Tanner Rainey

Rainey only has thrown this pitch a few times but not enough to showcase any meaningful results.

Rainey throws hard. His fastball sits close to 98 mph and misses bats almost 12% of the time while getting a ground-ball rate of nearly 50%. He has been pretty wild with a walk rate over 20%. He was surprisingly able to reduce home runs a bit more with this pitch in 2019.

Batters who weather Rainey’s high-octane but uneven fastball are left to face an absolutely filthy slider. The hard breaking ball (average velocity a tick above 87 mph) generated a lethal 55.6% strikeout rate and 31.4% swinging-strike rate as a reliable putaway offering. Opponents don’t often connect (37.4% contact rate), but when they do, Rainey’s slider keeps the ball on the ground at a 60.7% rate.

Despite throwing close to 100 mph, Rainey struggles with his fastball. Rainey’s command needs improvement. Additionally, the pitch is usually hit in the air, which spells danger for a hard thrower.

Rainey’s slider has some potential as an effective out pitch. He got a significant amount of whiffs and swings out of the zone. However, he’ll need to need his fly balls in the park.

Rainey uses his changeup as his third pitch seldomly. When he does, he’s gotten some swings and misses.