Humber’s slider fascination

In a mostly selfish act, I decided to post this collection of Philip Humber charts. Why is this selfish? This will be easy to find here and refer to while at the game with some other Hardball Times folks. I just finished classifying his pitches so I can sound all smart and stuff at the game. OK, enough about me …

Officially, hey, check-out how much Humber uses the slider! The new pitch was noted earlier this season by South Side Sox and Humber is really putting it to use.

As you flip through the images you’ll notice the sliders go *poof* in 2010 and earlier.

The addition of the slider is probably a big key for Humber since his change-up is no great shakes. He seems to have good command of his fastball (check out the heat maps) and a pretty good power curve, so the change-up and sinker are just gravy if this slider is sustainable.