Rich Harden - Two Pitch Pitcher

Last time Rich Harden threw a slider was in 2007. Or, at least in a PITCHf/x game. It is pretty well known, in 2008, that he's left sliders and splitters behind, and throws a fastball and a change-up. The change-up is extra tough, since he can throw it a few ways with a single grip (circle). With no distinguishable difference from his fastball's arm speed, and his ability to dial the fastball up-and-down the speedometer, he can be nearly impossible to hit. He's around the plate, so it does happen (more than his share of home runs), but not often.

The following numbers are for all of Rich Harden's games that are available with PITCHf/x data. They do not include his August 24 start. Tables are sortable, images can be clicked to enlarge.

cfx	L	R	mph	pfx_x	pfx_z	deg	rpm	B:CS	corner%	Sw%	Whiff%	SwOZ%	TaIZ%	HR%	NKS	G:AO
CH	322	362	85.7	-1.0	4.6	191	608	3.0	10.09	57.75	46.84	43.50	17.85	0.7	0.571	1.5
FA	583	617	92.9	-3.6	11.4	197	1,583	2.3	11.08	46.92	19.89	30.09	24.19	0.4	0.443	0.3
SL	3	5	85.0	3.9	0.8	125	511		0.00	37.50	33.33	16.67	0.00	0.0	0.500
	908	984	90.3	-2.6	8.9	195	1,226	2.5	10.68	50.79	31.01	34.92	21.90	0.5	0.486	0.5

The whiff rates are sky high for both of his pitches - there are not enough sliders to comment on here. The B:CS ratio is a above league (2.2 last I checked). The change-up isn't bad considering the movement and intent, but the fastball is on the high side.

The most important image in the next series is probably the last, or the last two.













The flight paths paint a scary picture for hitters.

Here are Harden's Out of Zone/In Strike Zone numbers.

#	iT	iSw	iWh	oT	oSw	oW
1892	288	668	157	641	293	141

izR	iSwR	oSwR	SwR	iWhR	oWhR	WhR
0.506	0.699	0.314	0.508	0.235	0.481	0.310

Breaking that down by month, starting with May 2008.

May	y	izR	iSwR	oSwR	SwR	iWhR	oWhR	WhR
May	2008	0.537	0.695	0.266	0.496	0.230	0.551	0.310
Jun	2008	0.474	0.713	0.345	0.519	0.215	0.538	0.328
Jul	2008	0.487	0.680	0.341	0.506	0.241	0.465	0.318
Aug	2008	0.513	0.706	0.316	0.516	0.198	0.372	0.250

Now by pitch

cfx	#	iT	iSw	iWh	oT	oSw	oW
CH	684	84	247	85	204	148	100
FA	1200	203	419	72	433	144	40

cfx	#	izR	iSwR	oSwR	SwR	iWhR	oWhR	WhR
CH	684	0.485	0.746	0.420	0.578	0.344	0.676	0.468
FA	1200	0.519	0.674	0.250	0.470	0.172	0.278	0.199

And, starting in May, by pitch by month

month	year	cfx	izR	iSwR	oSwR	SwR	iWhR	oWhR	WhR
May	2008	CH	0.514	0.716	0.329	0.528	0.377	0.826	0.513
Jun	2008	CH	0.447	0.763	0.489	0.612	0.310	0.739	0.500
Jul	2008	CH	0.470	0.757	0.457	0.598	0.359	0.642	0.473
Aug	2008	CH	0.455	0.775	0.354	0.545	0.258	0.529	0.354

month	year	cfx	izR	iSwR	oSwR	SwR	iWhR	oWhR	WhR
May	2008	FA	0.549	0.683	0.228	0.478	0.147	0.308	0.182
Jun	2008	FA	0.491	0.684	0.246	0.461	0.154	0.265	0.184
Jul	2008	FA	0.497	0.634	0.264	0.448	0.156	0.261	0.187
Aug	2008	FA	0.539	0.680	0.295	0.503	0.171	0.269	0.198

That's a lot of numbers. He looks consistent with the fastball, especially when you consider the small-ish sample size for August. The change-up seems to be getting less misses out of the zone, but, you're dealing with small numbers at that point, as seen in this next table.

month	year	cfx	oSw	oW
May	2008	CH	23	19
Jun	2008	CH	46	34
Jul	2008	CH	53	34
Aug	2008	CH	17	9

The Cubs acquired Harden in early July, so, if you squint and think of the May/June as AL and July/August as NL, you could make the claim that NL hitters chase change-ups less than AL hitters. Not saying that I'm making that claim, but you can.

Just One More Thing

To clarify those now retired sliders, here's a comparison of the change-ups and sliders from 7/7/2007 - the only game where the slider appears.

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