For example, you may pronate your wrist very naturally during ball release. Some pitchers are naturally predisposed (or not) to certain pitch types, after all. This could be altered with a change in grip and release, but since I don’t have access to that data, we’re going to go off the asumption that Feltner’s natural way to release a baseball doesn’t lend itself to perfect backspin. Feltner has a solid amount of raw spin on his heater (2352 RPM this year, 75th percentile), but he doesn’t spin his fastball efficiently -his active spin is below 80%, which means that of all his raw spin, less than 80% of it is contributing to pitch movement. Ideally, you want your four-seamer to “rise” thanks to backspin (think Justin Verlander, Dwight Gooden, etc). Feltner’s velocity has already seen an uptick this season compared to previous seasons, but it’s not reasonable to assume he can safely average 96-98 instead of 94-96. Since drastic changes in mechanics that could lead to a better fastball (lower release point, more extension) are tough to make at this stage and we’re going to keep things relatively simple, the only ways to make your fastball better are increasing velocity, increasing movement, improving location/sequencing or a mix of them all. Throw an improved version of that fastball.The Rox as a whole throw too many fastballs, but we’re tackling Ryan Feltner and not the Colorado Rockies as a whole, so let’s “dismiss” this solution. While Feltner does throw a relatively high amount of fastballs, that’s not a Feltner problem -it’s a Rockies problem. Fastball usage has dropped significantly since the early 2000’s, as pitching strategy has gone from “establish your fastball” to “establish your best pitch and don’t throw your bad ones”. This solution has been employed by MLB pitchers as a whole over the last 20 years or so. So how does one overcome a middling four-seam fastball? In general, there are three solutions: Average velocity + average extension + relatively flat shape + average release point + Coors + a lack of sniper-like precision when commanding it = take a good look, you won’t see it for long. Couple that with unremarkable movement (some of that being courtesy of Coors Field) and a pretty conventional release point (Feltner throws slightly less over the top than average but it’s not a big difference, just over half a foot), and you have a recipe for a pitch that’s destined to get destroyed.
MLB four-seamers are about 94 MPH on average, and Feltner’s extension of 6.4 feet is the exact MLB average. So what’s the deal? Well, the velocity and extension are virtually average. And Feltner is not a short strider like, for example, Germán Márquez, so his perceived velocity doesn’t suffer more than usual. It’s been 94.3 MPH on average, after all (and he’s gained velo this year). Well, it’s just a very average fastball, even if it might not look like it right away. I’m sure you don’t need me to tell you that your fastball being hit like the slash line of the greatest first baseman of the integration era is suboptimal. Ryan Feltner has experienced this up close in the majors: batters have hit a whopping. MLB hitters are too good at crushing heaters, and if a pitch moves in a predictable way, they’re going to destroy it. In baseball, throwing an average fastball in an average way is a death sentence. Let’s talk about Ryan Feltner’s fastballs. Behind that surface, though, there are some interesting things going on with his pitch mix that could lead him to future success. He’s had issues with homers, giving up 13 of them, and his walk and strikeout rates haven’t been anything out of the ordinary.
The right-hander has put up a less-than-stellar 5.85 ERA across 72.1 innings (14 starts) and while his 4.85 FIP is a bit more shiny, it’s still not what you’d call great. It would be easy to look at Ryan Feltner’s surface level stats and dismiss his rookie season.