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Fantasy Baseball Out% Standouts From Week 22

Here are the best pitchers at getting batters out from Week 22.

Taylor Tarter
Fantasy 9/2/2025

Many of you reading this will be in the midst of your fantasy playoffs, looking for an edge. And you came to the right place. Out% is a great stat to use to help cut through the noise and find pitchers that are just simply good at getting batters out.

Out% can help your decision making with whom to start or sit, or whom drop and add. Out% is an essential and important tool in analyzing the effectiveness of a pitcher for fantasy baseball purposes.

For first-time readers, this article will provide some tips on how to analyze Out%, how you can use it to determine who the best pitchers are at inducing outs, what to look for, and how to make decisions based on Out%.

Check out our app to help track Out%: https://pl-out-percentage.streamlit.app/ – here you can search by pitcher and see leaderboards by pitch type.

You can read more of the intricacies of the stat here, where I reflect on what we learned from Out% last season and how to use it in fantasy, as well as the real-life implications.

For the purposes of this article, we will focus more on how to use this stat for fantasy baseball and how it can help you make fantasy-relevant decisions in-season.

Here is where the league-average Out% stands on each type of pitch as of writing on Saturday, August 30:

  • Fastball – 16.4%
  • Cutter – 16%
  • Sinker – 17.7%
  • Splitter – 20.7%
  • Slider – 18.3%
  • Sweeper – 17.9%
  • Curveball – 16.6%
  • Changeup – 19.3%

A few notable pitchers sit atop the leaderboards for each pitch, including:

For the sake of this article, my analysis will primarily focus on starting pitchers. Currently, the leaderboards (especially fastball and fastball adjacent pitches like cutters) are dominated by relievers because of their small sample size.

 

Fastball Out% Highlight

Max Scherzer – SP TOR

Since 2023, Max Scherzer has been quite home run prone, allowing over half a homer per nine innings more than his career norm. This season has been more of the same, but even with the extra long balls, Scherzer has turned in a solid season. He could be in line for more success at the end of the season thanks to how effective he has been at getting batters out.

 

 

Scherzer features four pitches with Out Rates above league average, including his cutter, slider, curveball, and his fastball. The veteran has used his slider mostly against righty batters, and it has been excellent. His slider has a .232 BAA, a 31% whiff rate, a 35% K rate, and a 25% putaway rate. Against lefty batters, Scherzer has relied mostly on his curveball to induce outs. It has induced a 24% whiff rate, but batters also have made contact with it, to the tune of a .324 BAA.

Arguably the most important pitch in Scherzer’s arsenal is his fastball, though. He tosses it nearly 50% of the time, and it has an 18% Out Rate. The reason it is so important is because he can throw it not only as a set up pitch for his breaking and offspeed stuff, but can throw it in two-strikeout counts as well. That has made it difficult for batters to put in play, as it owns a .179 BAA.

 

 

Despite Scherzer’s fastball velocity ticking downward, he has made up for it in other ways. His approach angle and horizontal break have been able to deceive batters, leading to whiffs and bad contact. He also locates his fastball better than league average. This all has led to an above average grade according to PLV.

While his stuff may not be what it used to six years ago when he helped the Nationals win a World Series, it is still good enough to make him worthy of rostering in just about any league size and type.

 

Out% Pitchers To Buy

Hurston Waldrep – SP ATL

Hurston Waldrep has shined in his second stint in the majors (he threw seven innings last season). In 30 IP across five starts this season, he is 4-0 with three quality starts, and a 0.90 ERA. Plus, he has three pitches with Out Rates above league average.

 

 

His most effective offerings at inducing outs are his splitter, slider, and cutter, which make up about two-thirds of his pitch usage. His cutter acts like a typical fastball would within his arsenal, which means his barely-used fastball being far below league average in Out% should not worry fantasy managers.

Not filtering for number of pitches thrown, Waldrep’s splitter carries the fifth highest Out% in baseball. It follows Sonny Gray’s and Garret Crochet’s sweepers, Steven Cruz’s slider, and Keegan Akin’s changeup. What makes Waldrep’s splitter most effective is some insane glove side movement, away from lefty hitters like this:

 

 

That has led to some incredible numbers including a .100 BAA, a 43% whiff rate, a 53% K rate, and a 29% putaway rate. Those numbers rank first, ninth, fourth, and fourth respectively among pitchers who have thrown at least 100 splitters in at least 25 PAs.

Waldrep’s slider also grades extremely well with PLV, legitimizing its effectiveness as an out pitch:

 

 

A combination of velocity, a ton of horizontal break, and elite location help this slider grade as a Quality Pitch. It only has a 12.5% putaway rate, so he should be tossing this pitch a bit more, especially in two strike counts, considering how effective it is as an out pitch.

Waldrep has multiple elite weapons, and should be rostered in every league.

 

Emmet Sheehan – SP LAD

Emmet Sheehan is another young starter that needs to be rostered more widely. He has just one quality start in 10 appearances, but more could be on the way as the Dodgers let him go longer into games. Sheehan has gone 5-2 across 48 IP, with a 54:16 K:BB ratio. He also features two pitches that are above league average in Out%, and one borderline pitch.

