One of the eyeballing observations of the 2012 2013 Minnesota Twins, is that, well, their pitchers do not throw that hard, compared to the other teams. Putting this theory to test, here are the average fastball velocities of the Twins' pitchers this season (data from fangraphs):
Relievers:
Glen Perkins 94.8
Michael Tonkin 94.5
Ryan Pressly 93.2
Brian Duensing 92.2
Jared Burton 92.0
Anthony Swarzak 91.9
Josh Roenicke 91.4
Casey Fien 90.6
Caleb Thielbar 89.5
Starters:
Mike Pelfrey 92.2
Kyle Gibson 92.1
Kevin Correia 90.4
Samuel Deduno 90.3
Liam Hendriks 90.0
Vance Worley 89.5
P.J. Walters 89.4
Scott Diamond 88.4
Pedro Hernandez 88.4
Andrew Albers 85.
How do those compare with the rest of the pitchers in the majors?
Here are some rankings:
Glen Perkins: 64th
Michael Tonkin: 84th
Ryan Pressly: 166th
Brian Duensing: 256th
Mike Pelfrey: 257th
Kyle Gibson: 265th
And these are the guys above the MLB mean
So we have:
- A "proven closer"
- A rookie reliever who has appeared in a couple of games (or three)
- Another rookie reliever who has appeared sparingly because he is a rule 5 guy, thus "not proven"
- A lefty set up guy who is so underrated and unappreciated that the Twins' manager and pitching coached practically replace him with the softest tossing reliever in the team
- Two starters both of whom had Tommy John surgery, one of whom is a free agent and has made the fastest TJ recovery on the record, and the other one just had a cup of coffee in the major league club this season.
Any questions about why the Twins' pitching is a mess?
Relievers:
Glen Perkins 94.8
Michael Tonkin 94.5
Ryan Pressly 93.2
Brian Duensing 92.2
Jared Burton 92.0
Anthony Swarzak 91.9
Josh Roenicke 91.4
Casey Fien 90.6
Caleb Thielbar 89.5
Starters:
Mike Pelfrey 92.2
Kyle Gibson 92.1
Kevin Correia 90.4
Samuel Deduno 90.3
Liam Hendriks 90.0
Vance Worley 89.5
P.J. Walters 89.4
Scott Diamond 88.4
Pedro Hernandez 88.4
Andrew Albers 85.
How do those compare with the rest of the pitchers in the majors?
Here are some rankings:
Glen Perkins: 64th
Michael Tonkin: 84th
Ryan Pressly: 166th
Brian Duensing: 256th
Mike Pelfrey: 257th
Kyle Gibson: 265th
And these are the guys above the MLB mean
So we have:
- A "proven closer"
- A rookie reliever who has appeared in a couple of games (or three)
- Another rookie reliever who has appeared sparingly because he is a rule 5 guy, thus "not proven"
- A lefty set up guy who is so underrated and unappreciated that the Twins' manager and pitching coached practically replace him with the softest tossing reliever in the team
- Two starters both of whom had Tommy John surgery, one of whom is a free agent and has made the fastest TJ recovery on the record, and the other one just had a cup of coffee in the major league club this season.
Any questions about why the Twins' pitching is a mess?
