There are some interesting similarities in 2019 fastballs from Pedro Baez and Chad Sobotka (data from Baseball Savant). My goal of this post will be to show how pitchers with significant differences in their height does not necessarily mean they will have different pitch profiles and Vertical Approach Angle's (VAA's).
Similarities
Baez average FB velo: 95.8
Sobotka average FB velo: 96.1
Baez average FB vertical movement: 11.9 in.
Sobotka average FB vertical movement: 11.9 in.
Baez average FB horizontal movement: 5.5 in.
Sobotka average FB horizontal movement: 5.1 in.
Baez average FB Release Height: 6'4"
Sobotka average FB Release Height: 6'4"
Baez average FB Extension: 6'1"
Sobotka average FB Extension: 6'0"
Here is a comparison of their release points.
*Screenshots from Baseball Savant video.
As the heat maps show below, both pitchers basically have the same VAA to each zone. I will get into other differences, but the main takeaway here is that Sobotka throws too many pitches down the middle, whereas Baez elevates most of the time to the better-performing VAA. For xwOBACON numbers in each VAA increment, click here.
Differences
Baez height: 6'0"
Sobotka height: 6'7"
Baez FB xwOBA: .234
Sobotka FB xwOBA: .430
Baez FB whiff %: 34.1%
Sobotka FB whiff %: 25.8%
Baez ERA: 3.10
Sobotka ERA: 6.21
Baez FIP: 3.52
Sobotka FIP: 5.56
Takeaways
Even though Baez and Sobotka have a 7 inch height difference, they have the same VAA's to different parts of the zone due to their velocity, movement (both vert. and horiz.), release heights and extension. You don't need to be a genius to say "Sobotka should stop throwing so many pitches down the middle." I can't imagine this is something that would come as a shock to him and would think there is an underlying reason why he throws middle-middle so much, such as missing his spots.
There's a number of other possibilities as to why Sobotka's fastball does not perform nearly as well as Baez's, such as differences in how they sequence their pitches. Something else to consider is that maybe hitters perceive pitches differently out of the hand from a taller pitcher than a shorter one, regardless of having the same release heights.
My main objective was to show how pitchers with different heights can have the same VAA and drastically different results, in addition to showing how locating better could have a positive impact on Sobotka's performance. My next goal is to find two players with the same vertical movement but different release heights to show why we should (possibly) not be so quick to say "he has above average carry, so he should throw up in the zone."
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