws from is unusual, and hitters notice
Pennington releases the ball from a sidearm slot, about 24 degrees above horizontal and 2.9 feet to the first-base side of the rubber.
330 tracked release points, averaging 5.6 feet off the ground.
There is one pitch of his that keeps getting hit
Contact off Pennington's cutter leaves the bat at 93.1 mph, against 85.0 off his sinker.
89 and 100 of them thrown.
He works one part of the zone far more than the rest
Pennington lives at the bottom of the zone: his average pitch crosses at 1.94 feet, against a zone that runs 1.5 to 3.5.
330 located pitches in 2024.
This is the pitch he goes to when he needs the out
With two strikes Pennington goes to the slider: 52.1% of his two-strike pitches, against 36.3% the rest of the time.
96 two-strike pitches in 2024.
He saves one pitch for one side of the plate
Pennington throws the cutter 46.5% of the time against right-handers and 8.8% against left-handers.
159 pitches to right-handers, 171 to left-handers.
He pitches around the zone once runners are on
Pennington throws 47.3% of his pitches in the zone with a runner in scoring position and 41.4% with the bases empty.
93 pitches with a runner in scoring position, 237 with the bases empty.
When he falls behind, hitters know exactly what is coming
Behind in the count Pennington throws a fastball 65.7% of the time, against 48.9% when he is ahead.
99 pitches behind in the count, 94 ahead.
He cannot find the zone often enough
Pennington works off the plate, with only 43% of his pitches in the zone, 22nd percentile.
330 pitches in 2024. 22nd percentile among qualified pitchers in 2024, 600th in MLB.
His fastball is the pitch everything else is built on
Pennington's sinker averages 91.5 mph, and has touched 93.3.
100 thrown, 30.3% of his pitches.
Too much of the contact against him is loud
45.3% of the contact Pennington gives up is hit hard, 17th percentile.
330 pitches in 2024. 17th percentile among qualified pitchers in 2024, 638th in MLB.
He releases the ball about where everyone else does
Pennington releases the ball 5.8 feet down the mound, a shorter stride than most.
330 tracked pitches in 2024.
He gets by without much velocity, and it costs him
Pennington averages 87.8 mph across his arsenal, 29th percentile in the league.
330 pitches in 2024. 29th percentile among qualified pitchers in 2024, 546th in MLB.
He lives on the edges rather than over the middle
16.1% of Pennington's pitches land in the middle third of the zone, well below what most pitchers give away.
53 of 330 located pitches.
He pitches differently depending on which hand is up
Pennington puts 41.5% of his pitches to right-handers in the zone and 44.4% of his pitches to left-handers.
159 pitches to right-handed hitters, 171 to left-handed hitters.
How much of the zone he uses depends on the count
Pennington puts 51.5% of his pitches in the zone when he is behind and 36.2% when he is ahead.
99 located pitches behind, 94 ahead.
He throws strikes to one type of hitter and not the other
Pennington lands 48.2% of his fastballs in the zone and only 35.6% of his breaking balls.
195 of his fastballs, 135 of his breaking balls.
His pitches move in ways that fit together
Pennington works with 3 pitches: Slider, Sinker and Cutter. The slider is 40.9% of everything he throws.
330 classified pitches in 2024.
He gets ahead early and pitches from in front all night
Pennington throws a strike on the first pitch 64.3% of the time.
84 plate appearances started in 2024.
The contact he allows is the kind that finds grass
The quality of contact against Pennington projects a .341 average, 29th percentile.
330 pitches in 2024. 29th percentile among qualified pitchers in 2024, 549th in MLB.
He lives on one side of the plate
Pennington works away from right-handers: his average pitch lands 1.6 inches to that side of the middle of the plate.
330 located pitches in 2024.
One pitch of his spins more than almost anyone's
Pennington's slider spins at 2,278 rpm, the highest in his arsenal.
135 thrown in 2024.
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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 .405 expected average against them, against .287 on his fastballs.
135 of his breaking balls thrown.
He throws strikes to one type of hitter and not the other
Pennington lands 48.2% of his fastballs in the zone and only 35.6% of his breaking balls.
195 of his fastballs, 135 of his breaking balls.
The numbers behind these live in Pitch Data.
