Michael Blazek
P | Bats/Throws: R/R | 6' 0" 205LBS | Age: 35
Draft: 2007 | Rd: 35, #1068, St. Louis Cardinals | Arbor View (NV) HS
W L ERA G GS SV IP SO WHIP
2016 3 1 5.66 41 0 0 41.1 36 1.91
2017 0 1 8.31 5 1 0 8.2 7 1.50
2019 0 0 7.20 4 0 0 5 0 2.20
5 Seasons 8 6 4.50 113 1 0 128 104 1.48
G W-L ERA IP SO WHIP
2016 41 3-1 5.66 41.1 36 1.91
2017 5 0-1 8.31 8.2 7 1.50
2019 4 0-0 7.20 5 0 2.20
5 Seasons 113 8-6 4.50 128 104 1.48
MLB Percentile Rankings
Movement Profile (Induced Break)
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Statcast Statistics

Season Age Pitches Batted
Balls
Barrels Barrel % Barrel/PA Exit
Velocity
Max EV Launch
Angle
LA Sweet-
Spot %
XBA XSLG WOBA XWOBA XWOBACON HardHit% K% BB% ERA xERA
2015 26 863 156 5 3.2 2.3 86.1 108.1 8.8 28.2 .222 .319 .248 .275 .310 30.1 21.2 8.1 2.42 3.10
2016 27 818 136 12 8.8 6.0 88.0 110.8 12.7 36.0 .264 .453 .391 .352 .380 33.1 17.9 13.4 5.66 5.38
2017 28 147 29 6 20.7 16.2 89.4 111.8 19.6 44.8 .320 .775 .505 .456 .562 31.0 18.9 2.7 8.31 10.51
2019 30 86 21 2 9.5 7.7 91.0 108.0 28.4 33.3 .287 .605 .388 .427 .364 33.3 0.0 19.2 7.20 9.04
Player 1914 342 25 7.3 5.1 87.4 111.8 12.5 33.0 .250 .424 .334 .328 .362 31.6 18.5 10.5
MLB 7.0 4.8 88.5 122.4 12.3 33.2 .245 .405 .316 .315 .368 36.5 22.2 8.4
! Note: All figures in this table cover the period 2015-present.

Statcast Pitch Arsenal

Blazek relies on 4 pitches.
Four Seamer
(72.1%) ,
Slider
(17.4%) ,
Changeup
(7.0%) ,
Curveball
(3.5%) ,


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Pitch Tracking



Batted Ball Profile

Season GB % FB % LD % PU % Pull % Straight % Oppo % Weak % Topped % Under % Flare/Burner % Solid % Barrel % Barrel/PA
2015 48.7 19.2 26.3 5.8 35.9 38.5 25.6 4.5 39.7 26.3 23.1 1.9 3.2 2.3
2016 44.1 22.8 25.0 8.1 27.9 46.3 22.8 2.9 35.3 24.3 20.6 5.9 8.8 6.0
2017 31.0 31.0 31.0 6.9 48.3 37.9 13.8 3.4 17.2 24.1 24.1 6.9 20.7 16.2
2019 14.3 42.9 23.8 19.0 28.6 42.9 28.6 0.0 14.3 52.4 19.0 4.8 9.5 7.7
Player 43.3 23.1 26.0 7.6 33.3 41.8 23.7 3.5 34.5 26.9 21.9 4.1 7.3 5.1
MLB 44.4 23.8 24.7 7.1 37.2 37.5 25.2 3.9 32.6 24.8 24.4 5.9 7.0 4.8
! Note: All figures in this table cover the period 2015-present.

