2025 MLB Farm System Statcast Pitching Rankings
As mentioned in our 2025 Hit+ leaderboard, Baseball America has measured performance throughout the 2025 season based on underlying metrics via Hawk-Eye data gathered across the minor leagues. The RoboScout model incorporates some of this data to assess the minor league performance of hitters and pitchers and evaluate their future major league performance.
Today, we’ll examine how each organization’s minor league pitchers performed by these metrics. Think of it as the corresponding pitching piece to our hitting rankings.
This article ranks how each organization’s collection of minor league pitchers performed via these metrics in 2025. You can see our corresponding hitting rankings here.
Our Methodology
Using the same methodology as our Stuff+ leaderboard, we calculated each organization’s Stuff+ score (and corresponding normalized Stuff+ score), weighted by the number of pitches thrown. This means a pitcher with a Stuff+ of 120 over only 100 pitches would have 10% the influence on an organization’s aggregate Stuff+ of someone who threw 1,000 pitches.
Pitch Mix By Organization
To get us started, here are the pitch type breakdowns in the minor leagues per organization. This provides a high-level landscape for each organization’s “pitch mix” against all batters.
As a table:
| ORG | four-seam | sinker | cutter | slider | sweeper | curve | change | splitter |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ATH | 46% | 10% | 2% | 19% | 5% | 7% | 10% | 1% |
| ATL | 44% | 6% | 6% | 25% | 4% | 4% | 8% | 4% |
| AZ | 45% | 9% | 4% | 18% | 5% | 8% | 10% | 1% |
| BAL | 44% | 7% | 8% | 14% | 8% | 8% | 9% | 2% |
| BOS | 42% | 4% | 9% | 23% | 7% | 4% | 9% | 1% |
| CHC | 49% | 5% | 4% | 18% | 7% | 7% | 8% | 2% |
| CIN | 46% | 8% | 4% | 16% | 6% | 6% | 13% | 1% |
| CLE | 50% | 3% | 4% | 19% | 6% | 7% | 10% | 1% |
| COL | 51% | 8% | 2% | 16% | 3% | 7% | 11% | 1% |
| CWS | 43% | 7% | 5% | 16% | 7% | 9% | 12% | 1% |
| DET | 49% | 9% | 2% | 18% | 4% | 6% | 10% | 2% |
| HOU | 44% | 5% | 7% | 10% | 11% | 11% | 10% | 1% |
| KC | 49% | 5% | 5% | 14% | 4% | 10% | 12% | 1% |
| LAA | 51% | 9% | 2% | 17% | 5% | 6% | 10% | 1% |
| LAD | 47% | 8% | 7% | 19% | 5% | 6% | 8% | 1% |
| MIA | 37% | 8% | 4% | 19% | 12% | 9% | 9% | 2% |
| MIL | 40% | 9% | 9% | 20% | 5% | 6% | 9% | 1% |
| MIN | 41% | 7% | 8% | 20% | 6% | 6% | 12% | 2% |
| NYM | 43% | 6% | 6% | 23% | 6% | 3% | 11% | 2% |
| NYY | 41% | 8% | 5% | 12% | 13% | 7% | 13% | 2% |
| PHI | 46% | 7% | 4% | 20% | 6% | 5% | 10% | 2% |
| PIT | 48% | 8% | 5% | 17% | 5% | 6% | 9% | 2% |
| SD | 51% | 8% | 3% | 17% | 4% | 7% | 10% | 0% |
| SEA | 38% | 13% | 5% | 17% | 12% | 5% | 9% | 2% |
| SF | 45% | 11% | 4% | 16% | 6% | 7% | 10% | 1% |
| STL | 45% | 6% | 5% | 20% | 5% | 8% | 10% | 2% |
| TB | 49% | 6% | 3% | 27% | 2% | 2% | 10% | 0% |
| TEX | 43% | 8% | 6% | 19% | 7% | 7% | 8% | 2% |
| TOR | 49% | 6% | 4% | 20% | 4% | 5% | 9% | 3% |
| WSH | 48% | 7% | 3% | 17% | 6% | 6% | 12% | 2% |
To reduce them into categories instead of classifications, here’s the above chart bucketed by “fastball”, “breaking stuff” (including cutters) and “offspeed.”
While this isn’t necessarily indicative of Boston’s philosophy, Baseball America explained in June why the Red Sox were throwing the most breaking pitches in the minors. They ultimately finished second behind the Marlins, who also threw the fewest fastballs.
The Rockies and Angels, arguably two of the least progressive pitching organizations, threw the most fastballs.
After leading the trend several years ago, the Yankees still throw the highest percentage of sweepers (13%).
Speaking of trending pitches: Only the Braves and Blue Jays threw more than 2% splitters.
MiLB Stuff+ By Organization
Here’s how every organization ranks among Stuff+ and normalized Stuff+ in descending order of Stuff+.
