Michael Rucker
P | Bats/Throws: R/R | 6' 1" 195LBS | Age: 29
Draft: 2016 | Rd: 11, #344, Chicago Cubs | Brigham Young
W L ERA G GS SV IP SO WHIP
2021 0 0 6.99 20 0 1 28.1 30 1.52
2022 3 1 3.95 41 0 0 54.2 50 1.28
2023 2 1 4.91 35 0 0 40.1 40 1.44
3 Seasons 5 2 4.96 96 0 1 123.1 120 1.39
G W-L ERA IP SO WHIP
2021 20 0-0 6.99 28.1 30 1.52
2022 41 3-1 3.95 54.2 50 1.28
2023 35 2-1 4.91 40.1 40 1.44
3 Seasons 96 5-2 4.96 123.1 120 1.39
MLB Percentile Rankings
Pitch Distribution
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Statcast Statistics

Season Age Pitches Batted
Balls		 Barrels Barrel % Barrel/PA Exit
Velocity		 Max EV Launch
Angle		 Sweet
Spot %		 XBA XSLG WOBA XWOBA XWOBACON HardHit% K% BB% ERA xERA
2021 27 490 83 9 10.8 7.1 90.8 113.5 11.9 36.1 .270 .500 .360 .361 .439 45.8 23.8 8.7 6.99 5.73
2022 28 914 159 13 8.2 5.7 89.8 118.4 13.4 27.0 .230 .376 .308 .297 .343 38.3 21.8 8.7 3.95 3.64
2023 29 719 114 9 7.9 5.1 91.6 109.9 7.8 32.5 .242 .396 .339 .325 .366 49.1 22.7 10.8 4.91 4.48
Player 2123 356 31 8.7 5.8 90.6 118.4 11.2 30.9 .244 .413 .331 .322 .374 43.6 22.6 9.4
MLB 6.9 4.7 88.4 122.4 12.2 33.1 .245 .406 .316 .315 .369 36.3 22.2 8.4
! Note: All figures in this table cover the period 2015-present.

Statcast Pitch Arsenal

Rucker relies on 6 pitches.
Four Seamer
(39.6%) ,
Cutter
(26.6%) ,
Slider
(17.2%) ,
Curveball
(10.3%) ,
Changeup
(4.5%) ,
Sinker
(1.8%) ,


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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
2021 45.8 27.7 22.9 3.6 30.1 45.8 24.1 0.0 33.7 18.1 30.1 7.2 10.8 7.1
2022 44.7 28.9 17.6 8.8 34.6 38.4 27.0 3.1 31.4 28.9 21.4 3.1 8.2 5.7
2023 51.8 13.2 26.3 8.8 37.7 43.9 18.4 1.8 40.4 18.4 26.3 5.3 7.9 5.1
Player 47.2 23.6 21.6 7.6 34.6 41.9 23.6 2.0 34.8 23.0 25.0 4.8 8.7 5.8
MLB 44.6 23.5 24.8 7.0 37.0 37.5 25.3 3.9 32.8 24.7 24.4 5.8 6.9 4.7
! Note: All figures in this table cover the period 2015-present.