Pitch Movement


How this works: This section shows two different ways to evaluate pitch movement. On the left, “Total Movement” shows the real-world movement of a pitch, including the forces of gravity, which affects every pitch thrown. Since gravity requires time, and slower pitches aren't 'better' just because they have more time to move, a pitch's movement is compared to other pitches of the same pitch type, within +/- 2 MPH and +/- 0.5 feet of extension/release. On the right, Induced Movement (or IVB) is reported without gravity, and attempts to isolate movement created by the pitcher's ability to spin and manipulate the ball.
Total Movement (in inches, w/ gravity)Induced Movement (in inches, w/o gravity)
YearPitchTeamHand#MPHVertical
Drop
vs.
Comparable
Horizontal
Break
vs.
Comparable
Vertical
Break
vs. AvgHorizontal
Break
vs. Avg
2019 Curveball WSH R 3 79.2 52.1 -2.2 9.7GLV -0.1 -7.5 -2.2 9.7GLV 0.5
2019 Slider WSH R 15 88.7 26.6 -4.8 3.2GLV -0.1 8.4 -6.6 3.2GLV -1.9
2019 Changeup WSH R 6 86.6 25.9 -3.3 12.1ARM -1.7 10.0 -3.1 12.1ARM -1.4
2019 4-Seam Fastball WSH R 62 95.2 13.6 1.6 10.9ARM 2.8 17.0 1.4 10.9ARM 3.4
2017 4-Seam Fastball MIL R 68 92.9 13.2 1.3 11.7ARM 3.8 18.7 1.6 11.7ARM 3.6
2017 Sinker MIL R 18 92.1 17.7 -3.3 15.6ARM 1.0 14.8 -4.0 15.6ARM 0.2
2017 Changeup MIL R 14 85.4 24.7 -3.7 13.2ARM -0.3 12.7 -4.2 13.2ARM -0.4
2017 Slider MIL R 39 84.9 32.3 -2.4 4.6GLV 1.0 6.0 -2.4 4.6GLV 0.4
2017 Curveball MIL R 8 77.2 48.4 -6.3 11.3GLV 2.4 -1.9 -6.1 11.3GLV 2.7
! Note: Years are in reverse order.

Run Values by Pitch Type

Year Pitch Type Team RV/100 Run Value Pitches % PA BA SLG wOBA Whiff% K% PutAway % xBA xSLG xwOBA Hard Hit %
2019 4-Seam Fastball -1.2 -1 62 72.1 22 .235 .471 .389 4.0 0.0 0.0 .257 .640 .438 35.3
2019 Slider -2.9 0 15 17.4 3 .667 .667 .600 40.0 0.0 0.0 .551 .611 .505 33.3
2019 Changeup 2.1 0 6 7.0 1 .000 .000 .000 50.0 0.0 -- .000 .000 .000 0.0
2019 Curveball 3.0 0 3 3.5 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
2017 4-Seam Fastball -4.4 -3 68 46.3 14 .429 .929 .568 6.7 0.0 0.0 .420 .915 .554 28.6
2017 Slider 2.0 1 39 26.5 13 .154 .615 .308 38.1 38.5 41.7 .202 .591 .320 37.5
2017 Sinker -10.0 -2 18 12.2 7 .600 1.200 .750 0.0 0.0 0.0 .342 .653 .462 16.7
2017 Changeup -3.4 0 14 9.5 3 .333 1.333 .667 66.7 66.7 40.0 .324 1.119 .581 100.0
2017 Curveball -2.0 0 8 5.4 -- -- -- 100.0 -- 0.0 -- -- -- --
! Note: Years are in reverse order.
! Note: To better align with other values, positive numbers (red) are good, and negative numbers (blue) are poor.

Statcast Pitching Run Value

Runs
Year Team PA Pitches Heart Shadow Chase Waste All
2013 84 334 1 3 -4 -2 -2
2015 221 862 9 6 -2 -3 9
2016 198 806 2 -1 -6 -4 -9
2017 37 147 -4 1 -2 0 -5
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Plate Discipline

Season Pitches Zone % Zone Swing % Zone Contact % Chase % Chase Contact % Edge % 1st Pitch Strike % Swing % Whiff % Meatball % Meatball Swing %
2015 863 42.4 57.9 84.0 29.2 55.9 39.3 62.6 41.4 26.9 8.0 49.3
2016 818 46.0 63.3 82.8 25.1 53.2 41.7 58.7 42.7 23.8 6.8 66.1
2017 147 53.7 64.6 78.4 30.9 61.9 46.9 62.2 49.0 25.0 6.1 44.4
2019 86 47.7 65.9 92.6 11.1 60.0 34.9 57.7 37.2 12.5 15.1 61.5
Player 1,914 45.0 61.3 83.3 26.8 55.3 40.7 60.7 42.3 24.8 7.7 56.5
MLB 48.7 67.0 82.0 28.5 57.8 42.6 61.0 47.2 25.0 7.3 76.3
! Note: All figures in this table cover the period 2015-present.

