2024 MLB Farm System Statcast Pitching Rankings

Image credit: Kumar Rocker (Photo by Eddie Kelly / ProLook Photos)

As we did last year, Baseball America is assessing prospect hitting performance based on underlying metrics using Hawkeye data gathered across the minor leagues.

In part one of the series focusing on hitters, we ranked all 30 systems based on advanced offensive Statcast data. Today, we move to the pitching side of things to examine which organizations’ minor league pitching groups rank the best when looking at a variety of advanced metrics.

Statcast data allows us to look beyond performance and subjective analysis of prospective major leaguers. Pitch-level data allows us to add context to the difference between two pitches at the same velocity that may generate very different results. For example, understanding how a pitch moves to the plate and the traits that impact the ball’s flight allow us to more properly assess the quality of that pitch. In turn, this allows us to get a more accurate understanding of how that pitch will translate against major league hitting.

Examined below is a combination of pitch-level data and pitch-by-pitch performance metrics. Our goal was to more accurately understand which organizations have the highest quality of overall pitching talent. This also allows us to see what traits certain organizations may prioritize in the draft and international free agency.

Our Methodology

For each organization, team-level metrics such as whiff and chase rate were calculated by aggregating the metrics of each pitcher, weighted by number of pitches thrown by each pitcher in the organization at the end of the 2024 season (after the trade deadline) to provide an overall assessment of the pitching strength and depth of each organization.

The overall organization’s Stuff+ number is a blended metric of each pitcher’s Stuff+ (based on our internal model). The resultant number was then scaled on a wRC+ scale where 100 is average and a standard deviation is 10 points. In other words, an organization with an overall Stuff+ number of 90 is one standard deviation worse than a league-average organization.

Only players between the ages of 17 to 25 years old who threw at least 100 pitches in 2024 were included in this exercise. Any pitcher older than that was removed to minimize the impact of older pitchers on rehabilitation stints or older veterans who make up a great deal of the Triple-A pitching staffs. This was intended to remove the “noise” from non-prospects and isolate, with more granularity, the team’s prospect pool.

Similar to last year, we also removed all players who spent the entirety of their season at the complex level. There’s less reliability with the data at that level, and its impact on overall performance could cloud the final results.

Organizational Pitching Statcast Ranking

team	stuff+	whiff%	CSw%	chase%
BAL	105.7	30.7%	43.4%	26.8%
SEA	105.7	26.1%	43.1%	26.7%
LAD	105.3	28.8%	41.9%	25.5%
BOS	103.9	30.1%	44.5%	26.7%
NYM	103.8	28.2%	43.2%	26.0%
TB	103.8	29.4%	43.8%	27.5%
TEX	103.1	30.7%	44.2%	26.8%
CIN	102.8	28.2%	42.6%	25.8%
TOR	102.5	28.6%	42.7%	27.1%
DET	102.5	28.8%	44.5%	27.1%
NYY	102.2	28.8%	43.8%	25.8%
MIL	102.1	29.5%	44.0%	26.7%
MIA	102	28.6%	43.5%	26.7%
COL	101.6	28.7%	43.8%	26.9%
KC	101.6	27.4%	43.3%	26.9%
LAA	101.6	28.3%	41.6%	25.6%
PIT	101.6	28.2%	42.7%	26.2%
HOU	101.6	28.9%	42.9%	25.9%
CLE	101.4	28.6%	43.7%	26.6%
PHI	101.3	29.1%	42.9%	26.4%
ATL	101	29.9%	44.3%	28.0%
CWS	101	29.7%	43.3%	26.4%
CHC	100.9	29.8%	42.3%	26.0%
MIN	100.8	28.0%	45.2%	27.4%
SD	100.4	28.5%	42.6%	25.8%
SF	100.2	28.4%	43.4%	26.5%
WSH	99.7	27.3%	41.3%	26.5%
OAK	99.5	27.0%	41.1%	26.0%
AZ	99.5	29.5%	42.7%	26.5%
STL	99.4	27.9%	43.1%	27.2%

