12/31/2023 0 Comments Audio mic splitter![]() ![]() The only player to appear on both lists is Shohei Ohtani, because, well, I don’t know what I expected.Īnd this is not a regular thing, to be clear. This season, 42 major league pitchers have thrown a splitter or a changeup at 900 rpm or less, and 26 have thrown a breaking ball at 3,200 rpm or more. Both of those spin numbers are outliers, highlighted because they’re out of the ordinary, but they’re outliers even for big leaguers. In addition to the sheer ferocity of Waldrep’s splitter, it’s unusual to find a pitcher who can throw as hard as he does, and spin a breaking ball, and un-spin a changeup. College hitters swung and missed at Waldrep’s splitter more than they did Skenes’ slider this past season. When first I witnessed this pitch, I was enraptured and repulsed in equal measure - perhaps one led to the other - as its essence lingered in my sinuses like the aftertaste of a particularly pungent horseradish. ![]() It drops ferociously, because the very air is disgusted by it and will not hold it aloft any longer than necessary. ![]() ![]() Waldrep’s splitter, or split-change, or forkball, or whatever you want to call it, is a grotesque, hateful thing. Hurston Waldrep and his bizarre (sometimes) gyro splitter make a slo-mo appearance at 0:23 to 0:29 /jDFwFerX4S When a projectile is not stabilized or directed by spin, it wobbles inconsistently from here to there, like a stricken bug, or an errant musketball. That’s a good pitch.īut the attribute of Waldrep’s that interests me most is his splitter, which does not spin. I shrugged off Waldrep’s slider just now, but 3,300 rpm is no small feat. And in a breaking ball, spin leads to movement. Spin stabilizes the movement of a projectile one could make the argument that this phenomenon, in the form of Colonial riflemen at the Battle of Cowpens, led to American independence. In the era of spin rate, most people think of spin as a good thing. Waldrep can throw 97 mph, which would’ve gotten you burned as a witch in college ball 15 years ago, even in the SEC, but that’s the price of admission for a big league rotation spot these days. They only interest me so much on their own. The fastball and slider are useful, but these are vulgar tools, common among modern big league pitchers. Creighton Baseball Analytics Team June 19, 2023 Ninja ? a look at Hurston Waldrep's arsenal that he has used to the tune of 9K through 4 IP tonight (LSU knocked Waldrep out early in Game 2 of the final, but Florida gave the junior right-hander 24 runs of support, so the Gators prevailed anyway.) During Waldrep’s Omaha start against Oral Roberts (six innings, one run, 10 strikeouts), the Creighton baseball analytics team tweeted a summary of three Waldrep pitches: fastball, slider, and splitter. In his first three starts of the NCAA Tournament, Waldrep struck out 37 batters in 21 innings. And it’s hard to imagine professional hitters faring much better against him. Waldrep can be so unhittable because he possesses skills that are relatively common in isolation (with one very important exception) but unusual in combination. Every fan has seen their team lose games like that. Waldrep allowed three hits and struck out 13 over eight scoreless innings, and honestly the Gamecocks could’ve kept going up there and hacking until the following Tuesday afternoon and they still wouldn’t have scored off Waldrep. As a South Carolina partisan, I couldn’t muster the energy to be upset at suffering a season-ending loss. ![]()
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