Percentile Rankings

Year xwOBA /
xERA
xBA xSLG xISO xOBP Brl Brl% EV Hard
Hit%
K% BB% Whiff% Chase
Rate
FB
Velo
FB
Spin
CB
Spin
Extension
2015 82 76 87 90 72 91 88 92 73 56 39 79 47 60 83 22 49
2016 64 87 55 26
2017 47 78 57
2019 78 77 46
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Expected Home Runs

Adjusted

Year Team Avg HR Trot Actual HR xHR HR-xHR Doubters Mostly Gone No Doubters No Doubter %
2016 22.2 7 6.6 0 1 5 2 28.6
2017 22.2 6 5.9 0 1 3 3 50.0
2019 21.7 1 1.0 0 0 0 1 100.0
Player 22.2 14 13.5 1 2 8 6 42.9
Note: xHR tells how many of this pitcher's home runs allowed would have been out of other stadiums. The "Adjusted" view here accounts for different wall heights, distances and environmental effects using Statcast Park Factor data.
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Expected Home Runs by Park

Adjusted

Year HR
2016 7 7 6 6 6 6 7 6 5 7 7 7 7 6 7 8 5 7 7 7 7 6 7 8 6 6 6 8 7 7 5
2017 6 6 4 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 7 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 5
2019 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
Player 14 14 11 13 13 13 14 13 12 14 14 15 14 13 14 15 12 14 14 14 14 13 14 15 13 13 13 15 14 14 11
Note: xHR tells how many of this pitcher's home runs allowed would have been out of other stadiums. The "Adjusted" view here accounts for different wall heights, distances and environmental effects using Statcast Park Factor data.
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Year to Year Changes

Metric 2015 2016 +/-   2017 +/-  
Fastball Velocity 93.5 93.7 0.2 92.7 -1.0
Offspeed Velocity 84.7 86.7 2.0 85.4 -1.3
Breaking Velocity 80.0 81.1 1.1 83.6 2.5
Exit Velocity 86.1 88.0 1.9 89.4 1.4
Launch Angle 8.8 12.7 3.9 19.6 6.9
Barrel % 3.2 8.8 5.6 20.7 11.9
Hard Hit % 30.1 33.1 3.0 31.0 -2.1
LA Sweet-Spot % 28.2 36.0 7.8 44.8 8.8
xBA .222 .264 0.042 .320 0.056
BA .200 .311 0.111 .343 0.032
xwOBA .275 .352 0.077 .456 0.104
wOBA .248 .391 0.143 .505 0.114
xSLG .319 .453 0.134 .775 0.322
SLG .290 .527 0.237 .886 0.359
K% 21.2 17.9 -3.3 18.9 1.0
BB% 8.1 13.4 5.3 2.7 -10.7
Swing % 41.4 42.7 1.3 49.0 6.3
Whiff% 26.9 23.8 -3.1 25.0 1.2
In Zone % 42.4 46.0 3.6 53.7 7.7
Out of Zone % 57.6 54.0 -3.6 46.3 -7.7
Out of Zone Swing % 29.2 25.1 -4.1 30.9 5.8
First Pitch Swing % 21.2 23.4 2.2 27.0 3.6
First Pitch Strike % 62.6 58.7 -3.9 62.2 3.5
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Statcast Fielder Positioning

vs RHHvs LHH
YearAlignment TypePAwOBAPATotal%PATotal%
2016 Shifts 194 .386 113 13 11.5 81 25 30.9
2017 Shifts 37 .505 20 8 40.0 17 9 52.9
2019 Shifts 26 .388 13 0 0.0 13 2 15.4
! Note: Shifts are through the 2022 season, Shaded starting from the 2023 season, Shift: three or more infielders are on the same side of second base, Shade: positioned outside of their typical responsible slices of the field.
Learn more about how positioning is defined here

Pitch Tempo

Bases EmptyRunners On Base
SeasonTeamPitchesTempoFast %Slow %PitchesTempoFast %Slow %
2013 74 15.1 48.6% 0.0% 73 23.3 0.0% 12.3%
2015 315 17.0 34.0% 1.9% 132 24.9 1.5% 28.0%
2016 206 15.8 42.2% 1.9% 177 26.5 5.6% 30.5%
2017 65 16.9 21.5% 0.0% 9 24.2 0.0% 22.2%
2019 18 20.2 0.0% 5.6% 29 27.0 0.0% 24.1%

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Pitch Distribution