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CC Sabathia's elite ability to avoid hard contact

CC Sabathia hasn't had the smoothest of seasons, but he's found success. The key to productivity, in spite of a lack of overpowering stuff, may come from an elite ability to induce soft contact.

Jered Weaver has a misspelled first name, an 83 mph fastball, and a 5.47 ERA. Among qualified pitchers, he ranks last in DRA and FIP-, and according to Baseball Prospectus, has been worth -5.2 WARP. Unsurprisingly, this is earning the soft-tossing righty plenty of ridicule. Weaver is very likely the worst pitcher in baseball, and you can tell when he takes the mound every fifth day.