The National League Central and Fastballs: Part Two

Oct 12, 2014; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Lance Lynn throws a pitch against the San Francisco Giants in the first inning during game two of the 2014 NLCS playoff baseball game at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Roberson/Pool Photo via USA TODAY Sports

1.) Lance Lynn (St. Louis Cardinals):

Rank among qualified starters- 2

Percentage of fastballs thrown in 2014- 79.0%

Average fastball velocity in 2014- 92.4 mph

Lance Lynn is known for having an elite fastball and therefore it should not surprise anyone who follows him relatively closely that he threw fastballs a lot last year. Bartolo Colon (82.6%) was the only starting pitcher in baseball who threw a higher percentage of fastballs than the Cardinals’ right-hander.

According to Brooks Baseball’s Pitch F/X data, the three pitches he relied on most frequently in 2014 were the four-seam fastball (53.23%), sinker (25.44%) and cutter (10.16%) — all of which fall under the umbrella of a fastball. Fangraphs’ Pitch Values, which uses linear weights to try to determine the effectiveness of a certain pitch, scores Lynn’s fastball at 10.4, ranking his fastball  with the 20th-best run value among starter’s fastballs.