We all know that Jamie Moyer doesn’t throw very hard. He’s thrown 3,700 innings over his 22 year career, and at 45 years old, the guy who was known for his soft tossing ways is throwing even slower than ever. His average fastball so far this year has been 80.9 MPH, and according to the Pitch F/x tool by Josh Kalk, he’s thrown 518 pitches with a velocity below 80 MPH, compared to 566 pitches with a velocity greater than 80 MPH.
In other words, it’s just as likely that Moyer will throw you a pitch in the 65-79 MPH range as a pitch in the 80-85 range. Those are the kinds of velocities that will make scouts stop watching you in high school – almost everyone who played varsity ball in school faced a guy who threw harder than Moyer does now.
And it doesn’t matter. Moyer’s running a 4.35 FIP and 3.95 ERA, his lowest marks since his 2003 season in Seattle. His 5.53 K/9 and 46.8% GB% are more in line with a guy who throws a sinker and pounds the bottom of the strike zone with 90 MPH two-seam fastballs. Take a look at his career K/9 graph, and see if you can identify the decreases in his velocity:
While now throwing a fastball that routinely sits at 78 or 79 MPH, he’s striking out just as many batters as he always has. It’s unbelievable.
Jamie Moyer is amazing, and while he’s not the best pitcher we’ve ever seen, he might be the most remarkable.
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Who knew that trading Moyer for Barb and Baldwin was going to be such a horrible decision-not because of what Moyer has done for Philly but because of the money Seattle has committed to the Silvas/Weavers/Batistas of the world and talent spent to acquire HoRAM since then all in an effort to replace Moyer….