. The movement of a pitch is defined in inches, both in (The average curveball spin rate this year is 2,536 rpms, up from 2,315 rpms in 2015 ). Sean Doolittle, WSH: 4.0 inches4. Blake Treinen, OAK: 7.6 inches. And they know where to throw them -- the Reds are throwing nearly 60% of their four-seamers in the upper third of the zone or higher, the third-most elevated fastballs of any team.\n\nReds pitchers have been among the league leaders in four-seam whiff rate all season all those high-spin high fastballs probably have something to do with it.\n\nNow let's check out the curves. Just like with the fastball spin leaderboard, the Reds have a whole group of pitchers in the top tier of curveball spin -- five in the top 20, with two of the top 10 starters and three of the top 10 relievers. Both Bauer and Gray get a lot of movement on their curves. The likelihood, in percent, that an outfielder will be Ottavino, famously, rode his mastery of pitch design to a three-year contract with the Yankees, thanks to his demon slider, and you're not surprised to see Bauer here. How quickly, in seconds, a catcher can get the ball out First, over the last three seasons, [Hughes' ground ball rate of 63% is the second best](https://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=pit&lg=all&qual=150&type=8&season=2019&month=0&season1=2017&ind=0&team=0&rost=0&age=0&filter=&players=0&sort=14,d) of the 210 pitchers who threw 150 innings, so that makes sense.\n\nSecond, just _look_ at this thing. Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole has made no secret of his displeasure with what he perceived as uneven enforcement of the rules. xERA is a simple 1:1 translation of xwOBA, converted to 3,337 rpm -- Lugo 2. +20 r.p.m. Trevor Bauer, CLE: 8.9 inches2. His curveball had an average spin rate of 2,907 rpm, ranking fourth among starting pitchers to throw at least 250 curves last year. The 100-plus rpm difference between the Reds' fastballs and other top teams, and the close to 200 rpm difference from league average fastballs, is significant. Seth Lugo sets Statcast curveball spin record - MLB
