Sheets pitchFX plots.

[dixieflatline]

They had the pitchFX system turned on at Wrigley last night so I made a few plots of Sheets stuff over at my blog if anyone is interested.

 

 

(added tag --1992)

[TooLiveBrew]

This "pitchFX" stuff confuses me. Apparently, I'm just a simple caveman (perhaps my fave Phil Hartman character - non-Simpsons, that is)...

 

I get what pitch break is, but the GameDay screen has me flummoxed with the newer term. Anyone care to help me out?

[rluzinski]

Very nice work. I've always wanted to parse that data but never got around to it. Now you just have to find all the data available on Sheets and use it as a comparison. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif

 

A couple of questions. First, you get two pitch speeds, right? Leaving the hand and crossing home plate? You used the "leaving the hand" velocities? I thought there's somthing like a 5 MPH difference between the two, usually.

 

This plot definitely shows that Sheets didn't throw his changeup once during the game and got away with just two pitches.

 

He threw at least 2 pitches very slow and with little or no no movement. Why are you so certain that neither were changeups? Graphing the release points might help you better identify pitch types. Some pitchers have some pretty distinct arm slots/hand locations for certain pitches, when you look at this stuff.

 

Hope this isn't the last time you play with pitchFX data.

[HebrewHammer]

Neat graph. It's amazing how well a MLB pitcher is able to drill those high corners. He just missed on so many pitches, but kept going at it. The umpire really did call it well and you have to figure a lot of those could be called for strikes, depending on whose umping.

 

Also impressive is how the Cubs didn't really swing at too many bad pitches. Good patience at the plate. They swung at a couple curves in the dirt, so it's easy to see how hard Sheets' curveball is to hit.

 

Could you point me to the original source for that game?

[dixieflatline]

here is the link to sheets pitches. You can use parent directory and play around from there.

 

As for your comments Russ thanks for the kind words. I guess you are right about those two pitches as they certainly could be changes. I expected to see them at a slower speed but Sheets never was known for a good change. As for comparing with other starts that is one of the biggest problems with pitchFX right now. None of the parks report the data accurately in comparison to each other. So you see people plotting only home games of pitchers and things like that. And don't worry I will be doing a lot more with pitchFX. In fact I just added a plot for Prince Fielder now.

 

edit: the pitch speed I was using for that were at 55 feet from home plate so not quite when it leaves his hand. I could run the numbers back and I probably will need to do that to normalize everything when I look at his overall numbers but this was close enough for now.

[DHonks]

one comment about the slow Sheets' pitches. Normally Sheets' curve is at around 82 and his changeup 78-80. I can't explain those slower pitches.

[rluzinski]

Coming off a finger injury and a blister, I wouldn't read too much into those velocities.

[dixieflatline]

I've added another post focusing mostly on Braun. Thought you guys might be interested. I'm looking for input on which players to profile in the upcoming days so if there is a player you would like to see (brewer or otherwise) please let me know in the comments section. Here is the link.