Pitch Movement

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How this works: Every pitch is affected by the forces of gravity, which means that every pitch drops on its way from the mound to the plate. These numbers are reported with gravity, which makes them larger and different than other pitch movement numbers you may have seen. Since gravity requires time, and slower pitches aren’t ‘better’ just because they have more time to move, the movement of a pitch is compared to ‘average’ movement by comparing it to other MLB pitch types within +/- 2 MPH and from within +/- 0.5 feet of extension and release.
Vertical Movement (inches) Horizontal Movement (inches)
Year Pitch Team Hand # MPH Inches of Drop vs Avg % vs Avg Inches of Break vs Avg % Break vs Avg
2023 Changeup CHC R 32 90.5 29.9 0.2 1 13.5 -1.7 -11
2023 Sinker CHC R 13 94.0 23.6 0.7 3 13.9 -1.4 -9
2023 Slider CHC R 124 85.8 39.8 4.2 12 3.9 -1.1 -21
2023 Cutter CHC R 191 89.5 29.6 -3.3 -13 2.8 0.6 25
2023 Curveball CHC R 74 80.8 51.8 1.0 2 14.3 4.9 52
2023 4-Seam Fastball CHC R 285 94.6 14.5 0.5 3 5.4 -2.5 -31
2022 Slider CHC R 216 86.0 38.1 2.9 8 3.9 -0.9 -19
2022 Cutter CHC R 40 88.4 31.2 -4.7 -18 3.1 1.1 52
2022 Changeup CHC R 74 90.0 29.5 0.2 1 14.6 -0.5 -3
2022 4-Seam Fastball CHC R 379 94.7 14.5 0.3 2 7.4 -0.7 -8
2022 Curveball CHC R 153 80.6 51.9 1.2 2 15.5 5.8 59
2021 Curveball CHC R 98 81.3 50.2 -0.6 -1 15.6 6.1 64
2021 4-Seam Fastball CHC R 145 95.1 14.0 0.6 4 7.0 -0.8 -10
2021 Changeup CHC R 36 90.5 26.6 -1.2 -4 11.9 -2.7 -19
2021 Cutter CHC R 122 89.4 29.1 -3.1 -12 3.6 1.8 96
2021 Sinker CHC R 36 95.1 17.7 -2.9 -14 13.0 -2.0 -13
2021 Slider CHC R 53 86.5 37.8 3.5 10 5.3 0.4 8
! Note: Years are in reverse order.
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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 %
2023 4-Seam Fastball -1.4 -4 285 39.6 79 .323 .548 .425 14.4 11.4 12.3 .320 .541 .426 58.2
2023 Cutter 0.4 1 191 26.6 48 .244 .467 .326 32.7 25.0 32.4 .216 .341 .267 39.4
2023 Slider 1.7 2 124 17.2 32 .133 .133 .156 51.0 43.8 28.0 .155 .268 .211 37.5
2023 Curveball -1.7 -1 74 10.3 11 .273 .545 .341 29.4 45.5 25.0 .177 .237 .179 66.7
2023 Changeup 0.1 0 32 4.5 6 .250 .250 .533 33.3 0.0 0.0 .163 .163 .333 25.0
2023 Sinker -2.3 0 13 1.8 -- -- -- 40.0 -- 0.0 -- -- -- --
2022 4-Seam Fastball 0.8 3 392 42.9 98 .222 .407 .328 20.3 14.3 13.6 .235 .413 .337 39.1
2022 Slider -0.5 -1 227 24.8 55 .231 .442 .320 46.2 45.5 33.3 .193 .343 .269 51.9
2022 Curveball 1.4 2 157 17.2 39 .211 .211 .226 19.3 17.9 14.3 .237 .315 .252 19.4
2022 Changeup 3.1 2 77 8.4 21 .238 .286 .231 13.2 9.5 7.1 .305 .351 .288 52.6
2022 Cutter -3.8 -2 40 4.4 10 .400 .700 .422 31.8 20.0 25.0 .199 .559 .310 25.0
2021 4-Seam Fastball 1.6 2 145 29.6 42 .250 .444 .337 22.1 26.2 26.8 .288 .579 .398 50.0
2021 Cutter -0.8 -1 122 24.9 28 .240 .360 .305 34.9 32.1 23.7 .188 .255 .246 37.5
2021 Curveball -0.1 0 98 20.0 19 .211 .211 .237 28.9 31.6 18.2 .269 .345 .266 46.2
2021 Slider 0.9 0 53 10.8 14 .167 .250 .254 48.3 21.4 14.3 .205 .480 .345 44.4
2021 Sinker -9.9 -4 36 7.3 10 .571 1.429 .790 43.8 10.0 20.0 .443 1.168 .672 33.3
2021 Changeup -14.4 -5 36 7.3 13 .538 .923 .623 14.3 0.0 0.0 .349 .639 .412 53.8
! Note: Years are in reverse order.
! Note: To better align with other values, positive numbers (red) are good, and negative numbers (blue) are poor.
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Spin Direction

Year Pitch Type Pitches MPH Active Spin % Total Movement (In.) Spin-Based Observed Deviation
2023 Changeup 31 90.5 78 14.6 1:30 2:45 -75
2023 Curveball 74 80.8 76 19.4 7:15 7:45 -30
2023 Cutter 187 89.5 28 4.8 11:30 10:30 60
2023 4-Seam Fastball 282 94.6 82 16.4 1:00 12:45 15
2023 Sinker 13 94.0 81 15.7 1:00 2:15 -75
2023 Slider 122 85.8 36 6.5 8:15 7:30 45
2022 Changeup 69 90.0 90 15.7 1:45 2:30 -45
2022 Curveball 150 80.7 76 20.3 7:15 7:45 -30
2022 Cutter 40 88.4 24 4.8 11:15 10:00 75
2022 4-Seam Fastball 379 94.7 89 17.3 1:15 1:00 15
2022 Slider 215 86.0 28 5.9 9:00 8:00 60
2021 Changeup 35 90.4 94 14.0 1:30 2:15 -45
2021 Curveball 98 81.3 74 19.7 7:30 8:00 -30
2021 Cutter 122 89.4 31 5.7 11:30 10:30 60
2021 4-Seam Fastball 145 95.1 92 17.4 1:00 12:45 15
2021 Sinker 36 95.1 93 18.0 1:00 1:45 -45
2021 Slider 53 86.5 28 6.6 9:00 8:00 60
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! Note: This table is showing data from the PITCHER perspective.
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Swing/Take

