Yesterday I talked a bit about the players who lost the most off their fastball. Today I want to look at the big gainers. As you might imagine, most of the people on this list are relatively young and still working on strength and form to maximize the fastball.
The top guy on the list is Justin Masterson. Masterson was traded at the deadline from the Red Sox to the Indians. He is a relatively young pitcher still tinkering with his motion and maturing, so it is not surprise he threw his fastball almost 3 MPH faster.
Nick Masset was the other main gainer, and he enjoyed his finest season at 27 years old because of it. A lifetime reliever, he was 5-1 with a 2.37 ERA for the Reds, well below his 3.97 career ERA.
At the bottom of the list is a pair of once great pitchers probably getting healthy again. Barry Zito has struggled since arriving in San Francisco, but had his best season in a while in 2009 thanks to a little more zip on his fastball. Brad Penny has always been a hard thrower until around 2008, but that could have be due to nagging injuries since he responded nicely in 2009.
Below is the entire top 10 gainers. These lists were pretty interesting because of it gives reason as to why some of these players struggled so much or had their best seasons. Speed isn't everything for pitchers, but an extra MPH or two does usually make your overall statistics better. It will be interesting to see who starts throwing a little harder in 2010.
Justin Masterson, 2.8
Nick Masset, 2.6
Matt Capps, 2.1
Ryan Madson, 2.1
Kevin Correia, 2
Justin Verlander, 2
Mark Lowe, 2
Huston Street, 1.7
Barry Zito, 1.6
Brad Penny, 1.6
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