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Adam Wainwright will take the mound tonight in game 5 of the World Series. During the 2013 season, Wainwright threw his
curveball 28% of all pitches. In four playoff starts against Pittsburgh, Los Angeles, and Boston, Wainwright has thrown
his curveball an average 37% of his pitches. Depending on how patient Boston is facing his curveball tonight can give a
good indication of how the game will go for them.
One of the few pitches Wainwright has thrown at a consistent percent throughout the playoffs is his curveball. The use
of his cutter has more than doubled and he threw 23 less sinkers against Boston than he did against Pittsburgh.
In his first playoff appearance against the Pirates on October 3rd, Wainwright dominated with the use of his curveball.
He threw 23 of his 31 curveballs in the bottom third of the strike zone or below and the Pirates swung and missed on 11 of them.
4 of these swing and misses were in the bottom third of the zone and 7 of these pitches were below the strike zone.
With a lack of patience, the Pirates took only 4 curveballs out of the strike zone and 11 of their outs were the direct result
of a curveball being thrown while Wainwright was on the mound.
It wasn’t so easy against Boston though, a much more patient team that takes pitchers deep into counts. The Red Sox were
second in both leagues for at-bats with a full count, first for at-bats with a 3-1 count and third for at-bats with a 2-2 count.
They were more reluctant to swing at Wainwright’s curveballs during Game 1 and the results showed.
Against Boston in the first game of the World Series, Wainwright threw his curveball 35 times. 11 of these pitches were in
the bottom third and 9 of these curveballs were below the zone. Unlike Pittsburgh, Boston swung and missed at only 3 curveballs
all game and only 4 curveballs directly resulted in an out. Boston took 11 curveballs for balls, 9 of which were below the
strike zone.
Wainwright keeps his curveball roughly 1 foot lower in the zone than his other pitches. Boston, with more patience than
Pittsburgh, was able to take most of his curveballs, which resulted in balls. Boston had only 3 hits off of Wainwright’s
curveball in Game 1, but the ability to take pitches low in the zone allowed them to get into better hitter situations and
see better pitches. It will be interesting to see if Wainwright throws a high percentage of his pitches as curveballs
during Game 5.
NOTE: All statistics accurate as of 10/27/13
By Danny Malter
AriBall.com
