Nola Pitching to (Bad) Contact

On SB Nation's Phillies blog, Paul Boyé uses TruMedia's platform and graphics to show how Aaron Nola is succeeding by pitching to bad contact.

"Let’s start with the recently resurgent changeup, which Nola threw a career-high-matching 28 times Friday. He’s thrown 104 of them on the year now, and given up exactly five hits.

The above TruMedia heatmaps represent Nola’s changeup locations and SLG allowed, respectively. He’s locating it exceptionally well, and hitters are doing squat with it. The spots are in line with how he’s normally located the pitch, but he’s hung fewer over the heart of the plate and, as a result, been victimized less. That’s usually a pretty good recipe for success, and the contact rates bear that out so far."

Full article: SB Nation