Man, baseball season’s here again and I got curious about Tyler Anderson’s fastball speed this year. I remember last season he was sitting around 90-91, but with all those changes to pitching rules, I wondered if he dialed it up or dialed it down. Started digging around while eating my morning cereal.
The Stat Hunting Process
First thing I did was grab my laptop and hit the usual baseball stats sites. Looked through his game logs pitch by pitch. Man, that takes forever! Had to filter just his fastballs then check the radar gun numbers for each one. My coffee got cold doing this, but I really wanted actual data, not some reporter’s guess.
Found his most recent start against the Mariners where he threw 87 pitches. Here’s the breakdown:
- 4-seam fastballs: 31 throws
- Average velo: 89.6 mph
- Hardest one: 91.2 mph
- Slowest: 87.9 mph
Comparing to Last Year
Pulled up my old notes from 2023 and saw he was averaging 91.4 mph same time last year. That’s almost two miles slower now! Wasn’t expecting that. Checked five more starts this season just to be sure – same pattern. Dude’s definitely sacrificing velo for command.
Got sidetracked when I saw he developed a new cutter. Had to pause for fifteen minutes watching video clips of that pitch slicing corners. Nasty movement!
What’s the Story?
Talked to this pitching coach buddy at the batting cages later. He said Anderson purposely backed off velocity to boost accuracy after walking too many guys last season. Makes sense – watched his last start and he painted the low corner like Picasso all night. Guy’s crafty now.
My conclusion? Tyler ain’t throwing gas anymore. He’s that uncle at the barbecue who beats you at horseshoes with soft tosses. Filed my notes under “Clever Veterans” with a cold beer salute. What a fascinating adjustment!
