I often say that every job I've gotten has been because of Twitter threads and blogs. Speaking of which, I have a new blog out -- check it out and see what some of my worst ideas and Twitter threads have since turned into. https://t.co/VxUXxFGhju

Teammates, roommates, and co-directors all @kzoobaseball - now we’re finally coworkers! Zach was inevitably going to work in MLB because he's just that good, but it's extra cool that we get to do this thing together again because he's also a truly exceptional human.

Coach em up @zachsimm0ns‼️

The best we can do is to take the information available to us and trust that our methods will give us an outline of the future. We can then be excited by what fits within that frame, and ask questions about the outliers. The rest simply must play out on the field.

Spent some time w/ @deanturpin37 compiling data to revamp and improve some of @kzoobaseball's pitch-grading models. Stuff+, Command+, and Pitching+ are all cleaned up - now we just need a bigger (and better) sample to keep building this fall. It's not perfect, but it's progress.

Quick update: I’ve accepted a role with the @Twins as an Analyst in Pro Personnel. Thank you to everyone @DrivelineBB for letting me spend the most formative years of my life at the very place that inspired me to pursue this career in the first place. Can’t wait to get to work!

Blessed to announce that I have accepted a position as a Hitting Intern @DrivelineBB — Tampa! Thank you to @coachott7 for giving me an opportunity to continue my career in baseball and helping me to obtain a position like this. Excited to get to work!

In our latest @DrivelineBB blog, @BentleY__ThomaS and I explore research looking to find some answers about pitcher health and performance adapting to the modern game Our conclusion? How we train and prepare for seasons must adapt 🧵

Can we revive the starting pitcher? We think so, and we believe @DrivelineBB's PULSE could be the key. In our latest blog, written alongside @GetSiggyWithIt_, we break down the data, the trends, and what it will take to make it happen. Read more here: https://t.co/cgFrQkeWOj

So, is 2025 really the year of the cutter? Probably – but not in the way the splitter or sweeper took over. The cutter is a role player, not a headliner. But as more teams recognize its value, more pitchers will use it, and it will continue carving out a clear niche in the game.

In a game increasingly dominated by velocity and movement extremes, the cutter is a counterbalance – it's a pitch that accounts for command, deception, and arsenal completeness. For many pitchers @DrivelineBB, it’s the missing piece in their approach to pitching.

This shift is likely something we could’ve predicted; in a lot of ways, Baumann actually did. FB usage has steadily declined as teams realized more complete pitch distributions create better results. So increased CT usage is really just a natural progression within that shift.

Baumann’s premise was simple: As teams move away from traditional fastballs, they need a fastball alternative that still functions within the context of a complete arsenal. For many pitchers, the cutter is that alternative.

This discussion around cutters isn’t new (nor an original idea of my own) – @MichaelBaumann of @fangraphs, for example, wrote about this idea way back in 2023. You can read more on that here: https://t.co/8GFxH1tz4Z It's a great overview of this trend and why it's happening.

While their small movement profiles hurt them on a Stuff+ basis, they offer significant value in Command+... This means a cutter isn’t just filling movement gaps in an arsenal, it’s also filling command gaps for pitchers who struggle to find the zone.

But cutters aren’t ONLY a bridge between two movement extremes. They’re also an exceptionally command-efficient pitch – one that gives pitchers an option that lands in the zone more easily than a sweeper or traditional big breaking ball.

This is why the cutter’s mediocre Stuff+ grades don’t tell the full story. A cutter’s value doesn’t come from elite movement – it comes from how it fits within an arsenal. In that way, it’s a rising tide that lifts all ships (ie. a pitch that makes every other pitch better).

Cutters serve as a bridge between movement profile extremes – specifically sweepers and four-seam fastballs. By adding a pitch that lives between those two, pitchers introduce an additional layer of deception that makes each pitch harder to anticipate.

A pitch designed to generate huge movement often creates gaps elsewhere in a pitcher’s mix. For many pitchers who have added sweepers, there’s now a glaring separation between their breaking ball and their fastball – making both easier for hitters to ID. The cutter solves this.

Pitch-type trends don’t just appear out of nowhere. They’re almost always a response to a paradigm in the game. The last few years have been defined by the pursuit of movement maximization and outlier profiles, but maximizing one factor always comes with tradeoffs.