At the plate, the Dodgers ranked first in Hit+. They also have the highest Stuff+ and nSTF+ on the other side of the ball. As a reminder, the normalized Stuff+ compares each pitch type to the average Stuff+ for that pitch. For example, a slider with a Stuff+ of 109 is an average slider, so it actually would be a 100 normalized Stuff+.
| org | stf+ | rank | nstf+ | rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles Dodgers | 103.9 | 1st | 117.9 | 1st |
| Baltimore Orioles | 103.0 | 2nd | 112.3 | 2nd |
| Miami Marlins | 102.8 | 3rd | 108.1 | 5th |
| New York Mets | 102.2 | 4th | 109.0 | 4th |
| Boston Red Sox | 102.2 | 5th | 103.2 | 10th |
| Tampa Bay Rays | 101.5 | 6th | 109.7 | 3rd |
| Texas Rangers | 101.3 | 7th | 101.7 | 12th |
| New York Yankees | 101.1 | 8th | 105.8 | 6th |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 100.9 | 9th | 105.4 | 8th |
| Cleveland Guardians | 100.7 | 10th | 105.5 | 7th |
| San Francisco Giants | 100.6 | 11th | 105.0 | 9th |
| Minnesota Twins | 100.3 | 12th | 101.6 | 14th |
| Milwaukee Brewers | 100.1 | 13th | 94.5 | 24th |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 100.0 | 14th | 101.6 | 13th |
| Houston Astros | 99.9 | 15th | 97.1 | 22nd |
| Toronto Blue Jays | 99.9 | 16th | 102.0 | 11th |
| Chicago White Sox | 99.8 | 17th | 100.6 | 16th |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 99.6 | 18th | 97.7 | 19th |
| Detroit Tigers | 99.5 | 19th | 101.4 | 15th |
| Atlanta Braves | 99.5 | 20th | 97.2 | 20th |
| Seattle Mariners | 99.4 | 21st | 88.9 | 28th |
| Los Angeles Angels | 99.2 | 22nd | 99.5 | 17th |
| Cincinnati Reds | 98.8 | 23rd | 98.4 | 18th |
| Chicago Cubs | 98.4 | 24th | 90.5 | 26th |
| Kansas City Royals | 98.4 | 25th | 97.1 | 21st |
| Athletics | 98.1 | 26th | 93.4 | 25th |
| Washington Nationals | 97.9 | 27th | 94.9 | 23rd |
| Colorado Rockies | 97.0 | 28th | 90.4 | 27th |
| San Diego Padres | 97.0 | 29th | 87.5 | 29th |
| Arizona Diamondbacks | 96.3 | 30th | 82.3 | 30th |
Top organizations
Dodgers
Aidan Foeller (118 STF+, 123 nSTF+) has excellent numbers. As Baseball America identified last week, Foeller ranks in the top 10 for Stuff+ among all pitchers with at least 1,000 pitches tracked, Christian Zazueta (108, 115), Adam Serwinowski (107, 113), Payton Martin (109, 112), Ronan Kopp (112, 110), Nick Frasso (101, 109), and Patrick Copen (110, 104) also stand out.
Orioles
The Orioles’ starting pitching played a major role in their disappointed big league season. Injuries again kept Grayson Rodriguez sidelined and he needed elbow debridement surgery in August. Chayce McDermott, expected to contribute meaningful innings, instead battled a litany of injuries. It may not be bleak for long, as the pipeline is full of pitchers such as Levi Wells (118, 118), Braxton Bragg (112, 113), Esteban Mejia (109, 113), Tyson Neighbors (112, 112), Trey Gibson (113, 108), Nestor German (103, 109), Luis De Leon (104, 109), and deadline acquisition Juaron Watts-Brown (107, 106).
Marlins
Marlins Top 100 pitching prospects Thomas White (104, 112) and Robby Snelling (102, 108) contributed to their ranking. So did young fireballers Eliazar Dishmey (108, 108), Keyner Benitez (100, 104), Liomar Martinez (106, 104), Kevin Defrank (102, 105) and Nate Payne (106, 102). Karson Milbrandt (110, 106) is yet another reason why Miami ranked highly.
Mets
It shouldn’t be surprising that a team with Jonah Tong (104, 115) and Nolan McLean (114, 111) rates highly on our Stuff+ model. Other contributors: Will Watson (111, 115), Brandon Sproat (111, 113), Zach Thornton (106, 102) and Jonathan Santucci (103, 100).
Red Sox
Payton Tolle (111,115) and Connelly Early (102,109) carried incredible minor league seasons into the majors, and even the postseason. The Red Sox also have some highly-ranked pitchers such as Brandon Clarke (115, 114), Blake Wehunt (113, 110), John Holobetz (111, 111) and Tyler Uberstine (103, 104). With a full season from Luis Perales, who is currently rebuilding strength in the Arizona Fall League following elbow surgery, Boston might have climbed even higher.
Rays
Brody Hopkins (117, 120) has some of the loudest stuff in the minor leagues for a starting pitcher. The Rays also have high-octane contributors such as Santiago Suarez (113, 116), Jackson Baumeister (109, 111), Trevor Harrison (108, 112), Yoniel Curet (112, 117), T. J. Nichols (106, 111), Owen Wild (107, 108), and Gary Gill Hill (108, 103).
Organizational Ranks By Pitch Type
Here are how the organizations ranked when looking specifically at some pitch types.
