Alexi Ogando, Derek Holland, Matt Harrison Among Highest Average Fastball Velocity Leaders

By Brett Perryman Apr 15, 2011, 12:30pm CDT

From Fangraphs, here are the top 20 starters so far in 2011 by highest average velocity:

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Michael Pineda	95.5
David Price	94.6
Edinson Volquez	94.1
Josh Johnson	94.1
Alexi Ogando	93.8
Justin Verlander	93.8
Daniel Hudson	93.7
Esmil Rogers	93.6
Derek Holland	93.5
Felix Hernandez	93.3
Edwin Jackson	93.3
Matt Garza	93.3
Jorge de la Rosa	93.2
Clayton Kershaw	93.2
Bud Norris	93.1
Kyle Drabek	93.0
Matt Harrison	93.0
Jake Arrieta	93.0
Roy Oswalt	92.8
Tim Lincecum	92.8

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Aside from the obvious connection that these three young Rangers starters slated to pitch in Yankee Stadium this weekend are among the top 17 in velocity, I find a few other items interesting:

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Ogando, Holland and Harrison all rank in the top eight in the AL.
Price, Holland, de la Rosa, Kershaw and Harrison are the top five lefties. Holland and Harrison are second and third among AL lefties.
Every pitcher on this list (aside from Drabek, who thorws a cutter instead) has a slider that averages at least 81 mph. Ogando's "slider" has averaged 78.9 mph. Verlander's slider is 85.9, and his curve is 77.9. I'm not sure what kind of grip Ogando uses, but his breaking ball behaves like a curveball in terms of break and velo.
Ogando has thrown 34.9% "sliders." Only Jackson on this list throws a higher percentage, and Ogando's percentage is fifth highest in MLB. According to Fangraphs' numbers, he's thrown seven changeups in his two starts.
C.J. Wilson's 90.0 ranks 65th out of 105 ranked pitchers. Colby Lewis' 87.9 ranks 190th.
Livan Hernandez has a lower average fastball velocity so far than R.A. Dickey.

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As far as pitch quality:

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Harrison's fastball has a "wFB" (tells us how many runs above average the pitch is) of 5.7, second only to Verlander (5.8) and a full run better than Zach Britton, who is third. Ogando is sixth.
Ogando also has the sixth highest wSL in MLB. Only Josh Johnson, Dan Haren and Ogando have two pitches worth more than three runs above average so far.
Wilson's cutter is sixth best in MLB at 1.8.
No Rangers starter has a wCH (changeup) or wCB (curve) higher than 0.0. That's Ogando's change rating.

Alexi Ogando, Derek Holland, Matt Harrison Among Highest Average Fastball Velocity Leaders

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