Daniel Ponce de Leon
P | Bats/Throws: R/R | 6' 3" 200LBS | Age: 32
Draft: 2014 | Rd: 9, #285, St. Louis Cardinals | La Mirada (CA) HS
W L ERA G GS SV IP SO WHIP
2019 1 2 3.70 13 8 0 48.2 52 1.27
2020 1 3 4.96 9 8 0 32.2 45 1.32
2021 1 1 6.21 24 2 2 33.1 24 1.62
4 Seasons 3 8 4.33 57 22 3 147.2 152 1.33
G W-L ERA IP SO WHIP
2019 13 1-2 3.70 48.2 52 1.27
2020 9 1-3 4.96 32.2 45 1.32
2021 24 1-1 6.21 33.1 24 1.62
4 Seasons 57 3-8 4.33 147.2 152 1.33
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		 LA Sweet-
Spot %		 XBA XSLG WOBA XWOBA XWOBACON HardHit% K% BB% ERA xERA
2018 26 581 87 5 5.7 3.8 85.7 109.9 16.9 36.8 .228 .368 .267 .301 .345 26.4 23.5 9.8 2.73 3.81
2019 27 861 123 8 6.5 3.9 88.3 109.1 15.2 25.2 .207 .356 .287 .292 .334 28.5 25.6 12.8 3.70 3.72
2020 28 646 76 7 9.2 4.9 88.6 108.8 21.4 31.6 .223 .424 .323 .338 .433 40.8 31.5 14.0 4.96 4.93
2021 29 653 107 7 6.5 4.4 89.6 111.7 19.1 33.6 .234 .426 .363 .353 .345 37.4 15.1 14.5 6.21 5.44
Player 2741 393 27 6.9 4.2 88.1 111.7 17.8 31.3 .221 .390 .310 .319 .359 32.8 23.9 12.9
MLB 7.0 4.8 88.5 122.4 12.3 33.2 .245 .406 .316 .315 .369 36.5 22.2 8.4
! Note: All figures in this table cover the period 2015-present.

Statcast Pitch Arsenal

Ponce de Leon relies on 5 pitches.
Four Seamer
(73.7%) ,
Changeup
(12.1%) ,
Cutter
(10.0%) ,
Curveball
(4.1%) ,
Sinker
(0.2%) ,