Four-Seam Fastballs
Below, find the Stuff+ (and ranking) of all the four-seam fastballs thrown by each organization in the minor leagues, along with the weighted velocity in mph, Induced Vertical Break (IVB), Vertical Approach Angle (VAA), and Extension in feet (along with their rankings in each metric among all the organizations).
| org | stf+ | rank | vel | rank | ivb | rank | vaa | rank | ext | rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles Dodgers | 104.1 | 1st | 93.2 | 1st | 15.9 | 10th | -4.9 | 3rd | 6.3 | 2nd |
| Baltimore Orioles | 103.3 | 2nd | 92.7 | 4th | 16.5 | 2nd | -5.0 | 11th | 6.2 | 13th |
| Tampa Bay Rays | 103.1 | 3rd | 92.4 | 9th | 16.8 | 1st | -5.0 | 10th | 6.2 | 17th |
| New York Mets | 102.8 | 4th | 92.8 | 3rd | 15.9 | 11th | -5.0 | 15th | 6.2 | 10th |
| New York Yankees | 102.1 | 5th | 92.0 | 23rd | 16.4 | 3rd | -5.1 | 23rd | 6.2 | 11th |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 101.8 | 6th | 92.6 | 5th | 16.1 | 7th | -4.9 | 5th | 6.0 | 27th |
| Cleveland Guardians | 101.7 | 7th | 91.6 | 27th | 16.1 | 6th | -4.8 | 1st | 6.3 | 6th |
| Detroit Tigers | 101.6 | 8th | 92.1 | 16th | 15.7 | 14th | -5.0 | 12th | 6.2 | 14th |
| Chicago White Sox | 101.3 | 9th | 92.3 | 13th | 15.8 | 12th | -5.0 | 8th | 6.1 | 21st |
| Texas Rangers | 101.3 | 10th | 92.0 | 22nd | 15.5 | 17th | -4.9 | 4th | 6.1 | 26th |
| San Francisco Giants | 101.3 | 11th | 92.4 | 8th | 15.8 | 13th | -5.1 | 24th | 6.3 | 4th |
| Minnesota Twins | 101.3 | 12th | 92.4 | 10th | 16.1 | 9th | -5.0 | 14th | 6.1 | 25th |
| Miami Marlins | 101.1 | 13th | 93.2 | 2nd | 15.4 | 20th | -4.9 | 7th | 6.1 | 22nd |
| Toronto Blue Jays | 101.0 | 14th | 92.1 | 19th | 16.3 | 5th | -5.1 | 20th | 6.1 | 24th |
| Boston Red Sox | 100.8 | 15th | 92.1 | 15th | 15.3 | 22nd | -4.9 | 6th | 6.2 | 12th |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 100.5 | 16th | 92.0 | 21st | 15.6 | 16th | -5.1 | 25th | 6.2 | 8th |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 100.5 | 17th | 92.4 | 11th | 15.4 | 21st | -5.1 | 22nd | 6.3 | 5th |
| Cincinnati Reds | 100.4 | 18th | 92.1 | 20th | 16.1 | 8th | -5.1 | 21st | 6.0 | 29th |
| AVERAGE | 100.4 | – | 92.2 | – | 15.7 | – | -5.0 | – | 6.2 | – |
| Houston Astros | 100.0 | 19th | 91.4 | 30th | 16.3 | 4th | -5.0 | 13th | 6.3 | 1st |
| Los Angeles Angels | 99.9 | 20th | 92.4 | 7th | 15.0 | 27th | -5.0 | 18th | 6.2 | 18th |
| Kansas City Royals | 99.7 | 21st | 92.1 | 17th | 15.6 | 15th | -5.0 | 16th | 6.2 | 19th |
| Milwaukee Brewers | 99.5 | 22nd | 91.6 | 28th | 15.1 | 23rd | -5.0 | 9th | 6.2 | 15th |
| Atlanta Braves | 99.5 | 23rd | 92.1 | 18th | 15.1 | 25th | -4.9 | 2nd | 6.2 | 7th |
| Colorado Rockies | 99.1 | 24th | 92.2 | 14th | 15.4 | 18th | -5.2 | 30th | 6.0 | 30th |
| Athletics | 98.5 | 25th | 92.5 | 6th | 15.4 | 19th | -5.2 | 28th | 6.1 | 20th |
| Washington Nationals | 97.9 | 26th | 92.3 | 12th | 14.9 | 28th | -5.0 | 17th | 6.2 | 9th |
| Chicago Cubs | 97.3 | 27th | 91.8 | 24th | 15.1 | 24th | -5.1 | 27th | 6.3 | 3rd |
| San Diego Padres | 96.9 | 28th | 91.6 | 26th | 14.9 | 29th | -5.0 | 19th | 6.1 | 23rd |
| Seattle Mariners | 96.5 | 29th | 91.5 | 29th | 14.8 | 30th | -5.1 | 26th | 6.0 | 28th |
| Arizona Diamondbacks | 96.2 | 30th | 91.8 | 25th | 15.0 | 26th | -5.2 | 29th | 6.2 | 16th |
Unsurprisingly, the Dodgers lead in Stuff+ for four-seam fastballs—the most frequently thrown pitch in the minor leagues. In terms of the raw metrics, the Dodgers have the highest average fastball velocity, the third “flattest” four-seamers and the second-most extension among all organizations, leading to higher effective velocity.
