The Great Baseball Skills Competition: Kings of the hill
— -- Welcome to the Great Baseball Skills Competition, a weeklong breakdown and ranking of baseball's elite and unique talents. Each day this week, we're taking an aspect of the game and profiling the players who best demonstrate specific skills, such as hitting a fastball, snapping off a nasty breaking ball, dashing around the bases or taking away a home run.
Monday, we focused on those who have the top defensive traits.
Today we shift to who has the best pitching skills, and it's not just about who throws the hardest or has the most effective pitch.
Weigh in with your vote below. We'll pit the winners of each day's competition against each other on Friday to determine who possesses the best skills in baseball.
Aroldis Chapman
The skill: fastball velocity
What makes him great: The last time we saw Chapman, he left the mound in the ninth inning of Game 7 of the World Series with tears in his eyes after blowing the lead the previous inning. Of course, he wasn't his usual self that night, when he was struggling to reach 100 mph. He discovered what it's like to be a mere mortal. According to ESPN Stats & Information research, there were 1,018 pitches in 2016 of 100-plus mph; Chapman threw 475 of them. The first page of the leaderboard of fastest pitches in 2016 includes just one name: Chapman. In fact, MLB.com includes a special "Chapman filter." He throws so hard others don't even compare. His fastest pitch last season: 105.1 mph blazer to J.J. Hardy, who didn't swing. Good move, J.J.
Chapman has relied on the heater to hold batters to a .155 average in his career, including a .158 mark in 2016. He struck out over 40 percent of the batters he faced in 2016, although that was a down year for him (he didn't lead in strikeout rate for relievers for the first time since 2012). They say major league hitters can time any fastball. In Chapman's case, even though he throws it more than 80 percent of the time -- meaning batters know it's coming -- they still have trouble connecting. -- David Schoenfield
They said it: Chapman has more velocity on his four-seam fastball than anyone in baseball, and he's the only pitcher I've ever witnessed throw a baseball 105 mph on multiple occasions. His 90 K's in 58 innings were as outstanding as his 1.55 ERA last season. Dominant velocity. -- ESPN Insider Jim Bowden
Bartolo Colon
The skill: pitch location
What makes him great: Laugh if you want at his girth, but while you're doing that, Bartolo Colon is going to beat you with his precision. Though Colon no longer is able to throw a 97 mph fastball, he's able to win with a version that barely hits 90 because he's able to hit his spots with consistency.
Colon had the lowest miss rate of any pitcher who qualified for the ERA title last season (14 percent) -- but he had the highest called-strike rate (40 percent). He has also led the National League in fewest walks per nine innings in each of the past two seasons.
It doesn't matter where Colon puts it. He ranked in the top five at getting called strikes on pitches against high, low, mid-level, inside and outside pitches. He got help from a Mets catching combo ( Travis d'Arnaud, Rene Rivera and Kevin Plawecki) rated among the best in the majors at pitch framing, but Colon has been good at this wherever he has been the past five seasons.
It's a combination that has allowed for a complete reinvention from power to finesse. Colon has pitched at least 190 innings in each of the past three seasons. And he has been an All-Star as often since he turned 40 (twice) as he was before it. -- Mark Simon
They said it: Everyone marvels at Mariano's 96 mph cutter that he can throw over and over again and get three to six outs with. But Bartolo is even more amazing because he takes a below-average-velocity fastball and has mastered the art of movement and location. Here's the kicker: Hitters know the fastball is coming over 92 percent of the time, and he can run through the lineup three times or more with that one pitch. No matter how many times you've seen it, he still gets guys to get themselves out and chase that fastball all over the strike zone. -- Mets SNY pre-game show analyst and former MLB pitcher Nelson Figueroa
Clayton Kershaw
The skill: Snapping off a perfect breaking ball
What makes him great: Clayton Kershaw is not a pitcher who overwhelms you with velocity, but rather a combination of pitches with nasty looks and nasty breaks. Though Kershaw has an excellent fastball, what separates him is that he has an outstanding curveball and slider.
By Fangraphs' pitch-value stat, his ranks as the most valuable slider among starting pitchers over the past three seasons. His curveball ranks third to Corey Kluber and Lance McCullers.
Opponents slashlined .142/.157/.208 against it in that span. The .364 OPS was the lowest among 125 pitchers who qualified (made at least 50 starts). Next lowest was Jon Lester's .417 and Kluber's .424.
Kershaw's slider has a sharp break, and hitters swing right over the top of it. Over the past three seasons, Kershaw has induced misses on 45 percent of swings against it. That's third best in the majors, trailing only Noah Syndergaard and Max Scherzer.
Kershaw's curveball has a loop to it. You might swing over the top of it, or you might buckle at the knees. Whatever you do, you're not hitting it. Opponents' batting averages against it the past five seasons: .083, .096, .122, .121, .118. That comes out to .109 for the five-year span, best in the majors. -- Simon
They said it: He is a command artist. He puts them where he wants, at whichever speed he desires, whenever he pleases. - ESPN baseball analyst Dallas Braden
Julio Urias
The skill: Pickoff move
What makes him great: There were several candidates to choose from for best pickoff. Johnny Cueto picked off five runners last season, a high total for a right-hander, and has been so effective at holding runners in his career that they have just a 39 percent success rate stealing bases against him. Chris Tillman, another right-hander, didn't allow a steal in 2016 but has just two pickoffs in his career. Kershaw has a terrific move, with nine pickoffs in 2015 and 57 in his career, but none in 2016.
The future, however, appears to be Kershaw's young teammate. Urias led the majors with six pickoffs as a rookie, even though he pitched just 77 innings. He added another in the postseason when he picked off Bryce Harper in Game 5 of the Division Series. That was a traditional lefty move where he throws to first as his right foot crosses the plane of the rubber, but he also picked off Starlin Castro with this quick flick of the wrist.
Urias' move is also a borderline balk, as he doesn't appear to be stepping "directly towards the base" when he throws to first, which the rules require. You can also bet that opposing managers, now aware of Urias' move, will raise the issue with umpires. While runners did steal seven bases off Urias, he could still be the new Terry Mulholland, who picked off 15 runners one year; the rest of his career ---14 seasons -- they stole just 12 bases off him. -- Schoenfield
They said it: Urias has literally the quickest pickoff move I've ever seen, thanks to extremely quick wrists and the incredible ability to throw a laser beam to first base with very little shoulder movement. Of all the pitchers in baseball I've seen over the years, he's the one that will end up getting baserunners to have their shortest leads of their careers. -- Bowden
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