West and f/x

by Cards Fan in Chitown on Aug 28, 2010 4:05 PM EDT

Jake Westbrook has now had 5 fairly successful starts as a Cardinal. In those five starts he's had ERAs of 3 vs Houston, 3.86 vs Florida, 4.5 vs San Francisco, and recently a much less impressive 6 vs Pittsburgh. WHIP-wise, Westbrook started out with a very impressive .83 and .86 as a Cardinal. Since then it's been mostly around 1.17 but vs San Fran he walked 2 batters and gave up the most hits since becoming a Cardinal. Also, 31 strikeouts in 5 games has been a nice little bonus... especially since he's also pitched 31 innings (over 6 innings per start). He's induced at least 10 ground balls in each start, 14 vs the Cubs 13 vs Houston.

To conclude, Westbrook's ERA as a Cardinal is 4.07 so far. In the month of August his 3.04 FIP is second only to Wainwright, and his 2.57 xFIP is the best in the rotation (5th in the majors). And Westbrook leads the majors in August in GB/FB ratio... the ultimate 21st century Cardinals pitching holy grail.

I'm not really sure how to look up WAR for his first 5 Cardinal games but I'm sure he's been quite an asset to the team. Especially once the defense behind him is a little more regular (please no more Lopez at shortstop! or at third! or any Aaron Miles). Anyway, I've compiled some pitch f/x on him from http://www.brooksbaseball.net. Other stats and info from fangraphs.com.

First off, his last start which was probably his weakest start yet.

10 swinging strikes low in the zone.... most of them actually balls. That's good to see he's still fooling hitters. A lot of called strikes in the strike zone as well. Still there are more pitches in spots that seem pretty dangerous than I would like to see! He's pretty much all over the place in this start.

Vs. the Giants, he also sprayed the strikezone and all around it, getting less swinging strikes down in the zone.

Also vs. the Giants, here's a spin axis vs speed graph:

Jake tops out at 92mph and can dial it all the way down to 77mph on offspeed pitches.

Here's the same type of pf/x but for his last start vs the Pirates:

This time he drops all the way down to 76mph on one pitch and is a tad over 92mph it looks like on the top end. Different spin also.

I don't have a whole lot to say about these but I haven't seen a pitch f/x post recently so I'm hoping to get some discussion started about Westbrook and how he seems to be a great fit for the Cardinals pitching style.

Lastly here are two cool looking graphs plotting spin corrected by release point. They look cool heh.

Lastly, some links to his other starts: Cubs Marlins Astros

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Comments

I’m not really sure how to look up WAR for his first 5 Cardinal games but I’m sure he’s been quite an asset to the team.

Fangraphs has him as worth 0.8 wins in his Cardinal starts thus far.

Silly humans, this world is for robots.

by azruavatar on Aug 28, 2010 4:36 PM EDT reply actions

His location looked fantastic in his last start

Bimodal distribution of pitch locations, very few over the heart of the plate.

As a Cardinals, Westbrook has a 9 K/9, 1.5 BB/9 and a 65% groundball rate. His xFIP is 2.57. That’s amazing.

by vivaelpujols on Aug 28, 2010 4:43 PM EDT reply actions

agreed

he has far exceeded expectation I think

"Nah….He’s an infielder. Second base…..I played second base, how hard can it be?"

by Cards Fan in Chitown on Aug 28, 2010 4:49 PM EDT up reply actions

yup, and with Jay still playing well, the trade looks very good so far

Nice post btw.

by vivaelpujols on Aug 29, 2010 12:23 AM EDT up reply actions

thanks!

my first pitch fx post, good to hear!

"Nah….He’s an infielder. Second base…..I played second base, how hard can it be?"

by Cards Fan in Chitown on Aug 29, 2010 2:48 PM EDT up reply actions

all those spots & graphs made me pass out a little

good stuff dude, he’s done a lot better than i ever thought he’d do. but i still want Luddy back

Out of the crooked timber of humanity, no straight thing can be made

by gdm426 on Aug 29, 2010 12:02 AM EDT reply actions

this season has been a real f'r

had to get some kind of starting pitcher and it seems that they knew for sure they wanted Westbrook, but got taken advantage of a bit. at least Ludwick not doing all that well and Jay continuing to hit has softened the blow some.

"Nah….He’s an infielder. Second base…..I played second base, how hard can it be?"

by Cards Fan in Chitown on Aug 29, 2010 2:49 PM EDT up reply actions

yea,

they had to do what they had to do. A lot of us hated the trade but I can understand doing it. I feel a little better about it after watching Westbrook so far…and I still pull for Luddy.
It’s good that you posted this now that the trade is passed. Not much has been said about Westbrook and it needed to be. He’s a positive.

Baseball first, teams second, players third, agents last.

by Dave Pendleton on Aug 30, 2010 2:22 AM EDT up reply actions

he's been the perfect Duncan project so far

"Nah….He’s an infielder. Second base…..I played second base, how hard can it be?"

by Cards Fan in Chitown on Aug 30, 2010 12:04 PM EDT up reply actions

i still firmly believe MO could have & should have gotten Westbrook & not given up Luddy

or Jay, Craig, Motte or anyone else in the high minors of value. i hate to keep bringing up the conspiracy theory that Walt has a lot of pull with a lot of GM’s in the game & they have black listed MO. but i still think there’s something to it. the trades MO has made have just been way too one sided & he’s either not as smart as we all hope he is, or something’s up.

and in fact if Walt has gotten his buddies to screw MO & the Cards over that’s complete bullshit. it’s not like he was ran out of town by MO. MO didn’t get in DeWitt & Co’s ear & get him fired. Walt refused to work with Luhnow & the others & it was his own stupidity & stubbornness that got him relieved of his final year of his contract. a final year i might add he got paid to sit around & do nothing.

so ya Jay’s done well & sure Westbrook has too. but i just can’t get rid of this feeling that things should be better than they are right now. sure that’s not their fault & i don’t hold anything against them. there’s just this emptiness. that’s the best way i can explain it.