Interestingly, the Astros have the lowest raw velocity but the most extension, while also throwing it with IVB in the top four in the league. The Guardians also show extreme traits. They have the 27th-slowest velocity, but seemingly the flattest fastballs (as measured by VAA), and they rank in the top 20% in both IVB and extension. Similarly, the Braves who are in the bottom quintile for IVB, throw the second-most “flat” fastballs with extension that ranks seventh in the league.
The Marlins have the second-fastest velocity, but they don’t rank particularly high in IVB or extension, coming in the bottom third of the league for those metrics.
Sinkers
Below, find the Stuff+ (and ranking) of all the two-seam fastballs/sinkers thrown by each organization in the minor leagues, along with the weighted velocity in mph, Horizontal Break (HB) in inches and Extension in feet (along with their rankings in each metric among all the organizations).
| org | stf+ | rank | vel | rank | hb | rank | ext | rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boston Red Sox | 107.5 | 1st | 93.4 | 3rd | 15.2 | 9th | 6.2 | 15th |
| Baltimore Orioles | 106.1 | 2nd | 93.2 | 4th | 15.0 | 11th | 6.3 | 4th |
| Los Angeles Dodgers | 105.7 | 3rd | 93.5 | 1st | 15.0 | 12th | 6.1 | 25th |
| Kansas City Royals | 105.6 | 4th | 92.9 | 5th | 15.1 | 10th | 6.2 | 19th |
| Los Angeles Angels | 105.5 | 5th | 93.4 | 2nd | 14.8 | 19th | 6.1 | 23rd |
| New York Mets | 105.3 | 6th | 92.9 | 6th | 15.0 | 13th | 6.2 | 7th |
| Cincinnati Reds | 105.1 | 7th | 91.9 | 16th | 15.7 | 1st | 6.0 | 27th |
| Washington Nationals | 105.0 | 8th | 92.3 | 10th | 15.2 | 8th | 6.3 | 3rd |
| Miami Marlins | 104.8 | 9th | 92.3 | 9th | 15.4 | 5th | 6.1 | 26th |
| Toronto Blue Jays | 104.8 | 10th | 91.8 | 18th | 15.3 | 6th | 6.2 | 16th |
| Texas Rangers | 104.7 | 11th | 92.0 | 14th | 15.4 | 4th | 6.2 | 17th |
| San Francisco Giants | 104.6 | 12th | 92.6 | 7th | 15.0 | 14th | 6.1 | 21st |
| New York Yankees | 104.4 | 13th | 91.7 | 23rd | 15.4 | 3rd | 6.2 | 10th |
| Tampa Bay Rays | 104.0 | 14th | 91.9 | 15th | 14.9 | 16th | 6.2 | 18th |
| Detroit Tigers | 103.6 | 15th | 92.0 | 13th | 14.9 | 15th | 6.2 | 9th |
| AVERAGE | 103.5 | – | 92.1 | – | 14.9 | – | 6.2 | – |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 103.4 | 16th | 92.5 | 8th | 14.7 | 20th | 6.2 | 8th |
| Colorado Rockies | 103.4 | 17th | 92.2 | 12th | 14.8 | 17th | 6.0 | 29th |
| Chicago White Sox | 103.3 | 18th | 91.4 | 27th | 15.3 | 7th | 6.2 | 20th |
| Seattle Mariners | 102.7 | 19th | 90.8 | 29th | 15.5 | 2nd | 6.0 | 30th |
| Atlanta Braves | 102.6 | 20th | 91.4 | 28th | 14.7 | 21st | 6.2 | 12th |
| Chicago Cubs | 102.4 | 21st | 91.9 | 17th | 14.4 | 25th | 6.4 | 1st |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 102.3 | 22nd | 92.2 | 11th | 14.5 | 24th | 6.2 | 11th |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 102.0 | 23rd | 91.8 | 19th | 14.6 | 23rd | 6.3 | 5th |
| Milwaukee Brewers | 101.9 | 24th | 91.7 | 21st | 14.7 | 22nd | 6.2 | 13th |
| Athletics | 101.7 | 25th | 91.7 | 24th | 14.8 | 18th | 6.1 | 24th |
| Arizona Diamondbacks | 101.2 | 26th | 91.7 | 22nd | 14.4 | 26th | 6.1 | 22nd |
| Minnesota Twins | 100.7 | 27th | 91.8 | 20th | 14.4 | 27th | 6.0 | 28th |
| San Diego Padres | 100.3 | 28th | 91.5 | 25th | 14.0 | 28th | 6.3 | 6th |
| Houston Astros | 100.1 | 29th | 91.5 | 26th | 14.0 | 29th | 6.2 | 14th |
| Cleveland Guardians | 97.7 | 30th | 90.5 | 30th | 13.6 | 30th | 6.3 | 2nd |
Here we can see that the average two-seam fastball is 92 mph and the Dodgers, Angels and Red Sox lead all organizations in velocity, each averaging more than 93 mph.
The Reds and Mariners have the most tail on their sinkers with over 15.5 inches of armside run. The Mariners, though, rank second to last in velocity and last in extension, essentially having the slowest effective velocity on their two-seam fastballs.
Interestingly, the Guardians rank last in two-seam Stuff+ after finishing with the seventh-highest Stuff+ for four-seam fastballs.
