Each pitch type this pitcher throws regularly, placed by how the ball moves — sideways break across, rise or drop down the side. Each dotted ring holds about the middle 85% of the league’s pitches of that type, so a cluster sitting outside its ring is movement most pitchers don’t have.

LHP · 3,085 pitches · 2015–2017

FF · 4-Seam Fastball54.1% · 89.9 mph

CH · Changeup18.6% · 82.8 mph

FC · Cutter15.3% · 86.8 mph

CU · Curveball12.1% · 77.0 mph

The dots — a sample of this pitcher’s regular-season pitches, placed by movement: left–right is horizontal break, up–down is induced vertical break (what the pitch does beyond gravity). The view is handedness-neutral — positive break is toward the pitcher’s arm side for lefties and righties alike, so every sinker runs right and every sweeper breaks left, whoever throws it.

The dotted rings — about the middle 85% of where each pitch type lands league-wide (a 2-standard-deviation spread), measured from 7.5 million regular-season pitches since 2015. A cluster sitting well outside its ring is movement most of the league doesn’t get. Spring training and the postseason are excluded.

Ask The Almanac about Justin Nicolino.

Matchups, projections, comps — grounded in Lahman, Retrosheet, and Statcast.

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