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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
2018 35.6 28.7 28.7 6.9 39.1 35.6 25.3 5.7 28.7 31.0 23.0 5.7 5.7 3.8
2019 46.3 26.8 15.4 11.4 30.1 39.0 30.9 1.6 36.6 30.9 21.1 2.4 6.5 3.9
2020 30.3 38.2 22.4 9.2 40.8 30.3 28.9 5.3 14.5 35.5 27.6 7.9 9.2 4.9
2021 37.4 37.4 16.8 8.4 27.1 34.6 38.3 4.7 25.2 32.7 19.6 9.3 6.5 4.4
Player 38.4 32.3 20.1 9.2 33.3 35.4 31.3 4.1 27.5 32.3 22.4 6.1 6.9 4.2
MLB 44.5 23.7 24.7 7.0 37.2 37.5 25.2 3.9 32.7 24.8 24.4 5.9 7.0 4.8
! 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
2021 Curveball STL R 27 77.0 58.8 1.2 2 5.9 -1.4 -19
2021 Cutter STL R 65 89.2 23.1 3.2 12 0.5 -2.4 -84
2021 Changeup STL R 79 86.1 27.7 -0.7 -2 15.9 2.6 19
2021 4-Seam Fastball STL R 481 93.0 13.3 1.0 7 8.7 2.5 41
2021 Sinker STL R 1 91.7 14.6 -4.9 -25 15.5 2.4 18
2020 Changeup STL R 25 86.2 27.6 -0.8 -3 15.5 2.4 19
2020 4-Seam Fastball STL R 395 93.1 13.0 1.4 10 9.3 3.0 49
2020 Cutter STL R 86 88.0 28.5 -1.3 -5 1.9 -1.2 -39
2020 Curveball STL R 140 77.6 61.8 4.4 8 8.2 1.0 14
2019 Changeup STL R 63 83.1 29.3 -2.1 -7 17.9 5.0 39
2019 Curveball STL R 73 77.9 62.3 5.2 9 9.3 3.1 50
2019 Cutter STL R 115 89.1 27.0 0.5 2 1.8 -3.9 -187
2019 4-Seam Fastball STL R 609 93.3 15.0 0.5 3 11.6 4.7 67
2019 Slider STL R 1 84.4 39.7 0.1 0 3.7 -1.2 -24
2018 4-Seam Fastball STL R 367 93.2 15.8 -0.4 -3 10.5 3.8 57
2018 Changeup STL R 96 83.1 30.9 -0.9 -3 16.8 3.8 30
2018 Cutter STL R 93 89.3 26.7 0.2 1 0.1 -2.2 -98
2018 Sinker STL R 7 91.2 25.1 2.4 11 12.1 -2.2 -16
2018 Curveball STL R 18 77.0 65.4 6.0 10 7.9 0.1 1
! 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 %
2021 4-Seam Fastball -1.0 -5 481 73.7 112 .298 .548 .426 24.1 17.0 13.5 .268 .531 .415 37.7
2021 Changeup 2.1 2 79 12.1 26 .160 .280 .208 9.3 7.7 8.0 .199 .254 .218 43.5
2021 Cutter -2.0 -1 65 10.0 12 .200 .400 .241 23.8 8.3 6.7 .131 .214 .246 22.2
2021 Curveball 3.8 1 27 4.1 7 .143 .286 .179 16.7 28.6 13.3 .065 .080 .061 20.0
2021 Sinker 29.9 0 1 0.2 1 .000 .000 .000 0.0 0.0 -- .394 .414 .355 100.0
2020 4-Seam Fastball -0.7 -3 395 61.1 92 .205 .538 .366 34.4 38.0 25.4 .220 .500 .359 48.8
2020 Curveball 0.6 1 140 21.7 20 .176 .235 .258 22.2 20.0 10.3 .253 .342 .324 38.5
2020 Cutter 1.9 2 86 13.3 24 .100 .200 .221 28.9 25.0 20.7 .197 .240 .278 21.4
2020 Changeup -0.1 0 25 3.9 7 .333 .333 .357 11.1 0.0 0.0 .257 .284 .309 33.3
2019 4-Seam Fastball 1.4 9 609 70.7 137 .188 .325 .299 28.2 29.2 19.9 .201 .358 .296 28.2
2019 Cutter -0.7 -1 115 13.4 38 .306 .528 .397 18.2 13.2 16.1 .259 .416 .306 32.3
2019 Curveball -0.2 0 73 8.5 13 .083 .083 .123 23.1 38.5 19.2 .106 .158 .159 14.3
2019 Changeup -0.6 0 63 7.3 12 .222 .333 .354 34.8 16.7 10.5 .212 .356 .358 28.6
2019 Slider -1.9 0 1 0.1 -- -- -- -- -- 0.0 -- -- -- --
2018 4-Seam Fastball 1.3 5 367 63.2 73 .175 .254 .247 31.7 28.8 20.2 .203 .335 .286 32.6
2018 Changeup -0.8 -1 96 16.5 25 .217 .391 .294 21.3 16.0 8.9 .223 .376 .294 15.8
2018 Cutter -0.7 -1 93 16.0 29 .222 .333 .271 20.8 20.7 14.0 .251 .415 .314 28.6
2018 Curveball -3.8 -1 18 3.1 3 .667 .667 .600 0.0 0.0 0.0 .612 .673 .558 0.0
2018 Sinker -4.6 0 7 1.2 2 .000 .000 .350 0.0 0.0 -- .128 .128 .409 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.
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Spin Direction