Sliders
Below, find the Stuff+ (and ranking) of all the sliders thrown by each organization in the minor leagues, along with the weighted velocity in mph, spin rate in rpm, Induced Vertical Break (IVB) in inches, Horizontal Break (HB) in inches (along with their rankings in each metric among all the organizations). While the relative “importance” of these variables varies within the Stuff model, it’s still informative to see which traits certain organizations may emphasize or deprioritize.
| org | stf+ | rank | vel | rank | spin | rank | ivb | rank | hb | rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles Dodgers | 112.1 | 1st | 85.0 | 1st | 2440 | 6th | 2.2 | 4th | 4.5 | 15th |
| Baltimore Orioles | 111.9 | 2nd | 84.2 | 6th | 2401 | 14th | 1.7 | 12th | 4.9 | 8th |
| San Francisco Giants | 111.6 | 3rd | 82.7 | 29th | 2419 | 9th | 0.4 | 30th | 6.7 | 1st |
| Miami Marlins | 111.6 | 4th | 83.8 | 11th | 2475 | 1st | 1.3 | 20th | 5.5 | 5th |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 111.2 | 5th | 83.6 | 15th | 2397 | 16th | 2.0 | 8th | 5.3 | 7th |
| Cleveland Guardians | 110.4 | 6th | 82.9 | 27th | 2414 | 10th | 2.3 | 3rd | 5.6 | 4th |
| Tampa Bay Rays | 110.0 | 7th | 85.0 | 2nd | 2378 | 18th | 3.5 | 1st | 3.4 | 29th |
| Atlanta Braves | 109.5 | 8th | 83.7 | 13th | 2453 | 4th | 1.5 | 16th | 4.8 | 12th |
| Seattle Mariners | 109.4 | 9th | 82.8 | 28th | 2433 | 7th | 0.8 | 25th | 6.5 | 2nd |
| Cincinnati Reds | 109.3 | 10th | 83.5 | 17th | 2367 | 23rd | 1.5 | 15th | 4.5 | 17th |
| Washington Nationals | 109.2 | 11th | 83.5 | 18th | 2344 | 25th | 1.9 | 10th | 4.3 | 19th |
| New York Yankees | 109.2 | 12th | 83.0 | 25th | 2291 | 30th | 2.1 | 7th | 4.1 | 20th |
| AVERAGE | 109.1 | – | 83.6 | – | 2395 | – | 1.6 | – | 4.6 | – |
| Houston Astros | 109.0 | 13th | 83.9 | 7th | 2330 | 29th | 2.2 | 6th | 4.1 | 21st |
| San Diego Padres | 108.9 | 14th | 83.1 | 24th | 2413 | 11th | 1.5 | 14th | 4.6 | 14th |
| Toronto Blue Jays | 108.9 | 15th | 84.5 | 4th | 2334 | 27th | 3.0 | 2nd | 3.2 | 30th |
| Minnesota Twins | 108.9 | 16th | 84.3 | 5th | 2408 | 13th | 2.2 | 5th | 4.0 | 24th |
| Chicago Cubs | 108.9 | 17th | 83.0 | 26th | 2432 | 8th | 1.1 | 21st | 5.3 | 6th |
| Chicago White Sox | 108.8 | 18th | 83.5 | 16th | 2441 | 5th | 1.1 | 23rd | 4.9 | 9th |
| New York Mets | 108.7 | 19th | 84.5 | 3rd | 2376 | 21st | 1.9 | 9th | 3.6 | 28th |
| Texas Rangers | 108.7 | 20th | 83.8 | 10th | 2457 | 3rd | 1.6 | 13th | 4.4 | 18th |
| Los Angeles Angels | 108.7 | 21st | 83.8 | 9th | 2399 | 15th | 0.5 | 26th | 4.5 | 16th |
| Athletics | 108.5 | 22nd | 83.1 | 22th | 2368 | 22nd | 1.3 | 19th | 4.9 | 11th |
| Boston Red Sox | 108.3 | 23rd | 83.8 | 12th | 2346 | 24th | 1.9 | 11th | 3.7 | 27th |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 108.1 | 24th | 83.8 | 8th | 2376 | 20th | 1.3 | 18th | 4.0 | 25th |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 107.9 | 25th | 83.3 | 20th | 2342 | 26th | 1.5 | 17th | 4.0 | 23rd |
| Detroit Tigers | 107.8 | 26th | 83.5 | 19th | 2377 | 19th | 0.9 | 24th | 4.6 | 13th |
| Milwaukee Brewers | 107.4 | 27th | 82.5 | 30th | 2468 | 2nd | 0.5 | 27th | 5.7 | 3rd |
| Kansas City Royals | 107.4 | 28th | 83.6 | 14th | 2410 | 12th | 1.1 | 22nd | 3.9 | 26th |
| Arizona Diamondbacks | 106.7 | 29th | 83.1 | 23th | 2384 | 17th | 0.5 | 28th | 4.9 | 10th |
| Colorado Rockies | 106.1 | 30th | 83.2 | 21st | 2333 | 28th | 0.4 | 29th | 4.0 | 22nd |
We discovered in the training model that while slider velocity is important to limiting its run value, so is a pitcher’s primarily fastball velocity. So it makes sense that the Dodgers, who had some of the highest fastball velocity, also rank highly in terms of slider Stuff+, especially when they also throw the hardest sliders of any organization too.