Below is the above table, but instead of showing the ordinal numbers, the cardinal rank is displayed:

team	stuff+	whiff%	csw%	chase%
BAL	1	1	13	10
SEA	2	30	17	14
LAD	3	12	27	30
BOS	4	3	3	11
NYM	5	22	16	22
TB	6	9	7	2
TEX	7	2	5	9
CIN	8	23	24	27
TOR	9	18	23	5
DET	10	14	2	6
NYY	11	13	8	26
MIL	12	8	6	13
MIA	13	16	11	12
COL	14	15	9	8
KC	15	27	15	7
LAA	16	21	28	29
PIT	17	24	21	21
HOU	18	11	20	25
CLE	19	17	10	15
PHI	20	10	19	19
ATL	21	4	4	1
CWS	22	6	14	20
CHC	23	5	26	23
MIN	24	25	1	3
SD	25	19	25	28
SF	26	20	12	16
WSH	27	28	29	17
OAK	28	29	30	24
AZ	29	7	22	18
STL	30	26	18	4

Interesting Takeaways

The Mariners and Dodgers being in the top four should not come as a surprise. The Red Sox had a much-discussed approach change up and down the organization in 2024, as they appeared to embrace the idea of non-fastballs being a primary pitch.

The Orioles have the top Stuff+ ranking and also elicited the most whiffs of any organization. The player development apparatus of our 2023 minor league organization of the year continued to operate at a high level in 2024.

The Rangers had breakout seasons from many of their pitchers such as Kumar Rocker, Alejandro Rosario, Kohl Drake and Jack Leiter. This is reflected in their top ten ranking in all of these metrics.

The Rays ranked in the top ten in all elements. The Brewers ranked in the top half in all four metrics.

Surprisingly, the Rockies appear in the top half of all metrics. Players such as Chase Dollander, Sean Sullivan, Carson Palmquist and Welinton Herrera all had excellent 2024 seasons.

The Braves appear in the lower quartile per our internal Stuff+ metric. However, they are in the top five for whiff rate, CSW% and chase rate. Similarly, the Twins lead the league in CSW% and are third in chase rate but are in the bottom quintile for whiff rate and Stuff+.

The Athletics are in the bottom quintile for Stuff+, whiff rate, chase rate and CSW%

Top Five Teams In Each Metric

Whiff Percentage

Orioles
Rangers
Red Sox
Braves
Cubs

Called & Swinging Strike (CSW) Percentage

Twins
Tigers
Red Sox
Tigers
Rangers

Chase Percentage

Braves
Rays
Twins
Cardinals
Blue Jays

Results By Specific Pitch Types

To get more granular, we also looked at overall metrics and performance of some of the primary pitch types, again grouped by organization.

Four-Seam Fastballs

Currently, the four-seam fastball is primary pitch in the minor leagues, making up about 40% of pitches thrown. Below are the weighted averages of each organization’s aggregated four-seamers from the player pool.

IVB = Induced Vertical Break, HB = Horizontal Break, VAA = Vertical Approach Angle, RelHt = Release Height (in inches from the ground), Ext = extension (horizontal distance ball is being released from pitching rubber).