 

 

Sheehan relies heavily on his fastball, slider, and changeup combination, with his fastball being his most used pitch. It has a .232 BAA and a 21% whiff rate, and its Out% is well above average. Similar to Scherzer, batters have to keep an eye out for it in any situation, not just as a set up pitch. It also happens to grade highly according to PLV.

 

 

Across the board, this is an absolutely filthy pitch. It is above average in velocity and extension, and has a ton of rise. It also has decent horizontal break, and Sheehan locates it well. It is no surprise this pitch is so good at getting batters out.

Having such a good fastball has allowed his slider to shine too. Sheehan locates it well too, and has been effective going outside of the zone with it and his changeup. His 34% chase rate would rank 15th best in the majors, ahead of Paul Skenes, if he qualified. Take a look at Sheehan using the slider to induce a big miss out of the zone here:

 

 

It also has a .200 BAA, a 41% whiff rate, a 39% K rate, and a 36% putaway rate. That putaway rate is the highest for sliders among pitchers who have thrown at least 200 of them in at least 50 PAs.

If Sheehan keeps tossing his changeup to lefty hitters, he should see more success. Its 5.04 PLV is league average, but it has a 30% whiff rate and a 37% K rate, and those bode well for inducing outs.

Sheehan boasts an arsenal that should translate to success in the majors. He has weapons to get batters out from both sides of the plate, plus a dominant fastball. Reportedly, his next outing could be in relief, but that should only be temporary. His stuff is too good to stay in the pen, and good enough for any fantasy lineup.

 

Out% Pitchers to Sell

Clay Holmes – SP NYM

Clay Holmes had never pitched more than 70 innings in a season until this year, and it is beginning to show. Since June 7, Holmes has pitched through the sixth inning just twice. Holmes has also allowed at least one earned run in all but one of his 27 starts this season. And since the start of July, Holmes has allowed two or more earned runs in nine of 11 starts. His strikeout rate is down, his walk rate is up, and Holmes has his worst ERA since 2021. Thankfully, he pitches for a good offense, otherwise he would be at risk for more losses. The worst news for fantasy managers, though, is that his out rates are trending the wrong way.

 

 

Yes, we like to see that his fastball Out% is far above league average. The bad news there is that it is one of his least used pitches. Holmes’ most used pitch, his sinker, is one of his worst pitches at inducing outs. If he used his fastball more and sinker less, he might be having more success and end up going deeper into games.

Holmes’ slider also has been an effective out pitch, and his changeup is just under league average in Out Rate. Still, between his fastball, slider, and changeup, they make up just about a third of his pitch usage. This means about two thirds of his pitch usage is below average at inducing outs, which is a huge issue.

 

 

Holmes’ PLA reflects some of the Out% concerns as well. His fastball effectiveness seems to be a product of a small sample because the pitch quality is so poor. The same can be said for his cutter. None of his pitches grade particularly high, all barely above league average.

Holmes’ 4.20 PLA matches his xFIP, and nearly matches his 4.39 SIERA, all of which are worse than his 3.60 ERA. Fantasy managers should be concerned going forward.

Aaron Nola – SP PHI

Aaron Nola struggled before landing on the IL with rib and ankle injuries. Since returning in early August, Nola has pitched 14.1 innings, allowing 12 earned runs, while striking out 14 and walking five. The homers in particular are concerning, though his HR/9 and HR/FB rates are inflated. Still, it is something he needs to get under control. Nola also needs to find some better out pitches.

 

 

Nola does not necessarily need his fastball to be a top out pitch, since he has a sinker that is above average in Out Rate. Nola’s big issue is that only his sinker and changeup are above average in Out% and they make up less than a third of his pitch usage.

Nola relies heavily on his fastball and curveball combination, both of which grade near to Quality Pitches according to PLV. They have not turned into good out pitches, though. Nola’s knuckle curve has a .316 BAA and a .290 xBAA, while his fastball has a .228 BAA but a .267 xBAA.

Nola can potentially turn things around – location is not an issue, and he has some pitches that should be working – but may run out of time before he figures it out.

The big concern here is that his sequencing is an issue, considering there are some things he has done right. But the high quality pitches like his curveball and fastball should not only be used more in situations where they can induce outs, but should be more effective at getting outs too.

If you need to make a drop, Nola should be a pitcher you consider sending to waivers.

 

More Out% Pitchers to Buy

This will focus mostly on pitchers who may be on waivers in various league sizes, with trade deadlines likely over.

 

More Out% Pitchers To Sell

These are pitchers to consider dropping in exchange for players on the waiver wire.

 

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Taylor Tarter

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Taylor is an FSWA finalist, and a fantasy baseball champ that has been playing for well over a decade. Taylor is co-creator of Out%, a stat that measures how good pitches are at getting outs. You can find him @TaylorTarter on Twitter.

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