Cliff Lee and the four-seam fastball
From SABR member Harry Pavlidis at The Hardball Times on January 27, 2012:
Cliff Lee can be described as a surgeon. Hitters may feel more like he’s performing a vivisection, but that’s just a matter of perspective. Lee’s impressive collection of scalpels includes a cutter, curve, sinker, change-up and slider.
But it’s his fifth pitch, a four-seam fastball, which is our focal point for the moment. Specifically, where he throws it and when. And to whom. So three focal points. Stop counting.
Here are the basics on Lee’s arsenal:
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While the overall trend has been almost linear, he has two plateaus in his splits, but in different time frames. This is not a man who likes to reach for the four-seamer much as time has gone by. This makes further analysis rather tricky—shrinking samples.
Read the full article here: http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/dispatch_article/cliff-lee-four-seam-fastball/
Originally published: January 27, 2012. Last Updated: January 27, 2012.