org	stuff+	Velo	ivb	hb	vaa	relHt	ext	whiff%	csw%	chase%
BAL	106	93.1	17.3	8.9	-4.9	71.8	6.3	27%	44%	25%
BOS	104	93.3	15.5	9.9	-4.8	68.2	6.3	27%	49%	23%
TB	104	93.3	16.4	8.1	-4.9	70.6	6.2	25%	43%	26%
CIN	103	93	15.8	9.5	-4.9	69.4	6.2	23%	42%	24%
CWS	103	93.1	16.5	8.8	-5	70.9	6	26%	43%	24%
NYM	103	92.9	16.1	8.3	-5	70.8	6.3	24%	43%	25%
COL	103	92.9	16	9.7	-5	70	6	24%	43%	25%
LAD	102	94.1	15.5	8.8	-5.1	71.1	6.1	24%	40%	23%
DET	102	93.3	15.5	8.8	-5	69.7	6.3	23%	44%	24%
PHI	102	92.9	16	9.1	-5.1	71.7	6.2	24%	42%	23%
NYY	101	92.8	15.7	8.5	-5	69.9	6.2	24%	44%	22%
TOR	101	92.4	16	9.2	-4.8	69.4	6.1	24%	40%	25%
CLE	101	92	15.7	9	-4.8	68.6	6.4	24%	42%	24%
MIN	101	92.8	16.1	8.8	-5.1	71.7	6.1	23%	44%	24%
STL	101	93.3	15.2	9.8	-4.9	69.8	6.2	22%	43%	26%
PIT	101	92.9	15.5	8.7	-5	70.7	6.4	23%	42%	25%
MIA	101	93.2	15.1	8.5	-4.9	69.3	6.2	25%	42%	25%
KC	100	93.1	15.7	8.6	-5.1	71.8	6.2	21%	41%	24%
MIL	100	92.5	15.2	8.1	-4.9	68.7	6.3	25%	43%	23%
HOU	100	92.4	16.1	7.8	-4.9	70.8	6.3	25%	43%	24%
SF	100	92.1	15.6	9.1	-5	70	6.3	24%	42%	24%
LAA	100	93	15.1	10.1	-5.1	69.8	6	23%	41%	24%
TEX	100	93.2	15	8.6	-4.9	69	6.1	26%	41%	23%
SEA	99	92.1	15.1	10.8	-5.1	68.6	5.8	21%	43%	24%
CHC	99	93.2	15	7.4	-5.1	70.6	6.4	23%	41%	24%
WSH	99	92.7	15.5	9.8	-5	71	6.2	22%	41%	24%
SD	99	93.1	14.8	8.9	-5	69.6	6.2	23%	42%	23%
OAK	98	93	15.6	8.1	-5.2	72.3	6.1	23%	41%	23%
ATL	97	92.5	14.7	8.3	-5	69.3	6.3	24%	43%	24%
AZ	96	92.7	14.7	8.5	-5.2	71.2	6.2	25%	41%	23%

Below is the same table, but instead of the raw number, it is scaled where 100 is average and a standard deviation is 10. Because it is not “better” to throw from a higher release height, scaling it to the “plus” scale is meaningless and therefore that column was omitted. Similarly, the Stuff+ is already on the “plus” scale and was untouched. Note also that a VAA+ of 110 corresponds to a fastball that is flatter than the average fastball by one standard deviation.

org	stuff+	velo+	ivb+	hb+	vaa+	ext+	whiff+	csw+	chase+
BAL	106	105	129	100	106	110	120	106	114
BOS	104	109	99	114	118	111	123	137	91
TB	104	108	113	89	109	104	110	105	118
CIN	103	103	103	109	105	101	92	99	100
CWS	103	105	115	99	102	86	115	102	104
NYM	103	101	109	92	98	110	98	104	110
COL	103	100	107	111	97	81	101	101	109
LAD	102	128	99	99	92	93	99	84	88
DET	102	109	98	99	101	106	93	110	105
PHI	102	101	108	103	93	104	102	98	92
NYY	101	97	101	94	101	100	98	109	81
TOR	101	89	107	105	118	92	104	88	110
CLE	101	81	101	102	116	115	100	97	104
MIN	101	98	109	99	93	95	95	111	101
STL	101	108	94	112	105	98	88	101	120
PIT	101	100	98	97	95	113	92	99	107
MIA	101	108	92	95	109	103	104	98	112
KC	100	105	102	96	85	103	83	93	105
MIL	100	91	93	89	113	106	109	103	92
HOU	100	88	109	85	109	105	108	104	104
SF	100	81	100	103	94	105	99	98	95
LAA	100	103	91	116	93	87	97	90	98
TEX	100	106	90	96	108	92	111	93	88
SEA	99	81	91	126	92	72	82	105	99
CHC	99	108	89	80	92	112	92	92	98
WSH	99	96	98	112	99	102	87	89	97
SD	99	104	86	100	97	102	95	97	91
OAK	98	102	99	89	79	91	93	89	90
ATL	97	90	84	92	99	105	101	105	96
AZ	96	96	85	95	81	98	109	91	82

Below is the same table as above, but instead of the ordinal values, the cardinal rank is displayed:

