X
Lost password?

Don't have an account?
Gain Access Now

X

Receive free daily analysis

NFL
NBA
NHL
NASCAR
CFB
MLB
MMA
PGA
ESPORTS
BETTING

Already have an account? Log In

X

Forgot Password


POPULAR FANTASY TOOLS

Expert Advice
Articles & Tools
Import Your Leagues
Draft Rankings
Draft Simulator
Enter League Settings
Compare Any Players
Rookies & Call-Ups
24x7 News and Alerts

Spin Rate: Using Sabermetrics For 2024 Fantasy Baseball

Eury Perez - Fantasy Baseball Rankings, Draft Sleepers, MLB Injury News

Spin rate has become one of the most recognizable Statcast metrics, with supporters of a given pitcher highlighting his spin rates to make their case.

Unfortunately, the baseball world has done a lousy job of conveying what spin rate really means. The result has been a ton of fantasy managers who know spin rate exists, but few who use it to improve their rosters. This article will teach you everything you need to know to fold spin rate into your pitcher evaluations. We'll also illustrate the efficacy of spin rate using Pitch Info data from actual pitchers.

The best way to look for spin rate is to go to the Baseball Savant Leaderboard and select "Pitch Arsenals." It defaults to pitch velocity, but you can click on it to select "Average Spin" to get the information you want. If you want to look up a specific pitcher, you can instead type their name into the search bar at the top-right of the page. Active Spin is its own leaderboard category, and we look at it below as well. Let's get started!

Be sure to check all of our fantasy baseball lineup tools and resources:

 

How to Interpret Spin Rate

Spin rate is measured in RPMs, or Rotations Per Minute. Each pitch type has its own baseline numbers, so a high-spin fastball might have an average spin rate for a curve. Comparing different types of pitches by spin rate is pointless, so try to focus on how any given pitcher's offering compares to the same pitch type thrown by other arms.

So, are higher or lower spin rates better? The answer is that it depends on the type of pitch you're looking at. Let's start with fastballs.

The average spin rate for fastballs ranges from 2,100 RPM to 2,400 RPM. Heaters with spin rates above this range tend to have "late-life" and induce more whiffs than your average heater. They usually have backspin, or spin against gravity, which guides the ball weakly into the air if contact is made. This allows them to post elevated pop-up rates to complement their whiffs.

Eury Perez led all MLB starters in four-seam fastball spin with 2,635 RPM in 2023. That's a bit misleading though as not all of Perez's spin meaningfully contributed to the pitch's movement.

We have to consider "gyro spin," alternatively called "useless spin." If you've ever seen a bullet in slow motion, it rotates slightly while flying straight to its target. That rotation is gyro spin and it has no impact on where the bullet ends up. A metric called "Active Spin" measures how much spin is actually affecting a ball's trajectory.

Perez posted an Active Spin of 94.8% on his fastball last season, a number that sounds pretty good. However, the pitch ranked 199th among qualified pitchers by Active Spin. Perez's fastball had an 8.4% SwStr%, which is good but not great. It was put into the air frequently with a 58.3% FB%, but its 14.3% HR/FB led to more big flies than Perez would've liked. Perez wasted some of his RPMs.

If you're looking for a contact manager instead of a strikeout artist, you want a spin rate below the average range. Low-spin fastballs produce weakly-hit grounders and a lower slugging percentage compared to their high-spin counterparts. Ranger Suarez illustrated this approach nicely last year, as his 1,976 RPM was among the lowest among qualified pitchers. Its Active Spin of 85.5% ranked 457th among qualified pitchers, further reducing movement.

This profile offers less fantasy upside due to the lack of strikeouts but can be a great way to hit your innings minimums or maximums without jeopardizing your ratios.

 

The Importance of Active Spin

Active Spin makes Perez's fastball play down, but the inverse can also be true. For instance, Erik Swanson doesn't possess a great fastball at first glance. He averaged 93.7 mph on the radar gun last year, and its 2,266 RPM spin rate fits squarely into the average range. Its 45.6 Zone% didn't even help him get ahead in the count.

However, Swanson led MLB pitchers with an Active Spin of 99.6%. As a result, the pitch played like a high-spin heater with a 9.8% SwStr%, 53.3% FB%, and 12.5% IFFB%. It's an important weapon for the reliever.

