How to Become a Pitching Nerd

By The Athletic

Rates & Barrels: A show about Baseball

09/01/25·1h 5m

Eno, Trevor and DVR discuss their paths into becoming pitching nerds while pulling back to discuss the baseline metrics they care about, and digging into a few of the newer tools and numbers they utilize to analyze pitchers.

Rundown

7:45 What Are the Basic Things You Like to Know About Pitchers?

13:33 Year-to-Year Correlations of Pitching Stats

18:47 DIPS Theory & Other Changes Over Time

29:37 The Rise of Deeper Arsenals

34:58 Looking at Changes in Pitch Mix Over Time

43:34 *Newer* Pitch Details to Consider: Vertical Break

53:12 An Example of Seam-Shifted Wake

58:54 A Few Other Tools From Baseball Savant Pages

Follow Eno on Bluesky: @enosarris.bsky.social

Follow DVR on Bluesky: @dvr.bsky.social

Follow Trevor on Bluesky: @iamtrevormay.bsky.social

e-mail: ratesandbarrels@gmail.com

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Hosts: Derek VanRiper, Eno Sarris & Trevor May

Producer: Brian Smith

Executive Producer: Derek VanRiper

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