O-Swing% | Z-Swing% | Swing% | O-Contact% | Z-Contact% | Contact% | Zone% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2012
|
32.4%
|
61.8%
|
46.6%
|
69.4%
|
91.7%
|
83.7%
|
48.2%
|
2013
|
31.0%
|
63.6%
|
45.1%
|
80.0%
|
95.7%
|
89.6%
|
43.1%
|
These stats can get confusing without the raw data. We know that Porcello has thrown 255 pitches so far this year. That's enough information to reverse-engineer these stats to show the raw numbers. I've also changed the format of the table to hopefully make it more clear:
2013 | 255
Total Pitches |
Total | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
110
In Zone
|
145
Out Zone
|
|||||
40
Non-Swing
|
70
Swing
|
100
Non-Swing
|
45
Swing
|
115
Total Swing
|
||
3
Non-Contact
|
67
Contact
|
9
Non-Contact
|
36
Contact
|
103
Total Contact
|
110/255 = 43.1% Zone%
70/110 = 63.6% Z-Swing%
67/70 = 95.7% Z-Contact%
115/255 = 45.1% Swing%
103/115 = 89.6% Contact%
And so on.
Below is a comparison between Porcello's 2013 and 2012 percentages. Obviously there is a small sample issue here since Porcello only has 13 innings in 2013. However, it could be interesting to see the differences:
2013 | 255
Total Pitches |
Total | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
43.1%
In Zone
|
56.9%
Out Zone
|
|||||
36.4%
Non-Swing
|
63.6%
Swing
|
69.0%
Non-Swing
|
31.0%
Swing
|
45.1%
Total Swing
|
||
4.3%
Non-Contact
|
95.7%
Contact
|
20%
Non-Contact
|
80.0%
Contact
|
89.6%
Total Contact
|
2012 | 2828
Total Pitches |
Total | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
48.2%
In Zone
|
51.8%
Out Zone
|
|||||
38.2%
Non-Swing
|
61.8%
Swing
|
67.6%
Non-Swing
|
32.4%
Swing
|
46.6%
Total Swing
|
||
8.3%
Non-Contact
|
91.7%
Contact
|
30.6%
Non-Contact
|
69.4%
Contact
|
83.7%
Total Contact
|
Difference | Total | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
-5.1%
In Zone
|
5.1%
Out Zone
|
|||||
-1.8%
Non-Swing
|
1.8%
Swing
|
1.4%
Non-Swing
|
-1.4%
Swing
|
-1.5%
Total Swing
|
||
-4%
Non-Contact
|
4%
Contact
|
-10.6%
Non-Contact
|
10.6%
Contact
|
5.9%
Total Contact
|
The major difference is the 10.6% more contact on out of zone pitches instead of swinging and missing. This could explain why Porcello only has 3 strikeouts so far this year. Porcello was never a strikeout pitcher, but his 2.08 K/9 and 4.8% K rate are lower than the 5.46 K/9 and 13.7% K rate he put up last year. Again, I should point out the small sample size, so these numbers could certainly improve over the year.
Pitch f/x does however break these stats down to individual pitch types, and I can't pass up comparing these over the last 2 years to see if there's a particular pitch giving Porcello trouble in the early goings:
2-Seam Fastball
2013 | 39.2% | Total | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
47%
In Zone
|
53%
Out Zone
|
|||||
34%
Non-Swing
|
66%
Swing
|
64.1%
Non-Swing
|
35.9%
Swing
|
50%
Total Swing
|
||
0%
Non-Contact
|
100%
Contact
|
10.5%
Non-Contact
|
89.5%
Contact
|
96%
Total Contact
|
2012 | 45.2% | Total | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
55%
In Zone
|
45%
Out Zone
|
|||||
40.7%
Non-Swing
|
59.3%
Swing
|
65.1%
Non-Swing
|
34.9%
Swing
|
48.3%
Total Swing
|
||
6.0%
Non-Contact
|
94.0%
Contact
|
23.4%
Non-Contact
|
76.6%
Contact
|
88.4%
Total Contact
|
Difference | -6.0% | Total | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
-8.0%
In Zone
|
8%
Out Zone
|
|||||
-6.7%
Non-Swing
|
6.7%
Swing
|
-1.0%
Non-Swing
|
1.0%
Swing
|
1.7%
Total Swing
|
||
-6.0%
Non-Contact
|
6.0%
Contact
|
-12.9%
Non-Contact
|
12.9%
Contact
|
7.6%
Total Contact
|
The 2-seam fastball is what Pitch f/x is calling his sinker. This is his supposed bread-and-butter pitch. He's throwing it 6% less often overall; 8% more out of the zone and hitters are making 7.6% more contact - including 12.9% more contact out of the zone. Just throwing this out there, but maybe Porcello's sinker isn't sinking enough, causing hitters to make more contact. I have nothing to back up this theory, just throwing it out there. The goal of the sinker is to make hitters hit ground balls, not make them swing and miss and hitters are hitting 7.5% more ground balls on Porcello's sinker this year than last year (67.9% in 2013, 60.4% in 2012). So this could be viewed as moving in the right direction.
