The new Bill James Handbook 2013 includes a section listing the pitch repertoires for every single pitcher in the majors last season. Including Jeff Mathis, who mostly threw mid-80s fastballs.
Those other two.
For each pitcher, you get his average fastball velocity, and then a column with percentages for each of these six pitches: fastball, cutter, curveball, slider, change-up, and splitter.
Notice anything missing? Yeah. That’s why there’s also one last column: Other.
But among the hundreds of pitchers, only two have something in the Other column. You probably know that one of them is R.A. Dickey (Knuckleball 85%). But do you know the other? I didn't. Want to take a guess? I'll wait.
It's Chicago White Sox left-hander Hector Santiago, who throws a lot of fastballs and throws them hard (93.2). But according to Baseball Info Solutions, Santiago also threw 8 percent cutters, 8 percent sliders, 13 percent change-ups ... and 6 percent screwballs, making him the only pitcher in the majors who registers as throwing any screwballs at all.
And in case you’re wondering, this wasn’t a data-input error or something; last spring, Santiago discussed the evolution and utility of his screwball at some length. It’s funny: We spend so much time worrying about the demise of the knuckleball, but the screwball seems to be just as endangered.
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