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Evaluate a Pitcher's Repertoire

Break down a pitcher's arsenal by examining usage, location, and performance for each pitch type. In this example, we'll evaluate Gerrit Cole's repertoire using TruMedia's pitching Overview charts and Splits tab.

Difficulty: Intermediate · Estimated time: 5–10 minutes

Prerequisites​

  • Access to the MLB demo site
  • Familiarity with basic navigation (player pages, tabs)

What You'll Learn​

  • How to view pitch frequency, heat maps, and hit charts on the Overview tab
  • How to read per-pitch-type splits on the Splits tab
  • How to interpret traditional pitching stats broken down by pitch type

Step 1: Navigate to a pitcher's stats page​

Go to a pitcher's individual pitching stats page. In this example, we'll analyze Gerrit Cole's full repertoire across all available seasons.

tip

You can reach any pitcher's page by searching for their name in the search bar at the top of any page, or by clicking their name on a leaderboard or roster.

Navigate to a pitcher's stats page

Step 2: View the Overview charts​

The Overview tab displays three side-by-side chart panels that give you an immediate visual read on the pitcher's tendencies:

Heat Map (left) shows pitch location density — red areas indicate where the pitcher throws most frequently. Heat Grid (center) breaks the strike zone into cells with exact frequency percentages. Hit Chart (right) plots batted ball outcomes across the field, color-coded by result type.

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Toggle between Pitch Frequency, White Background, and HOTCOLD views on the Heat Map, and between different zone breakdowns on the Heat Grid to see different aspects of the location profile.

View the Overview charts

Step 3: Open the Splits tab​

Click Splits in the player sub-navigation to open the full splits breakdown. This tab shows the pitcher's stats sliced across every available dimension — venue, batter hand, season, month, inning, pitch type, batted ball type, zone location, count, and more.

info

The Splits tab loads all split dimensions at once in a single scrollable table. The Pitch Type section is further down — scroll past Venue, Batter Hand, Seasons, Month, Day/Night, and Inning to find it.

Open the Splits tab

Step 4: Find the Pitch Type breakdown​

Scroll down to the Pitch Type section. Each row represents a different pitch in the pitcher's arsenal — Fastball (4S), Cutter, Slider, Curveball, Changeup, Sweeper, and others.

The table shows traditional pitching stats for each pitch type including total pitches, innings pitched, ERA, WHIP, FIP, K/9, BB/9, and batting average against. This lets you directly compare the effectiveness of each pitch.

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Look at the P (pitches) column to identify the pitcher's primary pitches by volume, then compare ERA and WHIP across pitch types to see which ones are most and least effective.

Find the Pitch Type breakdown

Key Takeaway​

A pitcher's repertoire is more than just what pitches they throw — it's how each pitch is located, how often it's used, and how effective it is. TruMedia's Overview charts give you a visual snapshot of pitch location and frequency, while the Splits tab lets you compare traditional and advanced stats across every pitch type in the arsenal.

Next Steps​