The Rays were fast movers on the free agent pitching market this off season, declining to bring back Charlie Morton and replacing his roster spot with... Michael Wacha, who the Rays tabbed as a “priority signing” this offseason. How did the Rays reach that conclusion?
There are many ways of evaluating pitchers.
I like to look at a pitch shape graph first before I’ve checked any statistics, watched any video, or thought about pitch location, tunneling, or sequencing. I do this because I want to give myself the chance to take an unbiased impression of the pitcher on the most basic level — what does the ball do after it leaves his hand?