Jul 25, 2015; Chicago, IL, USA;
Philadelphia Phillies starting pitcher Hamels (35) throws a pitch during the first inning against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field.
(Photo Credit: Caylor Arnold-USA TODAY Sports)
With just one consistently effective pitch, a hurler for the Philadelphia Phillies and any other team in baseball at most any level can carve out a healthy career for themselves. If that pitch is dominating enough, they can become a star.
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Examples from over just the last half-century of baseball history will jump out at you immediately: Sandy Koufax‘ curveball, Phil Niekro‘s knuckleball, Nolan Ryan‘s fastball, Mariano Rivera‘s slider, Bruce Sutter‘s split-finger fastball, Gaylord Perry‘s spitball, or Greg Maddux‘ circle changeup.
Those pitches helped each of those men, or will help in Mariano’s case, reach the Baseball Hall of Fame. Right here in Philadelphia we got to see some prime examples: Steve Carlton‘s slider, Tug McGraw‘s screwball, Curt Schilling‘s fastball, and Pedro Martinez‘ slider prime among them.
In yesterday’s introduction to this topic, I presented the concept of the single dominating pitch, and set-up what will today be a presentation of the actual five most effective pitches thrown by a member of the 2015 Phillies’ pitching staff. It can be for some you to judge and/or scoff at, but here is what my own statistical analysis found:
*Note: as you recall from yesterday, the slash line used to make the evaluations is BAA/SLG/ISO, unless otherwise indicated.
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