The Worst Pitches in Baseball This Year

The FanGraphs Newsletter, August 6, 2024 [READ IN BROWSER]( August 6, 2024 We have a pitch-level model that estimates the worst pitches. Can we use it to get an idea of what it looks like to throw a pitch so bad it turns your opponents into Aaron Judge-esque offensive producers? There’s an easy way to sort this out. When you look at a pitcher’s player page here at FanGraphs, you can see how we model each pitch. There are a ton of scores, but we're going to be focusing on PitchingBot today, for reasons that will be explained. The player pages break each pitch down by command and stuff. In our internal database, it’s even better: You can look at any individual pitch and get a grade on it. Ben Clemens set out to find the worst pitches on the year to see whether they made hitters look invincible. Ironically, the worst pitch thrown this year made the batter look extremely vincible. Here it is in all its glory: Yikes! PitchingBot assigns grades for each component, and it’s not hard to understand why this one got a poor command grade. If you only threw pitches like that, you’d never record an out. Poor James McCann — trust us, the ball hit the bat before he ducked out of the way — but that’s the only outcome that isn’t a disaster. Otherwise, it’s a ball or a hit batter. All of the worst pitches this year are some variation of that, which tracks. Let's find out what they are. [LEARN MORE]( [Ben Rice Has Built a Strong Foundation During His Limited Time]( The combination of the rookie’s swing decisions and above-average contact quality make his future promising. | by Esteban Rivera [Ketel Marte Is In the Conversation]( Marte is probably the most underrated position player in baseball. | by Michael Baumann [Top of the Order: Taking Stock of the 2025 Marlins]( Who's locked into a spot on the 2025 Marlins? Not many players! | by Jon Becker [The AL West Race Is Wide Open]( The Mariners and Astros are jockeying for first place, with the disappointing Rangers lurking not too far behind. | by Kyle Kishimoto [FanGraphs Power Rankings: July 29–August 4]( The Yankees climb back to the top of the FanGraphs Power Rankings. | by Jake Mailhot [With Another Lost Season for Mike Trout, a Sobering Parallel Emerges]( Where we once anticipated placing Trout in a pantheon that included Willie Mays and Barry Bonds, his struggle to stay healthy brings the what-might-have beens of Ken Griffey Jr. to mind. | by Jay Jaffe [Hot-Hitting Austin Wells is Catching On in New York]( Plus Tarik Skubal's erroneous changeup, Scott Servais on veteran impact, NPB's Hiroto Takahashi, facts and stats galore, and more. | by David Laurila [Mark Vientos and Jose Iglesias Are Making Magic With the Mets]( Much of the credit for the Mets' success has gone to a certain purple mascot, but Vientos and Iglesias are the real loveable monsters behind this team's remarkable turnaround. | by Leo Morgenstern 🎧 [Effectively Wild Episode 2199: A World Without Glove]( [DOWNLOAD THE FANGRAPHS APP]( [FanGraphs & Effectively Wild Merch Is Now Available at BreakingT!]( [ORDER HERE]( [Reranking every MLB farm system after the draft and trade deadline]( by Kiley McDaniel, ESPN ($) [Here's who MLB execs think won the Trade Deadline]( by Mark Feinsand, MLB [What is Process+? Pitcher List’s New All-Encompassing Hitting Stat]( by Nate Schwartz, Pitcher List [Infamy, thy name is White Sox. After 20th loss in a row, we’re past point of embarrassment]( by Jon Greenberg, The Athletic ($) [@fangraphs]( [FanGraphs]( [FanGraphs]( [RSS]( [FORWARD]( [SUBSCRIBE]( Copyright © 2024 FanGraphs Inc, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you subscribed to the FanGraphs Newsletter. Our mailing address is: FanGraphs Inc 3017 N Underwood StArlington, VA 22213 [Add us to your address book]( Want to change how you receive these emails? You can [update your preferences]( or [unsubscribe from this list](