Snap Pitcher Judgments, 2026
Apr 15 2026
Some might say it's too early, but pitchers can change quickly, and this is the time to pounce.
By looking at per-pitch metrics, or what we like to call “sub-indicators”, like ball percentage (Ball%; league-average 36%) and swinging-strike rate (SwK%; league-average 11.5%), we can perhaps pick up on early signs of a breakout… or of looming disaster.
Last week's exercise used Quality of Batted Ball (QBaB) data to make some snap hitter judgments; we'll go back to that well with pitchers for 2026, asking ourselves the following question:
If this early performance is real, what might it look like over a full season?
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More whiffs, more strikes
Pitchers with 15+ IP, the biggest jumps in swinging-strike rate (SwK%), and biggest dips in...
Almost!
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