You’ll also notice that the worst slider Stuff+ belongs to the Rockies—yet it’s still 106. That underscores just how effective sliders are at limiting runs. As hitters continue to adjust, that advantage may narrow, but for now sliders remain quite valuable pitches.
Sweepers
Below, find the Stuff+ (and ranking) of all sweepers thrown by each organization in the minor leagues, along with the weighted velocity in mph, Horizontal Break (HB) in inches and spin rate in rpm (along with their rankings in each metric among all the organizations). While the relative “importance” of these variables varies within the Stuff model, it’s still informative to see which traits certain organizations may emphasize or deprioritize.
It’s also worth noting that, by design, our internal model would produce the same Stuff+ score for identical pitch characteristics—regardless of whether a pitch is classified as a “sweeper” or a “slider.” In other words, a pitch shouldn’t be judged more or less effective simply because of its retrospective label; the hitter reacts to the same ball flight either way. Of course, there are other implications when a pitcher features two differently shaped breaking balls from the same release point, but that’s a topic for another article.
| org | stf+ | rank | vel | rank | hb | rank | spin | rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Detroit Tigers | 127.2 | 1st | 81.4 | 13th | 13.2 | 6th | 2633 | 3rd |
| New York Mets | 126.7 | 2nd | 81.9 | 4th | 12.7 | 15th | 2549 | 11th |
| Boston Red Sox | 126.4 | 3rd | 80.5 | 27th | 13.2 | 7th | 2530 | 18th |
| Cleveland Guardians | 126.1 | 4th | 80.7 | 23rd | 13.5 | 3th | 2583 | 6th |
| Kansas City Royals | 125.3 | 5th | 81.0 | 21st | 12.9 | 9th | 2470 | 27th |
| Miami Marlins | 125.1 | 6th | 81.5 | 10th | 12.8 | 14th | 2601 | 4th |
| Los Angeles Dodgers | 124.8 | 7th | 82.0 | 2nd | 14.3 | 1st | 2686 | 1st |
| Toronto Blue Jays | 124.5 | 8th | 81.6 | 8th | 12.9 | 12th | 2530 | 17th |
| Baltimore Orioles | 124.5 | 9th | 81.6 | 9th | 12.5 | 17th | 2517 | 21st |
| New York Yankees | 124.4 | 10th | 80.5 | 26th | 13.0 | 8th | 2541 | 14th |
| Tampa Bay Rays | 124.2 | 11th | 81.1 | 17th | 13.5 | 4th | 2545 | 13th |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 124.0 | 12th | 81.4 | 12th | 12.2 | 19th | 2553 | 10th |
| Minnesota Twins | 123.5 | 13th | 81.2 | 16th | 13.2 | 5th | 2578 | 7th |
| Athletics | 123.4 | 14th | 81.9 | 5th | 12.2 | 18th | 2514 | 22nd |
| Texas Rangers | 123.4 | 15th | 81.5 | 11th | 12.9 | 10th | 2637 | 2nd |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 123.3 | 16th | 81.1 | 18th | 11.4 | 26th | 2523 | 20th |
| AVERAGE | 122.9 | – | 81.1 | – | 12.5 | – | 2543 | – |
| Houston Astros | 122.2 | 17th | 80.3 | 28th | 12.1 | 20th | 2533 | 16th |
| Chicago White Sox | 122.0 | 18th | 81.2 | 15th | 12.8 | 13th | 2559 | 9th |
| San Diego Padres | 121.6 | 19th | 80.7 | 24th | 11.5 | 25th | 2444 | 30th |
| Seattle Mariners | 121.4 | 20th | 80.0 | 30th | 14.0 | 2nd | 2512 | 23th |
| Milwaukee Brewers | 121.3 | 21st | 81.1 | 19th | 11.1 | 27th | 2527 | 19th |
| San Francisco Giants | 121.0 | 22nd | 82.4 | 1st | 11.9 | 23rd | 2536 | 15th |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 120.8 | 23rd | 82.0 | 3rd | 12.9 | 11th | 2481 | 26th |
| Washington Nationals | 120.7 | 24th | 80.8 | 22nd | 11.5 | 24th | 2484 | 25th |
| Los Angeles Angels | 120.7 | 25th | 81.7 | 7th | 12.5 | 16th | 2598 | 5th |
| Chicago Cubs | 120.6 | 26th | 81.2 | 14th | 12.0 | 22nd | 2547 | 12th |
| Cincinnati Reds | 119.0 | 27th | 81.0 | 20th | 11.0 | 28th | 2458 | 29th |
| Atlanta Braves | 118.9 | 28th | 80.1 | 29th | 12.0 | 21st | 2489 | 24th |
| Colorado Rockies | 118.4 | 29th | 80.6 | 25th | 10.0 | 30th | 2459 | 28th |
| Arizona Diamondbacks | 117.1 | 30th | 81.8 | 6th | 10.6 | 29th | 2567 | 8th |
Clearly, the Stuff+ model loves sweepers. The pitch does an inordinate job limiting runs while getting whiffs and chases. A critical caveat, however, is that sweepers are thrown primarily to same-sided hitters (e.g. RHP to RH batters) and are less effective against opposite-handed batters, highlighting a bias in the modeling. In other words, “throwing the sweeper more” would not necessarily improve a pitcher’s effectiveness.
