Over at Beyond the Boxscore, Stephen Loftus has posted Pitcher Similarity Scores. The scores compare pitchers to each other based on:
- Pitch Velocity
- Pitch Break (Horizontally and Vertically)
- Pitch Locations
- Pitch Release Point
Curious about how the A’s scored, I extracted the A’s pitchers from the spreadsheet. A few pitchers didn’t seem to throw enough pitches last year to qualify (Brett Anderson, Sean Doolittle, Pat Neshek), while Fernando Rodriguez is on it, even though he hasn’t been seen in Oakland yet, because he got hurt in spring training.
A few notes:
- A.J. Griffin is only mildly Zitoesque, and is actually more similar to Jerry Blevins, of all people.
- Griffin is the only player on the A’s who does not have R.A. Dickey among his 10 least-similar players.
- Bartolo Colon has the most-similar least-similar player in baseball, if that makes sense. His similarity to John Axford, his least similar player, scores higher in similarity than any other player’s least-similar player. I assume that’s because Colon throws mostly fastballs.
- Tommy Milone seems to be the most unique pitcher on the A’s. His #1 comp score (Jason Vargas, 0.739) would be the 24th-highest score on Bartolo Colon’s list.
Enjoy:
| Bartolo Colon |
| Jeanmar Gomez |
0.868 |
| Zach Britton |
0.843 |
| Dillon Gee |
0.823 |
| Travis Blackley |
0.818 |
| Joe Saunders |
0.804 |
| Christhian Martinez |
0.799 |
| Luis Ayala |
0.797 |
| Hiroki Kuroda |
0.792 |
| Rick Porcello |
0.788 |
| Kyle Lohse |
0.781 |
| … |
| R.A. Dickey |
0.356 |
| Matt Thornton |
0.355 |
| Steve Delabar |
0.350 |
| Fernando Rodriguez |
0.339 |
| Esmil Rogers |
0.319 |
| Tim Collins |
0.315 |
| Aroldis Chapman |
0.306 |
| Mike Fiers |
0.296 |
| Josh Collmenter |
0.247 |
| John Axford |
0.241 |
| A.J. Griffin |
| Liam Hendricks |
0.835 |
| Wi-Yin Chen |
0.806 |
| Jerry Blevins |
0.750 |
| Jeff Karstens |
0.743 |
| Kyle Lohse |
0.732 |
| Randy Wolf |
0.724 |
| Phil Hughes |
0.710 |
| Colby Lewis |
0.707 |
| Ernesto Frieri |
0.700 |
| Josh Lindblom |
0.696 |
| … |
| Barry Zito |
0.533 |
| … |
| Mitchell Boggs |
0.290 |
| Jim Johnson |
0.287 |
| Aaron Laffey |
0.276 |
| Jake Westbrook |
0.274 |
| Jonathan Papelbon |
0.249 |
| Vinnie Pestano |
0.248 |
| Brandon League |
0.240 |
| Steven Cishek |
0.222 |
| Roy Halladay |
0.196 |
| R.A. Dickey |
0.098 |
| Jarrod Parker |
| Anthony Swarzak |
0.879 |
| Ubaldo Jimenez |
0.878 |
| Jeremy Guthrie |
0.869 |
| Randall Delgado |
0.864 |
| Bud Norris |
0.858 |
| Zack Grienke |
0.819 |
| James Shields |
0.813 |
| Christian Friedrich |
0.812 |
| Chris Resop |
0.811 |
| Tyson Ross |
0.803 |
| … |
| Carlos Zambrano |
0.367 |
| Kameron Loe |
0.364 |
| Roland Belisario |
0.357 |
| Derek Lowe |
0.351 |
| Jose Arredondo |
0.349 |
| Roy Halladay |
0.312 |
| Brandon League |
0.291 |
| Josh Collmenter |
0.281 |
| Joe Smith |
0.256 |
| R.A. Dickey |
0.199 |
| Tommy Milone |
| Jason Vargas |
0.739 |
| Travis Wood |
0.704 |
| Wade LeBlanc |
0.703 |
| P.J. Walters |
0.678 |
| Chris Capuano |
0.669 |
| Cole Hamels |
0.648 |
