MLB’s best pitches (and the best hitters against them)

Adam Wainwright of the St. Louis Cardinals — May 26, 2022; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Adam Wainwright (50) pitches against the Milwaukee Brewers during the first inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports

Curveball: Adam Wainwright & Austin Riley

We head to the National League here as Adam Wainwright continues to dominate with his curveball with a Run Value of -12. It’s his most common pitch at 30.8% and is responsible for 51 of his 126 Ks. His whiff rate of 27.2% is easily the best of his pitch arsenal.

Adam Wainwright, Pretty 73mph Curveball. 🌈 pic.twitter.com/EKFgmncH7U
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) August 18, 2022

The best hitter vs curveballs is Atlanta’s Austin Riley. Coming in with a Run Value of 14 on curves. This is almost more impressive as he only sees curveballs 8.1% of the time. When he sees them, though, he crushes them for a .556 wOBA, higher than Judge against 4-seamers. It’s the pitch he’s got the highest whiff rate against (38.4%) but when he gets a hold of it he reallygets it.

Austin Riley’s second home run of the night and 18th on the season! pic.twitter.com/nBo9WxrjTS
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) June 16, 2022

Wainwright and Riley have not faced off against each other this season.