org	stuff+	velo	ivb	hb	vaa	ext	whiff%	csw%	chase%
BAL	1	11	1	13	9	5	2	5	3
BOS	2	3	17	3	2	4	1	1	24
TB	3	5	3	26	7	13	5	8	2
CIN	4	13	10	7	11	18	26	16	15
CWS	5	9	2	14	12	28	3	12	11
NYM	6	17	6	24	17	6	18	10	6
COL	7	19	9	6	18	29	13	14	7
LAD	8	1	16	17	26	23	15	30	27
DET	9	2	20	16	13	7	23	3	10
PHI	10	16	7	9	24	12	11	17	22
NYY	11	21	13	23	14	19	17	4	30
TOR	12	26	8	8	1	24	10	29	5
CLE	13	30	12	11	3	1	14	21	12
MIN	14	20	5	15	23	22	21	2	14
STL	15	4	21	4	10	21	27	13	1
PIT	16	18	18	18	20	2	24	15	8
MIA	17	7	23	22	5	15	9	19	4
KC	18	10	11	20	28	14	29	22	9
MIL	19	24	22	28	4	8	6	11	23
HOU	20	27	4	29	6	9	8	9	13
SF	21	28	14	10	21	11	16	18	21
LAA	22	14	25	2	22	27	19	26	18
TEX	23	8	26	19	8	25	4	23	28
SEA	24	29	24	1	27	30	30	6	16
CHC	25	6	27	30	25	3	25	24	17
WSH	26	22	19	5	16	17	28	27	19
SD	27	12	28	12	19	16	20	20	25
OAK	28	15	15	27	30	26	22	28	26
ATL	29	25	30	25	15	10	12	7	20
AZ	30	23	29	21	29	20	7	25	29

The Orioles have the best collection of four-seam fastballs, ranking in the top five for all three results metrics and in the top half for all of the parameters, including the highest ranked Stuff+.

The Mariners’ pitcher pool threw the fewest pitches that were classified as four-seam fastballs. Interestingly, they showed the most horizontal break, slowest velocity and shortest extension.

The Rays and Guardians threw the most four-seam fastballs amongst the organizations, with Guardians fastballs having the biggest extension and the largest increase in perceived velocity. Last year, the Blue Jays had the flattest four-seam fastballs, per VAA, and in 2024 they again lead, with the Guardians a close second.

Interestingly, the Dodgers collectively had the highest velocity, two full standard deviations higher and nearly 1 mph faster than the next closest organization (the Tigers), while also having the lowest CSW% and third lowest chase rate. This, perhaps, suggests they are prioritizing the raw metrics of the pitch rather than the game results of the execution.

Sliders

The second most-thrown pitch—and arguably the most important pitch in the modern game—is the slider, making up about 24% of pitches thrown.

Note that, because the release height and extension of a pitcher’s slider is essentially the same as their release height and extension of their four-seam fastball, these columns were omitted.

Below are the weighted averages of each organization’s aggregated sliders from the player pool.

org	stuff+	velo	ivb	hb	vaa	whiff%	csw%	chase%
BAL	119	82	1.7	9.3	-7.8	37%	45%	29%
HOU	117	82.6	1.7	8.3	-7.6	34%	45%	27%
SEA	116	81.8	0.3	9.8	-7.6	33%	45%	31%
NYY	115	82.8	1.1	8	-7.7	34%	45%	29%
CHC	115	83.2	0.6	7.8	-8	39%	45%	28%
MIA	115	82.7	0.6	7.8	-7.9	37%	48%	30%
CIN	114	83.4	1.1	6.8	-7.6	36%	46%	27%
LAD	114	84.6	1.2	6	-7.4	39%	47%	29%
TEX	114	83.4	0.8	7.1	-7.5	39%	50%	31%
KC	114	83.5	1.5	6.1	-7.8	36%	47%	30%
TOR	114	82.9	2.2	6.6	-7.4	34%	46%	30%
NYM	113	82.6	1.3	6.5	-7.7	36%	45%	28%
CLE	113	82.9	1.7	7.1	-7.5	35%	48%	30%
BOS	113	84.2	2	5.2	-7.5	34%	46%	29%
PIT	113	82.9	1.6	6.7	-7.7	36%	46%	30%
MIN	112	83.4	1.5	6.3	-7.7	34%	47%	30%
SD	112	83.2	1.4	5.7	-7.6	37%	46%	30%
PHI	112	83	0.9	6.6	-7.8	35%	46%	29%
TB	112	84.2	2.4	4.7	-7.5	37%	48%	32%
MIL	112	82.7	0.6	7.1	-7.7	35%	46%	30%
LAA	112	83.5	0	6.7	-7.7	39%	45%	31%
DET	112	83.3	0.5	6	-7.9	40%	49%	32%
WSH	110	82.7	0.9	5.6	-8	36%	46%	29%
OAK	110	83.1	0.5	5.8	-8	37%	45%	30%
STL	110	82.8	0.3	5.7	-7.8	38%	45%	30%
CWS	110	83.3	0.8	5.5	-7.8	37%	48%	31%
ATL	110	83.5	1.8	5.1	-7.7	37%	47%	32%
COL	109	82.9	0.7	5.1	-7.8	37%	46%	30%
AZ	109	83.4	0.5	5.6	-7.8	39%	47%	31%
SF	109	82.2	-0.6	6.9	-8.1	36%	46%	30%

