Unhittable Pitches

What qualifies as the nastiest pitch in all of baseball?  Johan Santana's changeup?  Brad Lidge's slider?  How would you measure this?  STATS Anaylst and friend of MLBTR Tom Koch-Weser has the answers in a new article.  This is a must-read.

Speaking of nasty pitchers, RotoAuthority talks Tim Lincecum today.

Comments

[bobo]

I'd argue that poor contact is just as important/nasty as no contact. Thus Rivera's cutter has to be up there, and possibly is the best pitch in the game - particularly because hitters know it's coming (and have known for over 10 years) and still can't hit it.

[worldcupfever]

QUITE OBVIOUSLY IT IS THE GYROBALL

Actually, I hate to drink the koolaid, but Rich Hill's curve last night was making a few Braves look rather foolish. I'm not saying it's the nastiest pitch in baseball, I'm just saying.

I guess overall I'd give it to something from Felix Hernandez's repetoire.

[Aduncaroo]

I know that I'm a Cubs fan and all....but I'm not sure anyone can argue with me after last night. I think you have to put Hill's curve in there. He throws it a TON, hitters know its coming, and can still do nothing with it. Its just nasty.

[RotoAuthority]

Yes I definitely admire that pitch as well. It's not going to show up in these numbers because it results in a lot of called strikes...but I love it.

[bsox21]

1st Prize: Johan's Change

Johan would outperform most with just the change up, switching it up from 71-84 mph.

2nd Prize: Felix Hernandez's 2 seamer.

97 mph with wicked movement.....unhittable.

3rd Prize: Mariano's cutter.

Forget knowing the pitch.....they could give the hitter the location too, and they still wouldn't hit it hard.

[moebarguy]

How about Kenny Rogers pine-tar ball? For someone that should have been out of the major leagues five years ago, he did pretty well last year with that pitch.

[A2000]

Shouldn't control be a part of this? How about Greg Maddux's whole repertoire?

[mymrbig]

I wonder how Pedro or RJ would have fared in their primes? RJ's slider used to be downright silly. It was sad to see a righty swing at a ball that hit him in the foot. Pedro's change was pretty disgusting, as was everything else he threw.

[Dont Do That!]

I'd love to know where I could find this info on guys full repertoires. It would be very handy for a roster freak like me!

[Deviation]

I know that last year, Liriano had one of the filthier sliders in the game (notice I didn't say it was the absolute best, as I have no idea). All right-handers could do was swing over it. Who knows what it'll look like when he comes back from Tommy John surgery though.

[bravesrule14]

i think Zumaya's slider is one of the nastier i hav seen. the gyroball would be in there. i still think that Mo's cut is the best pitch in the game by far