Minor League Stuff+ Leaderboards By Age In 2024

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Image credit: DETROIT, MI - SEPTEMBER 25: Detroit Tigers pitcher Jackson Jobe (21) pitches in the ninth inning in his major league debut during the Detroit Tigers versus the Tampa Bay Rays game on Wednesday September 25, 2024 at Comerica Park in Detroit, MI. (Photo by Steven King/Icon Sportswire)

Yesterday, we published the HIT+ leaders in the minor leagues by age, using minor league statcast data. In this companion piece, we move to the pitching side of things. 

Pitch-level data allows us to add context to the difference between two pitches using our internal Stuff+ model. For example, for a four-seam fastball, metrics such as average velocity, induced vertical break, extension, vertical approach angle, and horizontal break result in a “stuff” score that is correlated to run value, whiff rate, and xwOBA against. We repeat this process for each pitch in a pitcher’s arsenal–using the specific metrics that inform that pitch type’s stuff score–and then an overall “stuff” score for the pitcher is created based on weighting each pitch’s stuff by the frequency in which it is thrown.

There are two Stuff scores shown: The raw “STF+” score and the normalized stuff score (nSTF+). The normalized STF+ score results by rebalancing the STF+ of each pitch type against the average STF+ for that pitch type. In other words, because the average slider has a STF+ of 110, if a pitcher has a slider with a STF+ of 110, it is an “average” and would therefore be rebalanced to 100. The weighted average of each pitcher’s normalized arsenal is the nSTF+ score. 

Note also that the scores below do not consider the actual strikeout, walk or whiff rates that each pitch generated, except indirectly from the previous training results.

For a review of pitchers and the actual results that their arsenals produced, see part one and part two.

Below are the top 10 pitchers per STF+ by age, minimum 1000 pitches thrown.

Age 18 (min 1000 pitches):

NameORGThrowsSTF+nSTF+
Steven EchavarriaOAKR108110
Trevor HarrisonTBRR108109
Raimy RodriguezHOUR107107
Josh KnothMILR103101
Alex ClemmeyWASL9999
Manuel RodriguezMILR9996
Charlee SotoMINR99105
Jeremy PilonTBRL98101
Franklin GomezNYML9698
Keyner BenitezMIAL95102

Age 19 (min 1000 pitches):

NameORGThrowsSTF+nSTF+
Santiago SuarezTBRR113113
Eliazar DishmeyMIAR112111
Didier FuentesATLR109109
Thomas WhiteMIAL109113
Yeferson VargasLAAR108107
Noble MeyerMIAR108110
Zander MuethPITR106108
Barrett KentLAAR104105
Christian ZazuetaLADR103105
Gary Gill HIllTBRR101102

Age 20 (min 1000 pitches):

NameORGThrowsSTF+nSTF+
Tyler GoughSEAR118119
Noah SchultzCHWL116118
Alessandro ErcolaniPITR115114
Jarlin SusanaWASR114112
Denis ReguilloBOSR113111
Ashton IzziSEAR112113
Adam SerwinowskiCINL112110
Welinton HerreraCOLL109107
Payton MartinLADR108106
Karson MilbrandtMIAR108109

Age 21 (min 1000 pitches):

NameORGThrowsSTF+nSTF+
Jackson JobeDETR116119
Moises ChacePHIR116118
Luis MoralesOAKR114118
Yoniel CuretTBRR114115
Bubba ChandlerPITR113114
Edgar PortesBALR113113
Miguel MendezSDPR112113
Xavier MeachemMIAR111110
Drew GrayCHCR110110
Isaiah LoweSDPR110110

Age 22 (min 1000 pitches):

NameORGThrowsSTF+nSTF+
Jacob MisiorowskiMILR119119
Josh EknessMIAR119119
Levi WellsBALR116116
Junior FloresSFGR116115
Logan MartinKCRR114116
Nolan McLeanNYMR114113
Brody HopkinsTBRR114112
Juan CarelaCHWR114111
Chase DollanderCOLR113114
Miguel UllolaHOUR112112

Age 23 (min 1000 pitches):

NameORGThrowsSTF+nSTF+
Luis MeyCINR122124
Zach MaxwellCINR120118
German FajardoSEAR118119
Connor PhillipsCINR117116
Devereaux HarrisonTORR116114
Chris CamposLADR114113
Blade TidwellNYMR114112
Blake BurkhalterATLR113109
Josh HarlowCLER112110
David SandliinBOSR111108

Age 24 (min 1000 pitches):

NameORGThrowsSTF+nSTF+
Andrew MooreCINR120117
Brandyn GarciaSEAR113113
Jack LeiterTEXR113112
Jake SmithLAAR112114
Zebby MatthewsMINR112110
Juan MercedesSEAR112109
Danny KirwinBOSR112105
Zach FruitBALR111113
Wyatt OldsBOSR111108
Ryan LongBALR110112

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