Below is the same table, but instead of the raw number, it is scaled where 100 is average and a standard deviation is 10. As with the four-seam fastballs, Stuff+ is already on the “plus” scale and was untouched. Note also that a VAA+ of 110 corresponds to a slider that is flatter than the average slider by one standard deviation. A slider with an IVB+ of 110 resists gravity more than the average slider by more than one standard deviation (though, that does not mean that it is “better” than a slider with a lower IVB).

org	stuff+	velo+	ivb+	hb+	vaa+	whiff+	csw+	Chase+
BAL	119	83	109	122	93	101	90	96
HOU	117	92	110	114	109	88	87	81
SEA	116	79	89	126	108	80	92	109
NYY	115	96	101	111	103	87	92	92
CHC	115	101	93	110	86	114	89	88
MIA	115	93	93	110	91	101	112	99
CIN	114	105	101	102	107	98	100	80
LAD	114	125	102	95	117	112	101	95
TEX	114	105	96	104	110	112	129	112
KC	114	107	107	96	96	100	103	98
TOR	114	97	117	100	116	86	98	98
NYM	113	92	104	99	99	99	89	88
CLE	113	97	109	105	114	92	115	100
BOS	113	118	113	88	110	86	95	91
PIT	113	96	108	101	101	100	100	100
MIN	112	105	107	97	102	85	108	105
SD	112	102	105	93	106	104	101	102
PHI	112	99	98	100	92	94	97	92
TB	112	118	120	85	115	105	109	115
MIL	112	94	94	104	99	91	95	103
LAA	112	107	85	101	102	115	89	107
DET	112	103	91	96	90	117	118	118
WSH	110	93	98	92	85	96	97	90
OAK	110	100	92	94	85	102	89	100
STL	110	96	89	93	95	107	93	98
CWS	110	104	97	91	97	103	113	110
ATL	110	107	112	88	102	102	106	120
COL	109	97	95	88	94	106	97	99
AZ	109	106	91	92	97	115	101	112
SF	109	85	76	103	79	100	96	104

Below is the same table as above, but instead of the ordinal values, the cardinal rank is displayed:

org	stuff+	velo	ivb	hb	vaa	whiff%	csw%	chase%
BAL	1	29	6	2	23	14	25	21
HOU	2	27	5	3	7	25	30	29
SEA	3	30	27	1	8	30	23	7
NYY	4	22	15	4	11	26	24	23
CHC	5	14	23	6	27	4	26	28
MIA	6	24	22	5	25	15	5	17
CIN	7	9	14	11	9	20	13	30
LAD	8	1	13	20	1	6	11	22
TEX	9	10	19	9	6	5	1	5
KC	10	4	9	18	20	16	9	18
TOR	11	17	2	14	2	28	15	20
NYM	12	26	12	16	16	19	27	27
CLE	13	18	7	7	4	23	3	15
BOS	14	2	3	27	5	27	20	25
PIT	15	20	8	12	15	18	14	13
MIN	16	8	10	17	12	29	7	9
SD	17	13	11	22	10	10	12	12
PHI	18	16	16	15	24	22	17	24
TB	19	3	1	30	3	9	6	3
MIL	20	23	21	8	17	24	21	11
LAA	21	5	29	13	13	2	29	8
DET	22	12	25	19	26	1	2	2
WSH	23	25	17	24	29	21	16	26
OAK	24	15	24	21	28	12	28	14
STL	25	21	28	23	21	7	22	19
CWS	26	11	18	26	18	11	4	6
ATL	27	6	4	29	14	13	8	1
COL	28	19	20	28	22	8	18	16
AZ	29	7	26	25	19	3	10	4
SF	30	28	30	10	30	17	19	10

From a results point of view, the Tigers arguably have the best sliders, as they elicit the most whiffs, the second most chases and result in the second most strikes.

