Player stats

Curveball: Average Spin 2020

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, 2020. Data refreshed Sep 9, 2026, 10:14 AM UTC.

No. 1 / Curveball: Average Spin / 2020

Lucas Sims

CIN

3349

Season leader

Curveball: Average Spin2020 season
#	Player	Team	CU spin count	Type coverage	CU rpm
1	L. SimsLucas Sims	CIN	141	100.0%	3349
2	S. LugoSeth Lugo	NYM	118	100.0%	3213
3	F. ValdezFramber Valdez	HOU	351	100.0%	2982
4	P. JohnsonPierce Johnson	SD	168	100.0%	2969
5	S. GraySonny Gray	CIN	275	100.0%	2955
6	T. GlasnowTyler Glasnow	TB	335	100.0%	2939
7	C. SadlerCasey Sadler	SEA	129	100.0%	2927
8	J. StaumontJosh Staumont	KC	130	100.0%	2923
9	C. MortonCharlie Morton	TB	216	100.0%	2887
10	A. AlzolayAdbert Alzolay	CHC	107	100.0%	2880
11	J. BrubakerJT Brubaker	PIT	110	100.0%	2857
12	R. HillRich Hill	MIN	269	100.0%	2844
13	A. CivaleAaron Civale	CLE	254	100.0%	2839
14	E. YardleyEric Yardley	MIL	120	100.0%	2814
15	K. HendricksKyle Hendricks	CHC	192	99.0%	2811
16	A. VothAustin Voth	WSH	210	100.0%	2811
17	A. WainwrightAdam Wainwright	STL	356	100.0%	2791
18	N. TurleyNik Turley	PIT	146	100.0%	2791
19	M. FriedMax Fried	ATL	202	100.0%	2787
20	M. ScherzerMax Scherzer	WSH	110	100.0%	2782
21	C. BrewerColten Brewer	BOS	149	100.0%	2781
22	T. RoarkTanner Roark	TOR	131	100.0%	2760
23	T. LakinsTravis Lakins	BAL	105	100.0%	2727
24	J. MusgroveJoe Musgrove	PIT	134	100.0%	2712
25	J. TomlinJosh Tomlin	ATL	146	100.0%	2712
26	E. MarshallEvan Marshall	CWS	121	99.7%	2710
27	G. GonzalezGio Gonzalez	CWS	118	100.0%	2708
28	A. BriceAustin Brice	BOS	134	100.0%	2692
29	M. FiersMike Fiers	OAK	112	100.0%	2675
30	D. Ponce de LeonDaniel Ponce de Leon	STL	136	100.0%	2661
31	Z. WheelerZack Wheeler	PHI	109	99.9%	2621
32	M. KellyMerrill Kelly	AZ	105	100.0%	2614
33	L. LynnLance Lynn	TEX	119	99.9%	2609
34	R. ErlinRobbie Erlin	ATL	125	100.0%	2587
35	S. CrichtonStefan Crichton	AZ	148	100.0%	2584
36	N. RamirezNoé Ramirez	LAA	104	100.0%	2576
37	J. LesterJon Lester	CHC	129	100.0%	2569
38	K. BubicKris Bubic	KC	147	99.9%	2567
39	A. HeaneyAndrew Heaney	LAA	265	100.0%	2550
40	H. Jin RyuHyun Jin Ryu	TOR	149	100.0%	2542
41	C. KershawClayton Kershaw	LAD	143	100.0%	2536
42	C. GreenChad Green	NYY	106	100.0%	2528
43	T. ToussaintTouki Toussaint	ATL	142	100.0%	2528
44	J. LylesJordan Lyles	TEX	296	100.0%	2501
45	M. BumgarnerMadison Bumgarner	AZ	161	100.0%	2493
46	S. BarlowScott Barlow	KC	109	100.0%	2468
47	G. CabreraGénesis Cabrera	STL	121	100.0%	2464
48	R. CastellaniRyan Castellani	COL	129	100.0%	2459
49	B. SnellBlake Snell	TB	125	100.0%	2445
50	G. DaytonGrant Dayton	ATL	180	100.0%	2441

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, 10:14 AM UTC.