| Ryan Vogelsong |
0.642 |
| Ian Kennedy |
0.631 |
| Phil Hughes |
0.626 |
| Jonathan Sanchez |
0.622 |
| … |
| Luke Gregerson |
0.187 |
| Jose Arredondo |
0.184 |
| Vinnie Pestano |
0.179 |
| Luis Ayala |
0.172 |
| Roland Belisario |
0.148 |
| Jared Hughes |
0.147 |
| Joe Smith |
0.133 |
| R.A. Dickey |
0.131 |
| Brandon League |
0.110 |
| Steven Cishek |
0.101 |
| Grant Balfour |
| Clayton Kershaw |
0.870 |
| Wade Davis |
0.858 |
| Chris Tillman |
0.844 |
| Mat Latos |
0.799 |
| Joe Nathan |
0.760 |
| Matt Garza |
0.750 |
| Brandon Morrow |
0.735 |
| Kenley Jansen |
0.730 |
| Bud Norris |
0.714 |
| Greg Holland |
0.714 |
| … |
| Erik Bedard |
0.187 |
| Chris Capuano |
0.186 |
| Roy Halladay |
0.186 |
| Jeff Francis |
0.180 |
| Shawn Camp |
0.173 |
| Derek Lowe |
0.170 |
| Doug Fister |
0.162 |
| Dallas Keuchel |
0.160 |
| Joe Smith |
0.158 |
| R.A. Dickey |
0.072 |
| Jerry Blevins |
| Brian Duensing |
0.784 |
| Liam Hendricks |
0.767 |
| Jeff Karstens |
0.753 |
| A.J. Griffin |
0.750 |
| Tom Gorzelanny |
0.735 |
| Randy Wolf |
0.734 |
| Madison Bumgarner |
0.724 |
| Kyle Lohse |
0.719 |
| Dillon Gee |
0.715 |
| Blake Beavan |
0.708 |
| … |
| Joel Peralta |
0.282 |
| Vinnie Pestano |
0.280 |
| Tom Wilhelmsen |
0.279 |
| Aroldis Chapman |
0.274 |
| John Axford |
0.274 |
| Chris Young |
0.259 |
| Roy Halladay |
0.244 |
| Josh Collmenter |
0.225 |
| Tim Collins |
0.219 |
| R.A. Dickey |
0.192 |
| Ryan Cook |
| Pedro Strop |
0.875 |
| Glen Perkins |
0.835 |
| Jeff Samardzija |
0.802 |
| Carlos Marmol |
0.801 |
| Henderson Alvarez |
0.801 |
| Jason Hammel |
0.751 |
| Tyler Chatwood |
0.735 |
| Joel Hanrahan |
0.735 |
| Adam Ottavino |
0.723 |
| Garrett Richards |
0.706 |
| … |
| Chris Young |
0.245 |
| Jose Arredondo |
0.242 |
| R.A. Dickey |
0.223 |
| Tim Collins |
0.215 |
| Scott Diamond |
0.212 |
| Mike Fiers |
0.204 |
| Samuel Deduno |
0.194 |
| Josh Tomlin |
0.176 |
| Joel Peralta |
0.137 |
| Josh Collmenter |
0.103 |
| Chris Resop |
| Fernando Salas |
0.821 |
| Tyson Ross |
0.812 |
| Jarrod Parker |
0.811 |
| Anthony Swarzak |
0.796 |
| Jeremy Guthrie |
0.792 |
| Heath Bell |
0.790 |
| Homer Bailey |
0.778 |
| Ivan Nova |
0.777 |
| Ubaldo Jimenez |
0.776 |
| Randall Delgado |
0.771 |
| … |
| Carlos Zambrano |
0.291 |
| Dallas Keuchel |
0.288 |
| Roy Halladay |
0.242 |
| Josh Collmenter |
0.240 |
| Brandon League |
0.235 |
| Jason Marquis |
0.233 |
| R.A. Dickey |
0.191 |
| Derek Lowe |
0.187 |
| Shawn Camp |
0.170 |
| Joe Smith |
0.142 |
| Fernando Rodriguez |
| Heath Bell |
0.797 |
| Wade Davis |
0.771 |
| Fernando Salas |
0.758 |
| Tim Collins |
0.727 |
| Joe Nathan |
0.709 |
| James Shields |
0.707 |
| Tyler Clippard |
0.689 |
| Edison Volquez |
0.684 |
| Mat Latos |
0.684 |
| John Axford |
0.684 |
| Chris Resop |
0.678 |
| … |
| Carlos Zambrano |
0.189 |
| Christhian Martinez |
0.160 |
| Luis Ayala |
0.159 |
| Luke Gregerson |
0.144 |
| Steven Cishek |
0.143 |
| R.A. Dickey |
0.114 |
| Derek Lowe |
0.101 |
| Jason Marquis |
0.091 |
| Shawn Camp |
0.088 |
| Joe Smith |
0.050 |
