Ryan Madson f/x - The Bridge to Lidge

Ryan Madson has emerged as the bridge to Brad Lidge. According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, Madson has tweaked his delivery and gotten more out of his change-up.

Lidge went 41 for 41 save opportunities during the season. He is 4 for 4 in the postseason. Madson has emerged as his setup man. He made a small mechanical adjustment to his delivery after he allowed three runs in an appearance against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field on Aug. 28. The fix has added more velocity to his fastball, which has made his changeup even more impressive. He is 1-0 with a 0.87 ERA (two earned runs in 20 2/3 innings) in 19 appearances since he faced the Cubs, including the playoffs.

As if he needed more. Going back to 2007, Ryan Madson sports a whiff rate in excess of 49% on his change-up. It's a straight change, a good dozen MPH off the heat.

Tables are sortable, images clickable.

PITCHf/x details:

cfx	#	mph	pfx_x	pfx_z	deg	rpm
CH	319	81.5	-9.2	7.3	229.2	1,383.3
CU	42	78.0	2.2	-7.8	194.4	937.7
FA	678	93.5	-8.3	8.5	223.5	1,604.9
FC	311	90.5	-2.3	6.0	199.6	878.2

Outcomes:

cfx	#	LHH	RHH	Swing	Whiff	B:CS	ISZ	Paint	Chase	Watch
CH	319	140	179	0.6113	0.4923	5.2	0.3448	0.0940	0.4833	0.1455
CU	42	18	24	0.3333	0.1429	2.5	0.3810	0.0714	0.2692	0.5625
FA	678	314	364	0.5074	0.1395	1.7	0.4145	0.1563	0.4156	0.3630
FC	311	133	178	0.4598	0.1818	3.3	0.4341	0.1093	0.3011	0.3333
	1350	605	745	0.5156	0.2471	2.4	0.4015	0.1281	0.4035	0.3173

Pitch selection by count:

#	B	S	LHH	CH LHH	CU LHH	FA LHH	FC LHH	RHH	CH RHH	CU RHH	FA RHH	FC RHH
372	0	0	164	0.1524	0.0305	0.5305	0.2866	208	0.1010	0.0529	0.4952	0.3510
161	0	1	65	0.3231	0.0769	0.3385	0.2615	96	0.3333	0.0208	0.4688	0.1771
86	0	2	31	0.1290	0.1290	0.5484	0.1935	55	0.3273	0.0364	0.5636	0.0727
149	1	0	74	0.2297	0.0000	0.6622	0.1081	75	0.1200	0.0000	0.5200	0.3600
142	1	1	62	0.2097	0.0161	0.3065	0.4677	80	0.2750	0.0375	0.4375	0.2500
121	1	2	48	0.4375	0.0208	0.3958	0.1458	73	0.4110	0.0685	0.3836	0.1370
37	2	0	24	0.1667	0.0000	0.7083	0.1250	13	0.0000	0.0000	0.8462	0.1538
74	2	1	38	0.2368	0.0000	0.6053	0.1579	36	0.3889	0.0000	0.3611	0.2500
108	2	2	47	0.3404	0.0426	0.4255	0.1915	61	0.3770	0.0164	0.4098	0.1967
13	3	0	8	0.0000	0.0000	1.0000	0.0000	5	0.0000	0.0000	0.8000	0.2000
25	3	1	15	0.1333	0.0000	0.8000	0.0667	10	0.1000	0.0000	0.9000	0.0000
62	3	2	29	0.2759	0.0000	0.7241	0.0000	33	0.2727	0.0000	0.6364	0.0909

Spin Movement (in inches, deviation from path of a straigh pitch; catcher's view):



Flight Paths



Month by Month

Next, I'm comparing monthly fastball speed to change-up and fastball whiff rates, plus change-up chase rates, since Madson's change is a frequently meant to miss the zone.

Month	FA MPH	FA Whiff	CH Whiff	CH Chase
April	91.6	0.022	0.378	0.525
May	92.3	0.210	0.448	0.385
June	92.4	0.158	0.571	0.484
July	94.2	0.069	0.733	0.318
August	94.7	0.040	0.650	0.500
September	95.5	0.241	0.500	0.645
October	95.7	0.250	0.357	0.556

The bump in fastball velocity seems gradual, all season. The recent increase corresponds with a big jump in the fastball whiff rate and change-up chase rate. What that means is anyone's guess. But Madson, with a blazing fastball and a wicked change, along with a cutter and the occasional yellow hammer, is a formidable set-up man for the league's hottest closer.