Statcast spotlight: 5 players to watch today
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Using revolutionary Statcast™ data, here are five players to keep an eye on in today's games. Watch it all on MLB.TV.
Aroldis Chapman
7:05 p.m. ET -- Yankees at Orioles
Chapman has made just one appearance so far in this young season, but unsurprisingly, he already sits atop the velocity charts. In his inning of work on Tuesday, Chapman topped 100 mph four times -- the four fastest pitches by anyone so far in 2017.
Fastest pitches in 2017
1. 101.2 mph -- Chapman, 4/4/17
- 100.2 mph -- Chapman, 4/4/17
- 100.2 mph -- Chapman, 4/4/17
- 100.1 mph -- Chapman, 4/4/17
- 99.9 mph -- Joe Kelly, 4/5/17
Mark Trumbo
7:05 p.m. ET -- Yankees at Orioles
Through the Orioles' first two games, Trumbo already has a memorable walk-off homer to his credit, which he struck with a 105.5 mph exit velocity. But his two hardest-hit balls -- also the two hardest by any Oriole -- were both outs despite exit velocities of 112.4 and 112.3 mph. That's because both were ground balls, which have a much lower chance of doing damage than liners or fly balls. In 2016, Trumbo only had three harder-hit outs all season
Trumbo's hardest-hit outs since 2016 - 115.3 mph -- 8/10/16
- 113.5 mph -- 6/29/16
- 112.9 mph -- 9/21/16
4. 112.4 mph -- 4/5/17 - 112.3 mph -- 4/3/17
Video: TOR@BAL: Trumbo smashes a walk-off homer in the 11th
Francisco Liriano
7:10 p.m. ET -- Blue Jays at Rays
When Liriano is on the mound, don't look for a lot of pitches over the plate. Even when the left-hander is going well, he can be all over the place, thriving on getting hitters to chase. From 2015-16, Statcast™ tracked only 32.5 percent of Liriano's pitches as being within the strike zone, the second-lowest rate among pitchers with at least 3,000 total pitches. However, Liriano did raise his zone rate from 33.1 percent to 37.0 percent after being traded from Pittsburgh to Toronto at last year's Trade Deadline.
Lowest zone rate in 2015-16 (minimum 3,000 total pitches) - Kyle Gibson: 31.5 percent
2. Liriano: 32.5 percent - Dallas Keuchel: 32.6 percent
- James Shields: 32.8 percent
- Tommy Milone: 34.1 percent
Most out-of-zone swings and misses in 2015-16 - Max Scherzer: 646
- Cole Hamels: 626
- Chris Archer: 618
- Corey Kluber: 602
5. Liriano: 599
Video: TOR@PHI: Liriano fans five over three hitless frames
Adam Duvall
8:15 p.m. ET -- Reds at Cardinals
In Cincinnati's 7-4 win over Philadelphia on Thursday, Duvall dug out a down-and-in slider from lefty Adam Morgan and deposited it over the left-field wall for a two-run homer. That was nothing new for Duvall, who last year homered 11 times against sliders -- his most off any pitch type. In fact, that total led the Majors, and Duvall also finished first among players who had at least 100 at-bats end with sliders by slugging .594 against them.
Most home runs off sliders in 2016
1. Duvall: 11 - Trevor Story: 10
3 (tie). Chris Carter: 9
3 (tie). Carlos González: 9
3 (tie). Yasmany Tomás: 9
Highest slugging percentage vs. sliders in 2016 (minimum 100 at-bats ending with a slider)
1. Duvall: .594 - Corey Seager: .561
- Anthony Rizzo: .558
- Nolan Arenado: .531
- Starlin Castro: .511
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Kole Calhoun
10:07 p.m. ET -- Mariners at Angels
Calhoun has averaged an exit velocity of 93.3 mph on his 11 batted balls so far in 2017. While that's a very small sample size, it does show that Calhoun is picking up where he left off last season. In '16, Calhoun raised his average exit velocity by 3.4 mph, from 86.2 mph to 89.6 mph. That signified the largest increase in average exit velocity of any player who had a minimum of 250 batted balls in both '15 and '16.
Largest increase in average exit velocity in 2015-16 (minimum 250 batted balls in both years)
- Calhoun: 3.4 mph (86.2 to 89.6)
- J.J. Hardy: 2.9 mph (87.2 to 90.1)
- Victor Martinez: 2.4 mph (87.6 to 90.0)
- Nick Markakis: 2.3 mph (88.3 to 90.6)
- Castro: 2.2 mph (86.3 to 88.5)