The Tigers show up at the top of the rankings with an average of 13 inches of horizontal break and the third-highest spin rate on their sweepers. Interestingly, the Tigers had middle-of-the-pack spin rates on their sliders. This might suggest that the high-spin rate pitchers are throwing them more. Although not shown above, they are in the top third in the league for extension, too.
Behind Nolan McLean’s 85.5 mph sweeper with 15 inches of horizontal break, the Mets rank second in sweeper Stuff+. The breaking ball-forward Red Sox and pitching savvy Guardians round out the rest of the top four, with a lot of gloveside break though with below-average velocity.
The Dodgers rank first or second for velocity, horizontal break and spin rate on their collective sweepers.
Curveballs
Below, find the Stuff+ (and ranking) of all the curveballs thrown by each organization in the minor leagues, along with the weighted velocity in mph, Vertical Approach Angle (VAA) in degrees, Horizontal Break (HB) in inches and spin rate in rpm (along with their rankings in each metric among all the organizations). While the relative “importance” of these variables varies within the Stuff model, it’s still informative to see which traits certain organizations may emphasize or deprioritize.
A more negative VAA means it has more “dive” and they are ranked from “most downward action” to “flattest.”
| org | stf+ | rank | vel | rank | vaa | rank | hb | rank | spin | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boston Red Sox | 102.8 | 1st | 79.7 | 1st | -9.0 | 30th | 8.3 | 18th | 2401 | 27th |
| Miami Marlins | 101.9 | 2nd | 79.6 | 4th | -9.1 | 28th | 10.2 | 1st | 2531 | 4th |
| Los Angeles Dodgers | 101.6 | 3rd | 79.7 | 2nd | -9.2 | 27th | 8.3 | 17th | 2523 | 6th |
| Washington Nationals | 100.6 | 4th | 79.4 | 5th | -9.2 | 24th | 8.4 | 16th | 2422 | 24th |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 100.5 | 5th | 78.9 | 11th | -9.2 | 26th | 9.3 | 4th | 2468 | 16th |
| Tampa Bay Rays | 100.5 | 6th | 79.6 | 3rd | -9.4 | 15th | 8.8 | 10th | 2439 | 21st |
| Atlanta Braves | 99.3 | 7th | 78.8 | 15th | -9.3 | 20th | 8.8 | 11th | 2426 | 23rd |
| Texas Rangers | 98.8 | 8th | 79.2 | 7th | -9.0 | 29th | 7.9 | 23rd | 2522 | 7th |
| San Francisco Giants | 98.4 | 9th | 79.3 | 6th | -9.3 | 19th | 7.8 | 25th | 2448 | 20th |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 98.3 | 10th | 78.2 | 23rd | -9.2 | 25th | 9.5 | 3rd | 2477 | 14th |
| Minnesota Twins | 97.7 | 11th | 79.2 | 9th | -9.3 | 21st | 7.9 | 24th | 2501 | 8th |
| Kansas City Royals | 97.6 | 12th | 78.7 | 17th | -9.4 | 14th | 8.7 | 13th | 2454 | 19th |
| New York Mets | 97.4 | 13th | 78.9 | 12th | -9.5 | 6th | 7.7 | 26th | 2488 | 10th |
| AVERAGE | 97.3 | – | 78.7 | – | -9.4 | – | 8.5 | – | 2473 | – |
| San Diego Padres | 97.2 | 14th | 77.8 | 29th | -9.3 | 23rd | 9.7 | 2nd | 2479 | 13th |
| Baltimore Orioles | 97.1 | 15th | 78.9 | 13th | -9.6 | 1st | 8.1 | 22nd | 2529 | 5th |
| New York Yankees | 97.0 | 16th | 78.5 | 20th | -9.6 | 3rd | 9.3 | 5th | 2501 | 9th |
| Cleveland Guardians | 97.0 | 17th | 78.6 | 18th | -9.4 | 17th | 9.0 | 7th | 2557 | 3rd |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 96.7 | 18th | 79.1 | 10th | -9.3 | 18th | 7.1 | 29th | 2488 | 11th |
| Toronto Blue Jays | 96.6 | 19th | 79.2 | 8th | -9.4 | 13th | 7.5 | 27th | 2274 | 30th |
| Detroit Tigers | 96.5 | 20th | 78.5 | 21st | -9.5 | 12th | 8.7 | 12th | 2427 | 22nd |
| Chicago Cubs | 96.4 | 21st | 78.8 | 14th | -9.5 | 9th | 8.8 | 9th | 2462 | 18th |
| Milwaukee Brewers | 96.1 | 22nd | 78.1 | 25th | -9.5 | 10th | 9.0 | 6th | 2591 | 1st |
| Seattle Mariners | 96.1 | 23rd | 78.1 | 24th | -9.4 | 16th | 8.9 | 8th | 2463 | 17th |
| Colorado Rockies | 95.9 | 24th | 77.9 | 28th | -9.6 | 2nd | 8.5 | 15th | 2399 | 28th |
| Los Angeles Angels | 95.9 | 25th | 78.6 | 19th | -9.3 | 22nd | 7.5 | 28th | 2380 | 29th |
| Chicago White Sox | 95.5 | 26th | 78.7 | 16th | -9.5 | 7th | 8.6 | 14th | 2557 | 2nd |
| Houston Astros | 95.0 | 27th | 77.9 | 26th | -9.5 | 11th | 8.2 | 20th | 2476 | 15th |
| Athletics | 94.9 | 28th | 77.9 | 27th | -9.6 | 4th | 8.2 | 21st | 2482 | 12th |
| Cincinnati Reds | 93.8 | 29th | 77.5 | 30th | -9.5 | 8th | 8.2 | 19th | 2412 | 26th |
| Arizona Diamondbacks | 93.4 | 30th | 78.3 | 22nd | -9.5 | 5th | 6.9 | 30th | 2416 | 25th |
The Brewers rank a bit lower on our model—which factors a pitcher’s primary fastball velocity—but they’re still in the top 10 for downward break and horizontal break, while also having the highest spin rates on their curveballs (helped by Coleman Crow and his 3,000+ rpm). I wouldn’t be surprised if they are specifically emphasizing these traits more for their curveballs. The Yankees rank similarly for these same traits with their curveballs, too.
