Cubs Insider · Jun 13, 2017
Cubs Quick Hits: Kyle Hendricks Has the Best Sinker, Changeup Tunnel
Baseball Prospectus released their pitch tunnels stats last offseason, opening up a new way to analyze pitchers. The basic concept of the several statistics is centered around letting go of the baseball at the same location consistently.
Kyle Hendricks’ sinker/changeup sequence ranks #1 in release:tunnel ratio. Baseball Prospectus defines release:tunnel as “the ratio of a pitcher’s release differential to their tunnel differential.” Specifically, “pitchers with smaller Release:Tunnel Ratios have smaller differentiation between pitches through the tunnel point, making it more difficult for opposing hitters to distinguish them in theory.”