4-Seam Fastball
2013 | 24.3% | Total | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
41.9%
In Zone
|
58.1%
Out Zone
|
|||||
30.8%
Non-Swing
|
69.2%
Swing
|
77.8%
Non-Swing
|
22.2%
Swing
|
41.9%
Total Swing
|
||
11.1%
Non-Contact
|
88.9%
Contact
|
25.0%
Non-Contact
|
75.0%
Contact
|
84.6%
Total Contact
|
2012 | 21.6% | Total | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
52.4%
In Zone
|
47.6%
Out Zone
|
|||||
40.3%
Non-Swing
|
59.7%
Swing
|
75.6%
Non-Swing
|
24.4%
Swing
|
42.9%
Total Swing
|
||
7.3%
Non-Contact
|
92.7%
Contact
|
26.8%
Non-Contact
|
73.2%
Contact
|
87.4%
Total Contact
|
Difference | 2.7% | Total | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
-10.5%
In Zone
|
10.5%
Out Zone
|
|||||
-9.5%
Non-Swing
|
9.5%
Swing
|
2.2%
Non-Swing
|
-2.2%
Swing
|
-1.0%
Total Swing
|
||
3.8%
Non-Contact
|
-3.8%
Contact
|
-1.8%
Non-Contact
|
1.8%
Contact
|
-2.8%
Total Contact
|
Porcello is throwing his 4-seam fastball 10.5% more out of the zone. Batters are also swinging at it 9.5% more often in the zone, but are swinging and missing at it 3.8% more. 2 of the 3 HR he's given up has come off the 4-seam fastball and batters are hitting .400 against it, so it hasn't been a very effective pitch so far this year.
Change Up
2013 | 15.7% | Total | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
32.5%
In Zone
|
67.5%
Out Zone
|
|||||
30.8%
Non-Swing
|
69.2%
Swing
|
48.1%
Non-Swing
|
51.9%
Swing
|
57.5%
Total Swing
|
||
11.1%
Non-Contact
|
88.9%
Contact
|
35.7%
Non-Contact
|
64.3%
Contact
|
73.9%
Total Contact
|
2012 | 13.6% | Total | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
34.2%
In Zone
|
65.8%
Out Zone
|
|||||
25.9%
Non-Swing
|
74.1%
Swing
|
59.1%
Non-Swing
|
40.9%
Swing
|
52.2%
Total Swing
|
||
14.4%
Non-Contact
|
85.6%
Contact
|
34.0%
Non-Contact
|
66.0%
Contact
|
75.5%
Total Contact
|
Difference | 2.1% | Total | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
-1.7%
In Zone
|
1.7%
Out Zone
|
|||||
4.9%
Non-Swing
|
-4.9%
Swing
|
-11.0%
Non-Swing
|
11.0%
Swing
|
5.3%
Total Swing
|
||
-3.3%
Non-Contact
|
3.3%
Contact
|
1.7%
Non-Contact
|
-1.7%
Contact
|
-1.6%
Total Contact
|
The big difference here is the 11.0% O-Swing rate and they are making slightly less contact on those swings. Hitters are only batting .091 against Porcello's change up, so it looks to be a pretty good pitch for him early on.
Curveball
2013 | 20.8% | Total | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
45.3%
In Zone
|
54.7%
Out Zone
|
|||||
50.0%
Non-Swing
|
50.0%
Swing
|
86.2%
Non-Swing
|
13.8%
Swing
|
30.2%
Total Swing
|
||
0.0%
Non-Contact
|
100.0%
Contact
|
0.0%
Non-Contact
|
100.0%
Contact
|
100.0%
Total Contact
|
This is really surprising to see. Whenever a batter decides to swing at a curveball, they've made contact.
2012 | 3.2% | Total | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
33.3%
In Zone
|
66.7%
Out Zone
|
|||||
40.0%
Non-Swing
|
60.0%
Swing
|
75.0%
Non-Swing
|
25.0%
Swing
|
36.7%
Total Swing
|
||
11.1%
Non-Contact
|
88.9%
Contact
|
40.0%
Non-Contact
|
60.0%
Contact
|
75.8%
Total Contact
|
Difference | 17.6% | Total | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
12.0%
In Zone
|
-12.0%
Out Zone
|
|||||
10.0%
Non-Swing
|
-10.0%
Swing
|
11.2%
Non-Swing
|
-11.2%
Swing
|
-6.7%
Total Swing
|
||
-11.1%
Non-Contact
|
11.1%
Contact
|
-40.0%
Non-Contact
|
40.0%
Contact
|
24.2%
Total Contact
|
Porcello is throwing his curveball 17.6% more often then he did in 2012. This is an experiment worth watching, since Porcello ditched his slider in favor of throwing more curveballs. Batters are only hitting .200 against it, though, so it appears to be working so far.
According to Pitch f/x, Porcello hasn't thrown any sliders in 2013. This is how his slider performed in 2012:
2012 | 16.0% | Total | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
39.5%
In Zone
|
60.5%
Out Zone
|
|||||
33.1%
Non-Swing
|
66.9%
Swing
|
69.2%
Non-Swing
|
30.8%
Swing
|
45.0%
Total Swing
|
||
12.6%
Non-Contact
|
87.4%
Contact
|
45.2%
Non-Contact
|
54.8%
Contact
|
73.9%
Total Contact
|
Hitters hit .394 against Porcello's slider last year, so there's a reason why he ditched it.
There isn't really any real conclusion from this due to the small sample size, but it looks like the sinker is the main problem and it shows as hitters are hitting .552 against it so far this year. A lot of that is probably due to his performance on Saturday, but that could be attributed to being unlucky.
One thing that is painfully obvious is that Porcello doesn't have an out pitch; something to where a batter will swing and miss at when he gets 2 strikes. It looks like his curveball won't be that pitch since literally every time they swing at it, they make contact. Like I mentioned earlier, Porcello has never been a strikeout pitcher and relies on contact, mainly ground balls, to get outs. When he has a performance like the one on Saturday, he can't buckle down and get a strikeout when he needs to.
I may revisit these numbers when we get a bigger sample later in the year.
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