AdvancedPitching
Location+
A score for whether a pitcher put the ball in a good spot for the count and pitch type, with velocity and movement left out. 100 is average.
100Average
Simple explanation
Where a slider should go on 2-0 is different from where it should go on 1-2. Ahead in the count a pitcher can expand off the plate; behind, he has to come in. Location+ grades how good a choice that spot was in that situation.
It ignores how hard the pitch is thrown or how much it moves; that's Stuff+'s job. Looking at the two separately shows who wins with stuff and who wins with command.
Benchmarks
- 90
- −1 standard deviation
- 110
- +1 standard deviation
At the level of a single pitch, 10 points is one standard deviation. Pitcher-level numbers spread differently.
Detailed explanation
It doesn't try to figure out where the pitcher was aiming. Command stats where human stringers judge intent didn't add predictive value, so Location+ looks only at where the pitch actually went and assumes that, for a given count and pitch type, intent is about the same across the league.
It takes a while to settle. Stuff+ becomes reliable about 80 pitches into a season, Location+ only after something like 400, and it's less sticky from year to year too. That holds even though, on any single pitch, location matters more than stuff.
It's centered at 100 for each pitch type, so pitch types don't differ on average.