What’s up everyone!
I’m in the middle of my annual pitch review series where I’m taking a look at the five best pitches of each pitch type from 2022, as ranked by PLV! Today, we’re going to be looking at the five best sinkers from last year.
If you’d like a closer look at what this article series is about, check out the first article in the series on the five best changeups of 2022. Also, check out my other articles in the series:
- The 5 Best Curveballs of 2022
- The 5 Best Sliders of 2022
- The 5 Best Cutters of 2022
- The 5 Best Fastballs of 2022
And if you’d like an in-depth primer on what PLV is and how it works, check it out here.
Otherwise, let’s get to the five best sinkers of 2022!
5. Josh Fleming
https://gfycat.com/secretrevolvingindianpalmsquirrel
Josh Fleming is one of those cases we’ve got here where PLV loves his arsenal but the results just were not there last year.
Now, it’s important to note that Fleming only pitched 35 innings in the majors last year, starting three games and pitching out of the bullpen for the rest, but like I said, the results were not great. He posted a 6.43 ERA with a 4.43 FIP and 4.55 xERA alongside a 17.2% strikeout rate.
Again, small sample size, and I can see why PLV likes his arsenal, and specifically his sinker. Last year, the sinker posted a solid 33.8% chase rate and 11.6% swinging-strike rate alongside a 32.1% CSW.
It also had a .373 wOBA against, which isn’t great, but that came with a .281 xwOBA against, which suggests that Fleming’s sinker was better than its results last year, and honestly that’s exactly what PLV tries to show.
4. Dylan Floro
https://gfycat.com/giantsadbellfrog
Dylan Floro was a really solid bullpen piece for the Marlins last year, pitching to a 3.02 ERA, 3.13 FIP, and 3.31 xERA through 53.2 innings with 10 saves and six holds, and it was largely thanks to how good this sinker was.
Similar to four-seam fastballs, sinkers aren’t often pitches used to get chases, but Floro’s worked well, posting a 43.2% chase rate last year. The pitch was also good at inducing weak contact, posting a .288 wOBA and .291 xwOBA against.
Interestingly enough, Floro’s approach was to mainly use his sinker and four-seamer as his strikeout pitches, throwing his sinker in two-strike counts just under 30% of the time (above the MLB average of 21.4%) and his four-seamer in two-strike counts 43.1% of the time (above the MLB average of 29.5%).
Floro’s likely to garner a handful of saves next year if he can keep up the success, though the Marlins’ bullpen is a bit of a confusing mess for fantasy purposes, as any mix of Floro, Tanner Scott, Matt Barnes, or A.J. Puk could all get save opportunities.
3. Joe Mantiply
https://gfycat.com/severaldampdalmatian
Another reliever on the list! Joe Mantiply was excellent for the Diamondbacks last year, posting a 2.85 ERA, 2.83 FIP, and 3.41 xERA with a 25.1% strikeout rate through 60 innings with 22 holds and two saves.
Mantiply’s sinker was excellent last year, posting a .304 wOBA against (though a .347 xwOBA, so do with that what you will). The sinker was mainly used as a setup pitch for Mantiply’s also-excellent curveball, which posted a 45.3% chase rate, 23.6% swinging-strike rate, and a 39.1% CSW alongside a .286 wOBA and .288 xwOBA against.
Complementing those two pitches was a changeup, which Mantiply didn’t throw a ton, but when he did, it worked great, posting an absurd 60.4% chase rate and a 21.4% swinging-strike rate alongside a .257 wOBA and .239 xwOBA against.
Mantiply’s everything you want in a reliever, he’s a guy who can induce weak contact and has some great swing-and-miss stuff, and I’d expect he’ll be the same again this year.
2. Jason Foley
https://gfycat.com/tamedistantfairyfly
In case you haven’t noticed yet, this entire list has been all relievers so far. But don’t worry! This is the last one.
Jason Foley pitched 60.1 innings for the Tigers last year and put up pretty decent numbers, posting a 3.88 ERA with a 2.77 FIP and 3.50 xERA alongside a 16.8% strikeout rate and a 4.3% walk rate.
Foley mainly went with a two-pitch approach with his sinker and slider. The sinker comes with a good bit of horizontal movement and worked well as a setup pitch to the slider, posting a solid 30.9% chase rate and 29.1% CSW alongside a .301 wOBA and .269 xwOBA.
The slider was not quite as good. You’d hope to see the sinker posting decent weak contact numbers with the slider posting great chase/whiff numbers, especially since it was his main two-strike pitch, but the slider posted a paltry 27.6% chase rate, 12.4% swinging-strike rate, and a 20.4% CSW.
Not what you’d hope, but hey, at least the sinker was pretty awesome.
1. Zack Wheeler
https://gfycat.com/gloomyimmediatecony
A starter at last! And quite the starter too. Zack Wheeler had another fantastic season for the Phillies last year, posting a 2.82 ERA with a 2.89 FIP and 2.93 xERA alongside a 26.9% strikeout rate through 153 innings and 26 starts.
Now, Wheeler mainly uses his four-seamer and slider as his one-two punch, both of which are great pitches, but the sinker worked beautifully too, and more often in two-strike counts than your typical sinker.
Last year, Wheeler’s sinker posted a 52.3% chase rate, 10.6% swinging-strike rate, and a .237 wOBA and .233 xwOBA against, all really solid numbers.
The sinker complemented Wheeler’s slider really well, as Wheeler would typically locate the slider glove-side off the plate to righties and then locate the sinker arm-side in on those same batters. It’s a classic way to use a sinker/slider combo and it worked wonders.