Spin rate sometimes tells the whole story, but looking at Active Spin too provides a more complete picture of how spin affects a pitcher's performance.

 

Evaluating Spin Rate on Secondary Offerings

Breaking pitches usually want high spin rates. Unlike fastballs, breaking offerings have topspin, or spin toward the ground, which can help guide the ball down if contact is made. Breaking pitches tend to be a given pitcher's strikeout offering though, so we generally aren't looking for contact on them. Breaking ball spin rates are therefore the least important to look at but may provide interesting information at times.

Changeups and knucklers are generally most effective with low spin rates, so they move more. However, pitchers may run into issues if an offspeed pitch's lack of spin helps batters differentiate it from the rest of their arsenal.

There are enough variables in play that spin rate should never be considered alone. Instead, start with Pitch Info and then use spin rate to confirm if a given pitch can sustain its elite performance or if it was probably a fluke. The table below provides a baseline to compare repertoires to:

 

Conclusion

To summarize, fastballs can be good with high or low spin rates, but higher spin tends to translate better to fantasy. Breaking pitches typically benefit from higher spin rates. Changeups want as little spin as possible to maximize their movement. Finally, gyro spin can distort spin rate readings, meaning that you should always combine spin rate with other metrics in your analysis. Stay tuned to learn more about how analytics can help you dominate your fantasy baseball leagues in 2024!



Download Our Free News & Alerts Mobile App

Like what you see? Download our updated fantasy baseball app for iPhone and Android with 24x7 player news, injury alerts, sleepers, prospects & more. All free!






POPULAR FANTASY TOOLS

Expert Advice
Articles & Tools
Import Your Leagues
Draft Rankings
Draft Simulator
Enter League Settings
Compare Any Players
Rookies & Call-Ups
24x7 News and Alerts

REAL-TIME FANTASY NEWS

Esteury Ruiz35 mins ago

Designated For Assignment
Shea Langeliers47 mins ago

Sitting On Sunday
Karel Vejmelka49 mins ago

Makes 17th Consecutive Start Sunday
José Ramírez57 mins ago

Tests Return Negative For Jose Ramirez, Could Play On Monday
Arvid Soderblom59 mins ago

