Player stats

Curveball: Average Spin 2018

How fast the ball spins, measured in turns per minute. Only measured pitches are included. More spin is not always better. Uses pitches recorded as curveball.

Season

At least 100 pitches of this type with a spin measurement in this season. Recorded pitch types. Usage divides by all delivered pitches, including unknown types. Speed is in mph, spin in rpm and extension in feet. Averages use measured pitches only. Whiffs divide misses by swings. Data through December 31, 2018. Data refreshed Sep 9, 2026, 10:25 AM UTC.

No. 1 / Curveball: Average Spin / 2018

Garrett Richards

LAA

3252

Season leader

Curveball: Average Spin2018 season
#	Player	Team	CU spin count	Type coverage	CU rpm
1	G. RichardsGarrett Richards	LAA	139	100.0%	3252
2	R. PresslyRyan Pressly	HOU	305	97.8%	3225
3	S. LugoSeth Lugo	NYM	513	99.9%	3174
4	J. StephensJackson Stephens	CIN	103	99.9%	3146
5	C. StrattonChris Stratton	SF	367	99.6%	3109
6	P. JohnsonPierce Johnson	SF	231	99.9%	2971
7	F. ValdezFramber Valdez	HOU	191	100.0%	2929
8	C. MortonCharlie Morton	HOU	786	99.9%	2923
9	A. SanchezAaron Sanchez	TOR	215	99.9%	2916
10	D. NeverauskasDovydas Neverauskas	PIT	133	100.0%	2915
11	J. BiaginiJoe Biagini	TOR	168	99.4%	2902
12	J. VerlanderJustin Verlander	HOU	495	99.8%	2894
13	A. PruittAustin Pruitt	TB	209	99.4%	2891
14	R. HillRich Hill	LAD	753	100.0%	2886
15	S. GraySonny Gray	NYY	499	99.9%	2865
16	D. PetersDillon Peters	MIA	171	98.6%	2861
17	X. CedeñoXavier Cedeño	MIL	184	99.7%	2860
18	A. PlutkoAdam Plutko	CLE	123	99.8%	2848
19	M. FriedMax Fried	ATL	167	100.0%	2840
20	T. ChatwoodTyler Chatwood	CHC	167	99.8%	2826
21	C. CarrascoCarlos Carrasco	CLE	209	96.7%	2825
22	C. FergusonCaleb Ferguson	LAD	206	99.9%	2824
23	R. PorcelloRick Porcello	BOS	434	100.0%	2824
24	C. McHughCollin McHugh	HOU	213	100.0%	2805
25	T. GlasnowTyler Glasnow	TB	325	100.0%	2802
26	K. HendricksKyle Hendricks	CHC	231	99.9%	2795
27	T. RogersTaylor Rogers	MIN	318	95.9%	2793
28	M. StrahmMatt Strahm	SD	123	100.0%	2790
29	A. BusenitzAlan Busenitz	MIN	163	92.9%	2778
30	M. FiersMike Fiers	OAK	422	99.4%	2771
31	J. ArrietaJake Arrieta	PHI	284	100.0%	2771
32	N. RamirezNoé Ramirez	LAA	411	99.9%	2766
33	J. TomlinJosh Tomlin	CLE	259	95.9%	2758
34	T. HunterTommy Hunter	PHI	104	99.9%	2750
35	P. MatonPhil Maton	SD	304	98.1%	2746
36	T. RoarkTanner Roark	WSH	414	99.9%	2744
37	C. BuchholzClay Buchholz	AZ	244	99.9%	2730
38	S. StrasburgStephen Strasburg	WSH	416	99.8%	2729
39	T. OlsonTyler Olson	CLE	171	97.2%	2722
40	W. HarrisWill Harris	HOU	333	100.0%	2720
41	G. GonzalezGio Gonzalez	MIL	624	99.8%	2715
42	D. SmithDrew Smith	NYM	112	99.8%	2713
43	S. NewcombSean Newcomb	ATL	417	99.9%	2713
44	A. WainwrightAdam Wainwright	STL	262	100.0%	2707
45	H. HembreeHeath Hembree	BOS	123	99.8%	2704
46	R. GsellmanRobert Gsellman	NYM	152	99.8%	2699
47	B. MitchellBryan Mitchell	SD	212	95.3%	2699
48	T. ThornburgTyler Thornburg	BOS	126	100.0%	2677
49	M. AndrieseMatt Andriese	AZ	116	100.0%	2676
50	T. SkaggsTyler Skaggs	LAA	605	99.1%	2675

CU rpm: How fast the ball spins, measured in turns per minute. Only measured pitches are included. More spin is not always better. Uses pitches recorded as curveball.

Understanding Curveball: Average Spin

How fast the ball spins, measured in turns per minute. Only measured pitches are included. More spin is not always better. Uses pitches recorded as curveball.

Formula: Sum of recorded spin rates ÷ pitches with spin measurements

Read rates alongside playing time. A small sample can produce an extreme result, and a missing value is different from zero.

Season rankings use regular-season records. A player has one combined row across teams; the team label identifies the associated team, not a separate team stint.

Source: MLB statistics and MLBDB derived measures. Formulas describe the measure above. Data refreshed Sep 9, 2026, 10:25 AM UTC.