Fangraphs: Zack Greinke’s dip in velocity not hurting his performance with D-backs
Jun 4, 2017, 11:31 AM | Updated: 12:49 pm
Arizona Diamondbacks' Zack Greinke throws a pitch against the Colorado Rockies during the second inning of a baseball game, Saturday, April 29, 2017, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ralph Freso)
(AP Photo/Ralph Freso)
A popular storyline surrounding the D-backs in Spring Training was the concern with Zack Greinke’s dip in velocity. As it turns out, it’s no big deal.
The 33-year-old ace saw a decrease in the average speed on his pitches as the D-backs geared up for the regular season this spring. And even though Arizona’s top brass publicly assured media and fans that it wouldn’t likely be a big deal, it remained a hot topic.
“The sky is not falling,” Mike Hazen told 98.7 FM, Arizona’s Sports Station in March.
“I think velocity is one of those things that we tend to over-exaggerate at times and especially in the spring training environment, we tend to over-exaggerate in both directions in terms of velocity,” Hazen said.
The narrative around Greinke’s pitch speed has more or less disappeared — a phenomenon to be expected when the right-hander has pitched to the tune of a 3.06 ERA, 0.983 WHIP and 7-3 win/loss record in 12 starts this year.
But Fangraphs recently broke down some of the statistical trends behind Greinke’s performance this year, particularly with the mixing of his pitches. In doing so, they made a note about his velocity:
“(W)hat’s interesting is that, as his four-seam fastball sits at a career-low average velocity (90.4 mph), he’s not declining at all,” Travis Sawchik wrote. “Rather, he’s posting some of the best numbers of his career. Greinke owns the best strikeout percentage (29.6 percent) and strikeout-walk rate differential (24.7 points) of his career, which is saying something for a Cy Young winner and one of the best pitchers of the 21st century.”
The slider has really helped Greinke, Fangraphs wrote.
“(Greinke’s slider) is producing the most out-of-zone swings in baseball this season, and it trails only Clayton Kershaw’s slider in whiffs per swing at 51.7 percent,” Sawchick wrote. “The pitch is eighth among starting pitchers’ sliders in horizontal movement (4.03 inches) and 13th in vertical movement (2.13).”
Sawchik also praised Grienke as a big reason why the Diamondbacks are where they are in the standings. Entering play on Sunday, Greinke and the snakes were 10 games above .500 and 1.5 games out of first place.