The Orioles have the highest Stuff+ on sliders from the model despite being the near-slowest velocity. Part of the model for sliders compares the velocity of the pitch to the primary fastball of the pitcher. This, along with having the second most horizontal break amongst organizations, likely accounts for the high Stuff+ rating.

The Mariners, just like we saw with the most arm-side horizontal break amongst four-seam fastballs, also have the most glove-side horizontal break on their sliders, suggesting an emphasis on East-West movement in their draft targets and pitching development.

The Blue Jays are second in VAA and IVB, suggesting that they de-prioritize vertical-plane break. The Red Sox and Rays are both in the top three for VAA and IVB, but also in the bottom four in terms of horizontal break, suggesting they go one further and focus on minimizing two-plane break. The Red Sox and Rays also are second and third in terms of velocity—which intuitively reduces the ability for pitches to break vertically or horizontally—suggesting that the two organizations prefer hard sliders to sliders with more movement.

Interestingly, the Astros, with Stuff+ and horizontal break in the top decile amongst organizations, also have some of the lowest whiff rates, CSW% and chase rates. This suggests that they prioritize the slider’s run value from its contact quality and how it pairs or sequences with other pitches.

The Yankees threw the most sliders of any organization. The Mariners and the Blue Jays threw the second and third most.

Two-Seam Fastballs

The third most-thrown pitch from the examined minor league pitching pool was the two-seam fastball, comprising 12% of pitches thrown, half the frequency of sliders.

Again, for the same reasons as above, the release height and extension columns were omitted.

Below are the weighted averages of each organization’s aggregated two-seam fastballs from the player pool.

org	stuff+	velo	ivb	hb	vaa	whiff%	csw%	chase%
BAL	108	92.5	7.8	16.5	-5.6	19%	48%	24%
SEA	108	92.2	8.3	16.8	-5.5	18%	44%	21%
CIN	106	92.9	8.7	15.4	-5.7	18%	43%	26%
MIA	106	93.2	9.4	15.3	-5.6	17%	44%	24%
LAD	106	93.0	8.6	15.3	-5.6	17%	41%	22%
NYM	105	92.8	9.5	15.2	-5.5	17%	43%	23%
WSH	105	92.5	9.1	15.4	-5.9	18%	43%	28%
TB	105	93.5	9.5	14.8	-5.4	18%	43%	23%
SF	105	92.2	7.8	15.3	-5.8	16%	43%	23%
CWS	105	92.1	8.2	15.5	-5.6	17%	41%	21%
DET	105	92.6	7.9	14.9	-5.8	17%	45%	24%
STL	104	92.1	9.6	15.4	-5.6	18%	44%	26%
BOS	104	92.5	7.9	14.9	-5.9	19%	44%	26%
AZ	104	92.2	8.6	14.9	-6.0	18%	40%	24%
LAA	103	93.1	9.6	14.8	-5.6	20%	40%	23%
MIL	103	92.0	9.3	15.0	-5.5	17%	44%	22%
HOU	103	92.5	8.1	14.7	-5.7	20%	42%	25%
NYY	103	92.2	9.2	15.0	-5.7	20%	46%	23%
KC	103	93.0	9.8	14.4	-5.6	19%	43%	26%
COL	103	92.9	10.2	15.0	-5.6	20%	43%	26%
PHI	103	92.3	11.1	14.9	-5.5	17%	41%	25%
PIT	102	92.1	8.3	14.5	-5.8	18%	37%	23%
MIN	102	92.2	8.5	14.6	-5.8	18%	47%	22%
TOR	102	91.5	9.2	15.0	-5.3	25%	45%	24%
CLE	101	91.4	9.3	14.7	-5.0	18%	45%	25%
SD	101	92.3	10.1	14.3	-5.4	19%	42%	21%
TEX	101	91.8	6.9	14.3	-5.7	17%	42%	23%
ATL	100	91.4	8.5	14.5	-5.6	18%	45%	25%
OAK	100	91.5	8.8	14.5	-6.0	17%	39%	25%
CHC	98	92.3	9.7	13.0	-5.8	20%	41%	22%

