Yonny Chirinos

While not exactly known for his strikeout stuff (backed up by a ho-hum 7.70 K/9 last season), Chirinos flaunted some serious punchout potential with his splitter. While a 40.5% K-BB rate buoyed by a 20% swinging-strike rate are the flashy numbers, Chirinos also whittled his HR/FB rate from 25% in 2018 to 10% last season and held opposing batters to a .139 BAA and .165 wOBA.

The slider left the yard too many times (9) for the amount it was used, but was an otherwise above average pitch for Chirinos. A .204 BAA and a 41% O-Swing rate highlight the troubles that many batters had with the slide piece.

Chirinos’ most-thrown pitch was also his worst, allowing a .319 average and .422 SLG against it. Opponents made contact with it 85.2% of the time, but it generated just 45.5% grounders. It was an average offering movement-wise.

Chirinos’ slider was bad as far as movement goes, though it did produce a solid 15.2% whiff rate regardless. Opponents managed a .235 wOBA against it and just a 68.6% contact rate.

The splitter was almost a Money Pitch for Chirinos, producing a 19.1% whiff rate, 40.5% chase rate and 37.5% zone rate. It’s a shame he didn’t throw it more, as opponents mustered just a .149 average against it.

The four-seamer topped out at 97 mph and had roughly average movement. It produced a very impressive 13.2% whiff rate over a small sample of 98 pitches thrown.