Burnett’s curve among the toughest pitches to hit

In the Wall Street Journal, Darren Everson takes a look at the toughest pitches to hit in baseball, based on the swing and miss percentage on them. Strangely, A’s reliever MIchael Wurtz holds the highest percentage with his slider, which batters miss almost half the time when he buries it low and away. Zach Grienke’s slider and Rich Harden’s changeup are next up, and fourth on the list is A.J. Burnett’s curve, low and in. The article’s pretty short, but make sure to check out the expanded data at Beyond the Boxscore. CC Sabathia generates plenty of swings and misses on his changeup, but in all the other analyses they run the Yanks don’t show up. Both are neat reads on some of the nastiest (and easiest-to-hit) pitches in the game.