Out of the crooked timber of humanity, no straight thing can be made

by gdm426 on Aug 30, 2010 5:01 AM EDT up reply actions

the whole trade was so weird that I'm at a loss to explain it.

maybe Mozeliak was good enough friends with Ludwick that he knew he wanted to go to San Diego? I really don’t know, the whole 3 team part is what confuses the hell out of me. it would be easy to explain it off as overcharging for a player that you know that a team wants if it was just between the Cards and Indians, but the Indians really didn’t get that much. I think maybe Mozeliak tries to please everyone and then doesn’t get as much value.

"Nah….He’s an infielder. Second base…..I played second base, how hard can it be?"

by Cards Fan in Chitown on Aug 30, 2010 12:09 PM EDT up reply actions

they have a similar effect on me

but I learned not to say anything about it.
I’m happy with Westbrook so far too and I’m pleasantly surprised, But I still miss Ludwick and I’m still not in favor of the trade. As decent as Westbrook’s been I think Luddy would have more helpful, but there’s no way to know.
I expect Westbrook to be a plus next year.

Baseball first, teams second, players third, agents last.

by Dave Pendleton on Aug 30, 2010 2:08 AM EDT up reply actions

i don't learn so fast sometimes about some stuff

as bad as Bubbles has been since he got off the DL & with Soup in the rotation again, i totally get the need for Westbrook & appreciate he’s more than holding his own. but still, Luddy was too much to give up.

i take it by your final statement you think Westbrook will be back?

Out of the crooked timber of humanity, no straight thing can be made

by gdm426 on Aug 30, 2010 5:14 AM EDT up reply actions

don't know if he'll be back or not.

The unexpected keeps happening. I didn’t expect Miles to be back this year.
But as of today, I don’t know why he wouldn’t be back unless TLR thinks Miles can fill his spot. I do think that he’s a pretty good fit, though.
It’s been an odd year all around and I have a gut feeling that next year will be full of surprises as well.

Baseball first, teams second, players third, agents last.

by Dave Pendleton on Aug 30, 2010 9:46 AM EDT up reply actions

I think he will be

"Nah….He’s an infielder. Second base…..I played second base, how hard can it be?"

by Cards Fan in Chitown on Aug 30, 2010 12:09 PM EDT up reply actions

he's done nothing but prove he's a good pitcher, i'd like him back to

IF The Price Is Right

Out of the crooked timber of humanity, no straight thing can be made

by gdm426 on Aug 31, 2010 2:53 AM EDT up reply actions

yeah

we’d have to get a good deal on him, he’s not THAT good

"Nah….He’s an infielder. Second base…..I played second base, how hard can it be?"

by Cards Fan in Chitown on Aug 31, 2010 12:24 PM EDT up reply actions

Wonderful post.

Too bad Westbrook has hardly “won” as a Cardinal. Ya know, because our offense refuses to hit when he starts.

"I'm gonna throw the nastiest curveball I have ever thrown...if he hits it, I'll tip my cap, but if not we're going to the Series."

--Adam Wainwright on the final pitch of the 2006 NLCS

by bgh on Aug 31, 2010 9:17 AM EDT reply actions

do you think that they are protesting Luddy's departure?

j/k

"Nah….He’s an infielder. Second base…..I played second base, how hard can it be?"

by Cards Fan in Chitown on Aug 31, 2010 12:25 PM EDT up reply actions

Fixed

Ya know, because our offense refuses to hit when he anyone starts.

Can Colby round out our new MV3?

by fourstick on Aug 31, 2010 12:32 PM EDT up reply actions

lowest run support among all starters

before last night in August (basically as long as he’s been here) with 3.2… after last night im not sure but he’s been screwed the worst

from the lou and im proud AND st. louis (ahem bitches)

by stlcardsfan4 on Aug 31, 2010 7:54 PM EDT up reply actions

yeah

they aren’t scoring shit when he pitches

"Nah….He’s an infielder. Second base…..I played second base, how hard can it be?"

by Cards Fan in Chitown on Sep 1, 2010 12:10 AM EDT up reply actions

I don't disagree...

but it’s not like we’re scoring buckets upon buckets of runs for other starting pitchers either.

We’ve just been shut out in back to back games for pete’s sake.

Can Colby round out our new MV3?

by fourstick on Sep 1, 2010 8:52 AM EDT up reply actions

too many bad hitters in our offense

poor roster construction blues

"Nah….He’s an infielder. Second base…..I played second base, how hard can it be?"

by Cards Fan in Chitown on Sep 1, 2010 1:32 PM EDT up reply actions

mostly thumbs up on Westbrook

especially with the extras thrown in: good character, personality.
My indirect quibble is that he nibbles too much, and that, in turn, relies on a friendly, or at least fair, home plate umpire. And I have seen too many games this year where there hasn’t been one. And, despite the surprisingly high strike-outs, I haven’t yet become convinced that Westie has a ‘I really need one now’ OUT-PITCH.
He strikes me as an ’06 Suppan or an ’07 Looper, which, given Waino, Carp and Jaime, is very good.

by the Tewk on Sep 5, 2010 12:24 AM EDT reply actions

06 Suppan or 07 Looper?

That seems a bit pessimistic. Suppan and Looper put up FIP’s in the mid to high 4’s those years. Westbrook has a career 4.17 FIP (in the AL, which is undoubtedly a harder league to pitch in) and has been absolutely incredible since joining the Cardinals.

Fire Tony La Russa

by vivaelpujols on Sep 5, 2010 2:10 AM EDT up reply actions