Runs
Year Team PA Pitches Heart Shadow Chase Waste All
2021 126 490 -3 5 -6 -3 -7
2022 223 893 7 5 -4 -3 5
2023 176 719 6 4 -8 -5 -3
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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 %
2021 490 45.3 72.1 80.6 31.3 48.8 37.3 61.9 49.8 30.3 6.3 87.1
2022 914 45.6 72.0 82.6 28.8 52.9 43.3 55.5 48.4 25.8 5.9 79.2
2023 719 44.9 67.2 83.9 23.5 45.2 39.2 56.3 43.1 27.7 6.7 93.8
Player 2,123 45.3 70.4 82.5 27.6 49.5 40.5 57.3 46.9 27.5 6.3 86.4
MLB 48.6 66.9 82.0 28.4 58.0 42.6 60.9 47.1 24.8 7.3 76.1
! 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
2021 76 54 67 49
2022 59 59 53 46 61 62 33 16 47 42 38 54 44 65 63 54 36
2023 60 65 66 39
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Expected Home Runs

Year Team Avg HR Trot Actual HR xHR HR-xHR Doubters Mostly Gone No Doubters No Doubter %
2021 22.8 5 5.0 0 5 3 2 40.0
2022 24.5 8 6.8 1 2 8 1 12.5
2023 22.5 6 4.9 1 2 4 1 16.7
Player 23.4 19 16.7 2 9 15 4 21.1

Expected Home Runs by Park

Year HR
2021 5 7 4 5 5 5 5 6 3 4 4 8 6 4 5 4 4 6 5 5 5 5 8 4 4 4 6 5 6 5 3
2022 8 6 6 5 8 9 9 5 4 4 7 7 6 6 9 8 7 8 5 8 6 5 10 7 5 7 7 7 7 9 8
2023 6 5 4 5 7 5 5 4 4 6 5 5 5 4 5 6 5 5 5 5 4 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 4 5 3
Player 19 18 14 15 20 19 19 15 11 14 16 20 17 14 19 18 16 19 15 18 15 15 23 16 14 16 18 17 17 19 14
! Note: This tells how many of this player's home runs would have been out of other stadiums. This accounts for different wall heights, distances and environmental effects. For these purposes, the 2020 Blue Jays home field was still Rogers Centre, not Sahlen Field.
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Year to Year Changes

Metric 2021 2022 +/-   2023 +/-  
Fastball Velocity 92.8 94.1 1.3 ↑ 92.6 -1.5 ↓
Offspeed Velocity 90.5 90.0 -0.5 ↓ 90.5 0.5 ↑
Breaking Velocity 83.1 83.8 0.7 ↑ 84.0 0.2 ↑
Exit Velocity 90.8 89.8 -1.0 ↓ 91.6 1.8 ↑
Launch Angle 11.9 13.4 1.5 ↑ 7.8 -5.6 ↓
Barrel % 10.8 8.2 -2.6 ↓ 7.9 -0.3 ↓
Hard Hit % 45.8 38.3 -7.5 ↓ 49.1 10.8 ↑
Sweet Spot % 36.1 27.0 -9.1 ↓ 32.5 5.5 ↑
xBA .270 .230 -0.040 ↓ .242 0.012 ↑
BA .286 .242 -0.044 ↓ .257 0.015 ↑
xwOBA .361 .297 -0.064 ↓ .325 0.028 ↑
wOBA .360 .308 -0.052 ↓ .339 0.031 ↑
xSLG .500 .376 -0.124 ↓ .396 0.020 ↑
SLG .482 .396 -0.086 ↓ .434 0.038 ↑
K% 23.8 21.8 -2.0 ↓ 22.7 0.9 ↑
BB% 8.7 8.7 0.0 10.8 2.1 ↑
Swing % 49.8 48.4 -1.4 ↓ 43.1 -5.3 ↓
Whiff% 30.3 25.8 -4.5 ↓ 27.7 1.9 ↑
In Zone % 45.3 45.6 0.3 ↑ 44.9 -0.7 ↓
Out of Zone % 54.7 54.4 -0.3 ↓ 55.1 0.7 ↑
Out of Zone Swing % 31.3 28.8 -2.5 ↓ 23.5 -5.3 ↓
First Pitch Swing % 33.3 27.5 -5.8 ↓ 30.1 2.6 ↑
First Pitch Strike % 61.9 55.5 -6.4 ↓ 56.3 0.8 ↑
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Statcast Fielder Positioning

vs RHHvs LHH
YearAlignment TypePAwOBAPATotal%PATotal%
2021 Shifts 126 .360 65 13 20.0 61 42 68.9
2022 Shifts 223 .298 136 41 30.1 87 60 69.0
2023 Shades 176 .339 95 1 1.1 81 32 39.5
! 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 %
2021 132 18.4 8.3% 2.3% 83 21.8 0.0% 4.8%
2022 239 17.6 12.6% 3.3% 172 19.7 0.6% 2.9%
2023 208 15.3 47.6% 0.0% 133 17.0 17.3% 0.0%
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Pitch Distribution

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