Below is the same table, but instead of the raw number, it is scaled where 100 is average and a standard deviation is 10. As with the four-seam fastballs, Stuff+ is already on the “plus” scale and was untouched. Note also that a VAA+ of 110 corresponds to a two-seam fastball that is flatter than the average two-seam fastball by one standard deviation. A two-seam fastball with an IVB+ of 110 resists gravity more than the average two-seam fastball by more than one standard deviation (though, that does not mean that it is “better” than a two-seam fastball with a lower IVB or less flat VAA).

org	stuff+	velo+	ivb+	HB+	vaa+	whiff+	CSW+	chase+
BAL	108	102	87	123	100	104	120	103
SEA	108	96	93	127	107	101	104	81
CIN	106	110	98	107	97	101	100	115
MIA	106	115	105	104	101	90	104	101
LAD	106	112	97	105	102	93	91	92
NYM	105	108	107	104	107	91	100	94
WSH	105	103	102	107	86	97	99	122
TB	105	122	107	97	111	98	101	96
SF	105	97	87	106	90	88	101	97
CWS	105	95	91	108	101	93	91	86
DET	105	104	89	99	94	91	111	103
STL	104	96	108	106	104	98	104	112
BOS	104	103	88	99	88	106	104	114
AZ	104	98	97	98	83	99	89	99
LAA	103	114	108	98	101	109	87	93
MIL	103	94	104	101	108	92	106	87
HOU	103	102	91	96	97	110	97	104
NYY	103	98	103	101	98	110	112	93
KC	103	112	110	91	101	103	102	112
COL	103	111	114	101	103	109	99	113
PHI	103	99	124	100	105	90	93	107
PIT	102	95	93	93	90	100	74	94
MIN	102	96	95	95	93	101	118	88
TOR	102	83	104	100	115	140	109	103
CLE	101	82	104	96	130	96	108	105
SD	101	98	114	90	113	103	95	85
TEX	101	90	77	90	95	95	97	98
ATL	100	83	95	93	100	96	110	105
OAK	100	84	99	94	83	90	84	107
CHC	98	99	108	71	95	107	91	91

Below is the same table as above, but instead of the ordinal values, the cardinal rank is displayed:

org	stuff+	velo	ivb	hb	vaa	whiff%	csw%	chase%
BAL	1	13	28	2	16	8	1	14
SEA	2	21	23	1	7	11	9	30
CIN	3	7	17	5	19	12	16	2
MIA	4	2	10	9	13	27	10	15
LAD	5	4	18	8	11	23	26	24
NYM	6	8	8	10	6	25	17	21
WSH	7	10	15	4	28	18	19	1
TB	8	1	9	20	4	17	14	19
SF	9	19	29	7	25	30	15	18
CWS	10	23	24	3	14	22	25	28
DET	11	9	26	16	23	26	4	12
STL	12	22	6	6	9	16	11	5
BOS	13	11	27	17	27	7	12	3
AZ	14	17	19	18	29	15	27	16
LAA	15	3	7	19	15	4	28	22
MIL	16	25	12	13	5	24	8	27
HOU	17	12	25	21	20	2	21	11
NYY	18	18	14	12	18	3	3	23
KC	19	5	4	27	12	10	13	6
COL	20	6	2	11	10	5	18	4
PHI	21	14	1	15	8	29	23	7
PIT	22	24	22	25	26	14	30	20
MIN	23	20	20	23	24	13	2	26
TOR	24	28	13	14	2	1	6	13
CLE	25	30	11	22	1	20	7	9
SD	26	16	3	29	3	9	22	29
TEX	27	26	30	28	21	21	20	17
ATL	28	29	21	26	17	19	5	10
OAK	29	27	16	24	30	28	29	8
CHC	30	15	5	30	22	6	24	25

As we saw with their four-seam fastballs and sliders, the Mariners lead all organizations in horizontal break, further reinforcing an emphasis on East-West movement. Seattle also threw the most two-seam fastballs while the fewest four-seam fastballs, suggesting a migration away from the traditional most-thrown pitch in baseball.

The Rays throw the hardest two-seamers, with the Marlins close behind. Miami’s pitchers, however, manage to get the ninth most horizontal break, while the Rays rank in the bottom third of the league in horizontal movement. Just like with their four-seam fastballs—which were the first and third flattest amongst organizations—the Blue Jays and the Guardians interestingly have the two flattest collection of two-seam fastballs in the league. This suggests that they may not emphasize distinction between the two main types of fastballs.