Exploring the Arsenal will run prior to each game, providing you with a brief scouting report on the starting pitcher expected to oppose the Pirates. The chart below shows the horizontal and vertical movement of every pitch thrown by that particular pitcher in 2012. This chart is from the catcher’s point of view. For a general guide to pitch types for a right-handed pitcher, please check out this image created by Sons of Sam Horn. Graphs are courtesy of Brooks Baseball and The Hardball Times , unless otherwise specified.
| Pitch Types | ||
|---|---|---|
| FA: Four-Seam Fastball | FT: Two-Seam Fastball | FC: Cutter |
| CU: Curveball | SL: Slider | CH: Changeup |
| FS: Splitter | SI: Sinker |
Friday, 8:10 PM – Zack Greinke
Greinke has good stuff, strong command and a deep arsenal, a combination that makes him deadly on the mound. His four-seam fastball sits at 92-94 MPH and gets up to around 95 fairly regularly. He does not miss a ton of bats with the pitch, but he commands it well and generally keeps it out of the middle of the zone. His two-seamer comes in at a similar velocity and leads to a good number of ground balls. He also seems to have added an 88-91 MPH cutter this year, mostly using it to bust left-handed batters in on the hands. He may have also used this pitch a bit in 2010. Greinke’s best pitch is an 81-84 MPH slider, which he commands well down and away to righties and down and in to lefties. The pitch has been nearly unhittable this year, with an unreal whiff rate approaching 50%. It has been just as effective against lefties as righties, if not more so. Greinke’s curveball ranges in velocity from the mid 60’s all the way up near 80 MPH. It is possible he is throwing multiple types of curveballs, or he may just be changing speeds to keep opposing hitters off-balance. His final offering is a mid 80’s changeup with decent sink. He does not use the pitch very often these days, mixing it in occasionally against left-handed batters.