Intuitively, pitchers who throw harder curveballs will achieve less downward break. However, the Rays rank third in velocity (79.6 mph) yet manage middle-of-the-pack downward break. Of course, other factors (such as a high release point) could affect this, but it’s still interesting.
Offspeed
For offspeed pitches, we combined changeups and splitters. When evaluating their effectiveness, we focused on outcomes rather than raw pitch characteristics such as spin rate or velocity differential from the fastball. This approach reflects the reality that those metrics can lose meaning when viewed in aggregate. For example, while most pitchers aim to “kill spin” on a changeup, others—such as Nationals righthander Sean Paul Linan—intentionally generate screwball-type spin to achieve different movement profiles.
Below are the weighted averages for Whiff% (the percentage of swings that missed an offspeed pitch) and Chase% (the percentage of offspeed pitches outside the strike zone that still drew a swing).
The below is listed in descending order of whiff rate.
| org | whiff% | rank | chase% | rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles Dodgers | 39.6% | 1st | 28.3% | 25th |
| New York Mets | 38.8% | 2nd | 30.8% | 6th |
| Texas Rangers | 38.2% | 3rd | 31.4% | 3rd |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 38.1% | 4th | 29.0% | 17th |
| Tampa Bay Rays | 38.0% | 5th | 31.4% | 4th |
| Baltimore Orioles | 37.6% | 6th | 27.9% | 27th |
| New York Yankees | 37.2% | 7th | 30.3% | 9th |
| Cleveland Guardians | 36.6% | 8th | 28.7% | 24th |
| Colorado Rockies | 36.4% | 9th | 28.1% | 26th |
| Los Angeles Angels | 36.0% | 10th | 29.3% | 15th |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 36.0% | 11th | 29.4% | 13th |
| Washington Nationals | 35.8% | 12th | 26.5% | 30th |
| Houston Astros | 35.7% | 13th | 29.6% | 11th |
| AVERAGE | 35.4% | – | 29.3% | – |
| Arizona Diamondbacks | 35.1% | 14th | 29.6% | 12th |
| Athletics | 35.1% | 15th | 29.4% | 14th |
| Miami Marlins | 35.0% | 16th | 28.9% | 19th |
| Chicago Cubs | 34.9% | 17th | 29.2% | 16th |
| San Francisco Giants | 34.9% | 18th | 30.6% | 7th |
| Chicago White Sox | 34.7% | 19th | 28.8% | 23rd |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 34.4% | 20th | 27.4% | 28th |
| San Diego Padres | 34.1% | 21st | 29.0% | 18th |
| Kansas City Royals | 34.1% | 22nd | 28.9% | 21st |
| Toronto Blue Jays | 34.0% | 23rd | 30.5% | 8th |
| Atlanta Braves | 34.0% | 24th | 30.2% | 10th |
| Cincinnati Reds | 34.0% | 25th | 26.8% | 29th |
| Minnesota Twins | 33.7% | 26th | 28.9% | 20th |
| Milwaukee Brewers | 33.6% | 27th | 31.6% | 2nd |
| Detroit Tigers | 33.2% | 28th | 28.8% | 22nd |
| Boston Red Sox | 32.9% | 29th | 31.8% | 1st |
| Seattle Mariners | 30.3% | 30th | 31.4% | 5th |
The offspeed arsenals of the Mets, Rangers, Rays and Yankees ranked in the top 10 for both whiff rate and chase rate.
The Dodgers, Orioles, Guardians and Rockies ranked in the top 10 for whiff rate but in the bottom 10 for chase rate. This might be merely random variance, but interesting to note.
The Mariners, Red Sox, Brewers, Braves and Blue Jays ranked in the top 10 for chase rate on their offspeed pitches while being in the bottom 10 for whiff rate. These are all progressive pitching organizations—much like the Dodgers, Orioles and Guardians above—so this presents an interesting comparison regarding whiff rate and chase rate. As noted earlier, the Braves and Blue Jays throw the most splitters of any organizations.