Tries To End Four-Game Skid Sunday
Alec Martinez1 hour ago

Misses Fourth Consecutive Game
Corey Seager1 hour ago

Sitting Out On Sunday
Brett de Geus1 hour ago

Miami Designates Brett de Geus For Assignment
Robert Bortuzzo1 hour ago

Activated From Injured Reserve
Olli Määttä1 hour ago

Olli Maatta Considered A Game-Time Call Sunday
Justin Turner1 hour ago

Starting On Sunday
Logan Thompson2 hours ago

Starts Against Sabres Sunday
Iván Herrera2 hours ago

Ivan Herrera Resting On Sunday
Rasmus Dahlin2 hours ago

A Game-Time Call Sunday
Jonathan Ornelas2 hours ago

Promoted To Major-League Roster, Starting On Sunday
Cameron Payne2 hours ago

Ruled Out On Sunday
Trevor Story2 hours ago

Sitting On Sunday
Miles McBride2 hours ago

Remains Out On Sunday
Jo Adell2 hours ago

Feeling Better, Hopes To Return On Monday
Scoot Henderson2 hours ago

Out On Sunday
Brandon Aiyuk2 hours ago

Deadline Coming For Brandon Aiyuk
Jacob deGrom2 hours ago

Expected To Throw 75 Pitches On Sunday
Anfernee Simons2 hours ago

May Miss Sunday's Game
Jordan Westburg2 hours ago

Sitting On Sunday
Josh Jung2 hours ago

Going On Injured List With Neck Spasms
Ty Jerome3 hours ago

Out Again On Sunday
Jordan Walker3 hours ago

Resting On Sunday
Albert Suárez3 hours ago

Albert Suarez Placed On 15-Day Injured List
Kawhi Leonard3 hours ago

Sitting On Sunday Afternoon
Ke'Bryan Hayes3 hours ago

Riding Pine To Start Sunday's Game
Kyle Stowers3 hours ago

Graham Pauley, Kyle Stowers Sitting Against A Lefty
Matt Mervis3 hours ago

Starting On Bench For Series Finale
José Ramírez3 hours ago

Jose Ramirez Out Of Sunday's Lineup, Considered Day-To-Day
Joey Bart3 hours ago

Out On Sunday Against Marlins
Alejandro Kirk4 hours ago

Not In Sunday's Lineup
Josh Berry6 hours ago

Has Top-10 Upside At Martinsville
Joey Logano6 hours ago

Don't Overlook Joey Logano This Weekend
Ryan Preece6 hours ago

Could Get First Three-Race Top-10 Streak Of His Career
Chase Elliott7 hours ago

Looking To Continue Great Runs At Martinsville
Christopher Bell7 hours ago

Wins Pole At Martinsville, But Can He Stay Up There?
Ryan Blaney7 hours ago

Fast In Practice But Skeptical About Car
Leon Draisaitl7 hours ago

Leads The Way In Return
Artemi Panarin7 hours ago

Scores Twice On Saturday
Jake Oettinger7 hours ago

Earns Fifth Straight Victory
Mikko Rantanen8 hours ago

Tallies Three Points On Saturday
SJ8 hours ago

Jimmy Schuldt Injured On Saturday
Colton Sissons8 hours ago

Exits Early On Saturday
Denny Hamlin8 hours ago

New Crew Chief Has Terrible Martinsville Record
Austin Cindric8 hours ago

Martinsville Is Austin Cindric's Best Short Track
Kyle Busch8 hours ago

Short-Track Performance At Richard Childress Racing Is Pretty Dire
Brad Keselowski8 hours ago

If Brad Keselowski Has Any Speed Whatsoever, He's A Killer DFS Option
Noah Gragson8 hours ago

Teammates Will Likely Outrun Him On Sunday
Michael McDowell8 hours ago

Martinsville One Of Michael McDowell's Worst Tracks
Ricky Stenhouse Jr8 hours ago

. Consistently Slow At Martinsville
Erik Jones8 hours ago

Has Worst Qualifying Run At A Track That Already Wasn't His Best
John Hunter Nemechek8 hours ago

Has Fastest Legacy Car, But That's Not Saying A Lot
Riley Herbst8 hours ago

Unlikely To Gain Enough Positions To Justify DFS Play
Cody Ware8 hours ago

Unlikely To Contend At Martinsville
Burt Myers8 hours ago

Southern Modified Legend Burt Myers Makes Cup Series Debut At Martinsville
NASCAR12 hours ago

Bubba Wallace Has Speed At Martinsville This Weekend
Kyle Larson12 hours ago

Should Kyle Larson Be Underestimated As A Favorite At Martinsville?
William Byron12 hours ago

Is Likely To Place In The Top 10 At Martinsville
Dereck Lively II20 hours ago

Ruled Out Versus Chicago
Daniel Gafford20 hours ago

Officially Out On Saturday
P.J. Washington20 hours ago

Available Versus Chicago
Anthony Davis20 hours ago

Available On Saturday Night
Chicago Bears20 hours ago

Doug Kramer Jr. Re-Signs With Chicago
Washington Commanders21 hours ago

Foster Sarell Inks One-Year Contract With Washington
Miami Dolphins21 hours ago

Willie Gay Jr. Heading To Miami
Devin Carter21 hours ago

Won't Return On Saturday
Seattle Seahawks21 hours ago

D'Anthony Bell Signs With Seattle
Marcus Smart21 hours ago

Returning On Saturday Night
Noah Clowney21 hours ago

Available On Saturday
Chet Holmgren21 hours ago

Ruled Out On Saturday
Nikita Zadorov22 hours ago

Set To Rejoin Bruins Lineup Saturday
Chandler Stephenson22 hours ago

A Game-Time Decision Saturday
Connor Zary22 hours ago

Out Week-To-Week
Stuart Skinner22 hours ago

Remains Out On Saturday, Could Miss A Week
Mattias Ekholm23 hours ago

Out Against Flames
Leon Draisaitl23 hours ago

Could Be Back In Action Saturday
Houston Texans1 day ago

Texans Sign E.J. Speed To One-Year Deal
Buffalo Bills1 day ago

Bills, Christian Benford Reach Agreement On Four-Year Extension
D'Angelo Russell1 day ago

