I was looking through some similarity scores and noticed that Burnett and Cain are similar to each other, mostly because they both throw the same five pitches and the velocities are fairly similar as well. However, the frequency with which they use these pitches varies a bit.
It's interesting that these two pitchers are similar because they're both on opposite ends of the xFIP-ERA spectrum, mostly due to their respective home run tendencies. Burnett's HR/9 is 0.93 while Cain's is 0.74. Any discussion as to why that is? I was thinking location, maybe? I've tried splitting this up by count, but it's a long process. One thing I noticed is that Burnett gives up 0.25% more home runs per count than Cain with no strikes. This is pretty much in line with the 0.25% more that he gives up overall. Could a lot of this just have to do with park factors?
Some nice research there bud, solid work. I will say that it isn't exactly a mystery as to why Giants pitchers tend to have less of a home run rate and overall better ERA's.....playing in the 2nd biggest ballpark and one of the best stadiums for pitchers to play in certainly helps. I'm not sure how far back your numbers go, but Burnett with the Yanks probably up'd his numbers over Cain and he was often pulverized in Yankee Stadium and Fenway Park (two of the top hitters ballparks), so that may be why we see a higher rate in Burnett. Honestly though, Matt Cain is just a far superior pitcher, wouldn't ya say?
I am really astonished at how the data and the features on this forum is allowing us to analyze the play of the team's play and a more scrutinized review of the players. Glad to be in this site. The Similarity score feature is really useful when there are debates as to whom is better than another player
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