Lookout Landing · Jun 22, 2020
The best (and worst) four-seam fastballs on the 2019 Mariners
Photo by Justin Berl/Getty Images What do you like in a fastball? Soaring velocity? Bat-shattering run? Worm-burning late sink? Whatever Nick Vincent does? The 2019 Mariners had few of those things, leading some writers to claim they should abandon their tepid heaters entirely. To their credit, Seattle was aggressive in taking their foot off the gas. Still, staffed with mostly soft-tossers and unproven relievers, the Mariners were far from the forefront of the high-spin, high velocity, up-in-the-zone four-seam trend that aces like Gerrit Cole, Justin Verlander, and Tyler Glasnow have put front and center. What did the Mariners get out of their heaters this past year, then? Not much.