Won't Play Versus Washington
Nicolas Claxton1 day ago

Resting On Saturday
Ja Morant1 day ago

Future In Memphis In Doubt?
Detroit Lions2 days ago

Lions Re-Sign Kayode Awosika
Irvin Charles2 days ago

Jets Re-Sign Irvin Charles
Green Bay Packers2 days ago

Kristian Welch Signs With Green Bay
Pittsburgh Steelers2 days ago

Jeremiah Moon Heading To Pittsburgh
Teagan Quitoriano2 days ago

Falcons Sign Teagan Quitoriano
2 days ago

Tetairoa McMillan Scheduled To Visit With Panthers
Baltimore Ravens2 days ago

Ravens Reach Three-Year Contract Extension With John Harbaugh
Duncan Robinson2 days ago

To Miss Third Straight Game Due To Back Issue
Andrew Wiggins2 days ago

Will Not Play On Saturday
Cole Anthony2 days ago

Doubtful To Play On Saturday
Walker Kessler2 days ago

Misses Friday's Game
Pavel Buchnevich2 days ago

Expected To Return On Saturday
Kaiden Guhle2 days ago

Back In Action Friday
Las Vegas Raiders2 days ago

Devin White Signs With Las Vegas
Daniel Jones2 days ago

Gets Vote Of Confidence From Chris Ballard
Stefon Diggs2 days ago

Looking Forward To Playing With Drake Maye
Steve Erceg2 days ago

Looks To Get Back In The Win Column
Brandon Moreno2 days ago

A Favorite At UFC Mexico City
Jacksonville Jaguars2 days ago

Jaguars Cut Dieter Eiselen
Hunter Renfrow2 days ago

Visits Panthers
Manuel Torres2 days ago

Set For Co-Main Event
Drew Dober2 days ago

An Underdog At UFC Mexico City
New England Patriots2 days ago

Patriots Expected To Release Ja'Whaun Bentley
Joe Pyfer2 days ago

Looks To Win Back-To-Back Fights
Kelvin Gastelum2 days ago

Set For Middleweight Matchup
Vince Morales2 days ago

In Dire Need Of Victory
Raul Rosas Jr.2 days ago

Looks To Extend His Win Streak
Kansas City Chiefs2 days ago

Chiefs Re-Sign Nazeeh Johnson
Saimon Oliveira2 days ago

Looks For His First UFC Win
David Martinez2 days ago

Set To Make His UFC Debut
Kevin Borjas2 days ago

Set To Open Up UFC Mexico City Main Card
Ronaldo Rodríguez2 days ago

Ronaldo Rodriguez Looks To Remain Undefeated In The UFC
Jhonattan Vegas4 days ago

Not A Good Play At Houston Open
Gary Woodland4 days ago

A Dark-Horse Candidate At Houston Open
Nick Taylor4 days ago

Keep An Eye On Nick Taylor At Houston Open
Mackenzie Hughes4 days ago

Avoid Mackenzie Hughes At Houston Open
Nicolai Hojgaard4 days ago

Looking To Rebound At Houston Open
Scottie Scheffler4 days ago

Returns To Houston Looking For Year's First Victory
Rory McIlroy4 days ago

Making Additional Start At Houston Open To Prepare For Augusta
Doug Ghim4 days ago

Looking For Iron Form In Houston
Aaron Rai4 days ago

Keep An Eye On Aaron Rai At Houston Open
Si Woo Kim4 days ago

Looks To Build On Recent History At Memorial Park
Harry Hall5 days ago

Looking For Consistency At Texas Children’s Houston Open
Harris English5 days ago

Looking To Build Off Solid Finish At The PLAYERS
Sahith Theegala5 days ago

A Risky Option At Texas Children’s Houston Open
Alex Smalley5 days ago

A Strong Play At Texas Children’s Houston Open
Michael Kim5 days ago

Bounces Back At Valspar Championship
PGA5 days ago

Sungjae Im Looking For Bounce-Back Performance At Texas Children’s Houston Open
Austin Eckroat5 days ago

A Player To Avoid At Texas Children's Houston Open
PGA5 days ago

Nico Echavarria A Volatile Option At Texas Children's Houston Open
Joe Highsmith5 days ago

Continues Post-Win Success And Is Looking For More In Houston
Adam Hadwin5 days ago

Far From Good Form As He Heads To Texas
Ben Griffin5 days ago

Looking For Consistency At Houston Open
RANKINGS
C
1B
2B
3B
SS
OF
SP
RP

RANKINGS

QB
RB
WR
TE
K
DEF