I like to think that there are no bad pitches, just problematic ones. A linguistic massage, sure, but for good reason. Bad implies rotten, throw it out, while problems imply the possibility of solutions. That 0-2 fastball may have not ended up in the right-field bleachers if he had thrown it six inches higher. It’s not that it was impossible to throw it at the top of the zone, it’s that he just didn’t. Execution, conviction, feel. Pitchers don’t pitch pitches, they feel them.
A trio of San Francisco Giants rookies debuted in 2023 and threw a plethora of problematic pitches.