Year Pitch Type Pitches MPH Active Spin % Total Movement (In.) Spin-Based Observed Deviation
2021 Changeup 79 86.1 97 18.5 1:45 2:15 -30
2021 Curveball 27 77.0 70 16.5 7:00 6:45 15
2021 Cutter 65 89.2 60 10.5 12:30 11:45 45
2021 4-Seam Fastball 480 93.0 97 20.0 1:00 1:00 0
2020 Changeup 25 86.2 98 18.2 1:45 2:15 -30
2020 Curveball 123 77.6 87 21.0 6:45 6:45 0
2020 Cutter 80 87.9 40 6.4 12:15 11:15 60
2020 4-Seam Fastball 384 93.1 99 20.5 1:00 1:00 0
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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
2018 132 581 1 7 -4 -1 2
2019 209 910 8 9 -5 -5 7
2020 149 676 2 1 -2 -3 -3
2021 158 653 0 8 -5 -6 -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 %
2018 581 49.6 78.1 72.4 26.3 68.8 44.8 56.8 52.0 27.8 7.2 90.5
2019 861 45.8 72.8 76.7 29.6 64.5 42.5 56.2 49.4 26.8 6.6 80.7
2020 646 46.9 70.0 73.1 25.4 57.5 43.3 55.9 46.3 31.4 6.3 73.2
2021 653 46.6 72.7 82.8 24.1 66.7 44.0 54.4 46.7 21.6 6.7 75.0
Player 2,741 47.0 73.3 76.3 26.6 64.2 43.5 55.8 48.6 26.9 6.7 79.9
MLB 48.7 67.0 82.0 28.5 57.8 42.6 61.0 47.2 24.9 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
2018 54 48 35
2019 74 86 81 69 49 87 59 58 96 67 7 61 55 49 69 76 14
2020 29 65 39 22 26 38 23 45 26 86 8 78 27 46 72 66 36
2021 40 64 48
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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 %
2018 21.3 2 4.9 -3 0 6 0 0.0
2019 23.3 6 6.7 -1 0 5 3 50.0
2020 24.7 10 9.8 0 0 5 6 60.0
2021 24.1 5 6.0 -1 0 5 3 60.0
Player 23.9 23 27.3 -4 0 21 12 52.2
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
2018 2 5 4 4 5 5 5 5 3 3 4 5 6 5 5 6 6 5 5 5 6 6 6 6 5 2 5 6 6 5 3
2019 6 8 7 5 7 7 8 6 6 6 6 6 7 7 7 6 7 6 6 8 7 7 8 7 6 7 6 7 7 7 5
2020 10 10 7 11 11 10 11 8 10 9 10 11 8 9 11 11 10 9 10 11 10 8 11 10 9 8 11 11 9 10 9
2021 5 6 7 6 8 6 7 5 4 5 6 7 6 5 6 6 5 5 7 8 5 6 8 5 5 5 8 8 5 5 5
Player 23 29 25 26 31 28 31 24 23 23 26 29 27 26 29 29 28 25 28 32 28 27 33 28 25 22 30 32 27 27 22
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 2018 2019 +/-   2020 +/-   2021 +/-  
Fastball Velocity 92.4 92.7 0.3 ↑ 92.2 -0.5 ↓ 92.5 0.3 ↑
Offspeed Velocity 83.1 83.1 0.0 86.2 3.1 ↑ 86.1 -0.1 ↓
Breaking Velocity 77.0 78.0 1.0 ↑ 77.6 -0.4 ↓ 77.0 -0.6 ↓
Exit Velocity 85.7 88.3 2.6 ↑ 88.6 0.3 ↑ 89.6 1.0 ↑
Launch Angle 16.9 15.2 -1.7 ↓ 21.4 6.2 ↑ 19.1 -2.3 ↓
Barrel % 5.7 6.5 0.8 ↑ 9.2 2.7 ↑ 6.5 -2.7 ↓
Hard Hit % 26.4 28.5 2.1 ↑ 40.8 12.3 ↑ 37.4 -3.4 ↓
LA Sweet-Spot % 36.8 25.2 -11.6 ↓ 31.6 6.4 ↑ 33.6 2.0 ↑
xBA .228 .207 -0.021 ↓ .223 0.016 ↑ .234 0.011 ↑
BA .205 .207 0.002 ↑ .190 -0.017 ↓ .252 0.062 ↑
xwOBA .301 .292 -0.009 ↓ .338 0.046 ↑ .353 0.015 ↑
wOBA .267 .287 0.020 ↑ .323 0.036 ↑ .363 0.040 ↑
xSLG .368 .356 -0.012 ↓ .424 0.068 ↑ .426 0.002 ↑
SLG .308 .351 0.043 ↑ .430 0.079 ↑ .465 0.035 ↑
K% 23.5 25.6 2.1 ↑ 31.5 5.9 ↑ 15.1 -16.4 ↓
BB% 9.8 12.8 3.0 ↑ 14.0 1.2 ↑ 14.5 0.5 ↑
Swing % 52.0 49.4 -2.6 ↓ 46.3 -3.1 ↓ 46.7 0.4 ↑
Whiff% 27.8 26.8 -1.0 ↓ 31.4 4.6 ↑ 21.6 -9.8 ↓
In Zone % 49.6 45.8 -3.8 ↓ 46.9 1.1 ↑ 46.6 -0.3 ↓
Out of Zone % 50.4 54.2 3.8 ↑ 53.1 -1.1 ↓ 53.4 0.3 ↑
Out of Zone Swing % 26.3 29.6 3.3 ↑ 25.4 -4.2 ↓ 24.1 -1.3 ↓
First Pitch Swing % 27.3 29.1 1.8 ↑ 29.4 0.3 ↑ 24.1 -5.3 ↓
First Pitch Strike % 56.8 56.2 -0.6 ↓ 55.9 -0.3 ↓ 54.4 -1.5 ↓
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Statcast Fielder Positioning

vs RHHvs LHH
YearAlignment TypePAwOBAPATotal%PATotal%
2018 Shifts 132 .267 67 1 1.5 65 7 10.8
2019 Shifts 200 .287 119 2 1.7 81 24 29.6
2020 Shifts 143 .323 68 6 8.8 75 37 49.3
2021 Shifts 158 .363 87 11 12.6 71 30 42.3
! 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 %
2018 175 17.6 11.4% 0.0% 79 23.5 0.0% 10.1%
2019 264 16.2 27.7% 0.0% 113 25.3 0.0% 13.3%
2020 214 17.4 17.3% 0.0% 93 24.1 0.0% 12.9%
2021 157 17.4 22.9% 0.0% 150 24.7 0.0% 16.0%

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Pitch Distribution

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