Take me there
One pitch of his runs sideways more than almost anyone's
Pennington's sinker moves 112.6 inches toward the third-base side, the biggest horizontal move in his arsenal.
100 thrown, averaging 91.5 mph.
The numbers behind these live in Pitch Data.
Take me there
The angle he throws from is unusual, and hitters notice
Pennington releases the ball from a sidearm slot, about 24 degrees above horizontal and 2.9 feet to the first-base side of the rubber.
330 tracked release points, averaging 5.6 feet off the ground.
He releases the ball about where everyone else does
Pennington releases the ball 5.8 feet down the mound, a shorter stride than most.
330 tracked pitches in 2024.
The numbers behind these live in Pitch Data.
Take me there
There is one pitch of his that keeps getting hit
Contact off Pennington's cutter leaves the bat at 93.1 mph, against 85.0 off his sinker.
89 and 100 of them thrown.
He saves one pitch for one side of the plate
Pennington throws the cutter 46.5% of the time against right-handers and 8.8% against left-handers.
159 pitches to right-handers, 171 to left-handers.
His fastball is the pitch everything else is built on
Pennington's sinker averages 91.5 mph, and has touched 93.3.
100 thrown, 30.3% of his pitches.
His pitches move in ways that fit together
Pennington works with 3 pitches: Slider, Sinker and Cutter. The slider is 40.9% of everything he throws.
330 classified pitches in 2024.
One pitch of his spins more than almost anyone's
Pennington's slider spins at 2,278 rpm, the highest in his arsenal.
135 thrown in 2024.
The numbers behind these live in Pitch Data.
Take me there
He works one part of the zone far more than the rest
Pennington lives at the bottom of the zone: his average pitch crosses at 1.94 feet, against a zone that runs 1.5 to 3.5.
330 located pitches in 2024.
He lives on the edges rather than over the middle
16.1% of Pennington's pitches land in the middle third of the zone, well below what most pitchers give away.
53 of 330 located pitches.
He lives on one side of the plate
Pennington works away from right-handers: his average pitch lands 1.6 inches to that side of the middle of the plate.
330 located pitches in 2024.
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 Pennington goes to the slider: 52.1% of his two-strike pitches, against 36.3% the rest of the time.
96 two-strike pitches in 2024.
When he falls behind, hitters know exactly what is coming
Behind in the count Pennington throws a fastball 65.7% of the time, against 48.9% when he is ahead.
99 pitches behind in the count, 94 ahead.
How much of the zone he uses depends on the count
Pennington puts 51.5% of his pitches in the zone when he is behind and 36.2% when he is ahead.
99 located pitches behind, 94 ahead.
He gets ahead early and pitches from in front all night
Pennington throws a strike on the first pitch 64.3% of the time.
84 plate appearances started in 2024.
The numbers behind these live in Matchups.
Take me there
He pitches around the zone once runners are on
Pennington throws 47.3% of his pitches in the zone with a runner in scoring position and 41.4% with the bases empty.
93 pitches with a runner in scoring position, 237 with the bases empty.
The numbers behind these live in Pitch Data.
Take me there
He cannot find the zone often enough
Pennington works off the plate, with only 43% of his pitches in the zone, 22nd percentile.
330 pitches in 2024. 22nd percentile among qualified pitchers in 2024, 600th in MLB.
The numbers behind these live in Spray Chart.
Take me there
Too much of the contact against him is loud
45.3% of the contact Pennington gives up is hit hard, 17th percentile.
330 pitches in 2024. 17th percentile among qualified pitchers in 2024, 638th in MLB.
The contact he allows is the kind that finds grass
The quality of contact against Pennington projects a .341 average, 29th percentile.
330 pitches in 2024. 29th percentile among qualified pitchers in 2024, 549th in MLB.
The numbers behind these live in Pitch Data.
Take me there
He gets by without much velocity, and it costs him
Pennington averages 87.8 mph across his arsenal, 29th percentile in the league.
330 pitches in 2024. 29th percentile among qualified pitchers in 2024, 546th in MLB.
The numbers behind these live in Matchups.
Take me there
He pitches differently depending on which hand is up
Pennington puts 41.5% of his pitches to right-handers in the zone and 44.4% of his pitches to left-handers.
159 pitches to right-handed hitters, 171 to left-handed hitters.
Rangers
Career team 2024