In the postseason, every pitch is placed under a microscope.
Yes, there are still four action-packed days left in the regular season, with a number of playoff spots up for grabs. But it’s never too early to use our microscopes and look ahead to the nastiest pitches primed for the October spotlight.
Here are some of the elite pitches that we’re most excited to watch this postseason.
All stats are entering Wednesday’s games.
Mason Miller (SD), slider
Miller is the hardest thrower in baseball, and his fastball — which averages 101.2 mph — is actually faster than it was last year. It’s an overwhelming weapon, but it’s not Miller’s best pitch. That would be his slider, which eludes barrels thanks to exceptional two-plane movement. Among 503 qualified pitches, Miller’s slider is the only offering yet to allow an extra-base hit this season, while its 55.2% whiff rate trails only Fernando Cruz’s splitter. On a rate basis, it’s the most valuable pitch in baseball — and the eye test backs that up. Earlier this month, he threw an immaculate inning by simply unleashing nine consecutive sliders. Who needs triple-digit heat?
Andrés Muñoz (SEA), slider
Miller isn’t the only flamethrower with an elite slider: Enter Seattle’s All-Star closer. Over half of the swings against Muñoz’s slider are whiffs, and, when hitters do make contact, it’s not of the good variety. Muñoz’s slider is holding the opposition to a .103 batting average, the lowest against any qualified pitch in the Majors this season. This isn’t the first time that Muñoz has wielded a dominant slider — it was one of the most valuable pitches in baseball in 2022 — but it’s a much different pitch now. A shoulder injury in ‘23 led to a new grip, which created significantly more downwards movement. Now, it falls off the table, with 3.2 inches more drop than average and 8.7 in. more drop than it had back in ‘22.
Abner Uribe (MIL), slider
Uribe seems poised to play an outsized — albeit deserving — role for the Brewers this postseason, with All-Star closer Trevor Megill still working his way back. Uribe’s best pitch is his slider, which, while not a sweeper, has outlier side-to-side movement. With 10.6 inches of horizontal break, it touts 6.5 in. more horizontal movement than comparable pitches, diving away from barrels. That’s part of the reason why only one pitch — Paul Skenes’ sweeper — induces softer contact at a higher rate than Uribe’s slider, which is running a 17.0% hard-hit rate. The expected BA — which uses Statcast metrics to assess the likelihood that a batted ball becomes a hit — against Uribe’s slider is just .132, tied for the second lowest among qualified pitches.
Logan Gilbert (SEA), splitter
Only two qualified pitches have been harder to hit this season than Gilbert’s splitter, against which the opposition is hitting .115 with a 50.0% whiff rate — the fifth-best mark in the Majors. This isn’t a fluke, either. Gilbert has the best splitter in baseball by Stuff+, a metric that grades a pitch based on velocity, movement, spin and other physical characteristics. Its low spin rate causes exceptional downwards movement, generating 42.0 inches of drop — more than all but two qualified splitters. While Gilbert is throwing his splitter only 20% of the time, he’s thrown it more this September (23.3%) than at any other point in his career.
Jhoan Duran (PHI), splitter
Call it a splitter, splinker, whatever you so choose — this is an elite pitch. Averaging 97.7 mph, it’s the hardest splitter in baseball, and 11 mph faster than the average splitter from a right-handed pitcher. By Statcast’s Run Value metric — which assigns every pitch a run value based on its outcome, attempting to quantify a pitch’s worth — Duran owns the most valuable splitter in baseball, with a +13 Run Value. For good reason, he’s throwing his splitter more than ever before, with a career-high 39% usage rate. The pitch also pairs well with Duran’s four-seam fastball, as he throws them off the same spin axis, only for their movement profiles to diverge at the plate.
Bryan Woo (SEA), four-seam fastball
A bout of pectoral inflammation has cast a bit of doubt on Woo’s availability for the start of the postseason. When healthy, Woo wields a uniquely dominant four-seam fastball. On a Run Value basis, only Ryne Nelson has a more valuable fastball than Woo, who relies on a flat approach angle. His fastball has better-than-expected carry from a low three-quarters arm slot and low release height, creating an illusion of “rise,” or a “flat” angle as the ball enters the zone; hitters will often swing underneath the pitch. He’s also seen a significant velocity bump, with his four-seamer sitting at 95.7 mph — up nearly a full mile per hour from last year. Batters are hitting just .153 against the pitch, the lowest BA against any qualified four-seamer from a starting pitcher this year.
Garrett Crochet (BOS), sweeper
We’re overdue for Crochet’s return to the postseason, and the left-hander looks poised to dominate — not only is he one of the game’s best pitchers, but, on a rate basis, he has two of baseball’s most valuable weapons at his disposal. We’ll focus on his sweeper, against which opponents are hitting just .127 with a 41.6% whiff rate, heading into his start on Wednesday. Crochet tweaked the shape of his sweeper in the offseason, sacrificing velocity (-1.5 mph) for depth (+4.0 in. vertical drop). Among left-handed starting pitchers, only Kris Bubic, Max Fried and Kyle Freeland have sweepers with more drop than Crochet. The changes have worked: Per Stuff+, it’s the highest-rated sweeper in baseball, and he’s racked up 87 strikeouts with his sweeper alone.
Tarik Skubal (DET), changeup
If the Tigers can limp across the finish line and into the postseason, we’ll get to see one of the best pitchers — and pitches — in the Majors. Skubal’s changeup is the most valuable pitch in baseball, with a +25 Run Value. Among changeups, specifically, it’s the hardest to hit (.156 batting average against) and induces the second-highest whiff rate (47.0%). It makes sense that it’s become his No. 1 option, with a 32% usage rate. Since Skubal throws from an over-the-top arm angle, his changeup doesn’t drop like a typical changeup does. Instead, he leverages seam-shifted wake to create unexpected movement on the ball’s flight to the plate, befuddling hitters.
Cristopher Sánchez (PHI), changeup
It’s not quite Skubal’s changeup, but Sánchez’s signature pitch is nasty, too. His changeup has recorded more strikeouts (124) than any pitch in baseball, benefitting from a significant spike in whiffs: Its 44.9% whiff rate is better than all but 14 qualified pitches, and up from 34.8% in ‘24. Sánchez’s changeup has outlier movement, with 5.5 inches more drop than comparable pitches — ninth on the leaderboard — and he’s throwing the pitch 4.3 mph harder than he was just two years ago. Often, an increase in velocity will lead to less vertical break — the ball has less time to drop on its way to the plate — but Sánchez has done the reverse. It’s no wonder that batters are hitting just .173 against it.
