James Russell
P | Bats/Throws: L/L | 6' 4" 205LBS | Age: 38
Draft: 2007 | Rd: 14, #427, Chicago Cubs | Texas
W L ERA G GS SV IP SO WHIP
2014 0 2 2.97 66 1 1 57.2 42 1.13
2015 0 2 5.29 49 0 1 34 20 1.50
2016 0 0 18.69 7 0 0 4.1 4 3.23
7 Seasons 10 18 4.09 394 6 4 334.2 243 1.31
G W-L ERA IP SO WHIP
2014 66 0-2 2.97 57.2 42 1.13
2015 49 0-2 5.29 34 20 1.50
2016 7 0-0 18.69 4.1 4 3.23
7 Seasons 394 10-18 4.09 334.2 243 1.31
MLB Percentile Rankings
Pitch Distribution

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
2015 29 557 119 4 3.4 2.7 87.8 112.5 14.5 31.9 .269 .378 .354 .298 .326 26.9 13.5 6.1 5.29 3.64
2016 30 116 18 1 5.6 3.7 89.9 105.6 17.2 38.9 .320 .562 .518 .420 .441 22.2 14.8 18.5 18.69 8.28
Player 673 137 5 3.6 2.9 88.1 112.5 14.8 32.8 .275 .401 .380 .316 .340 26.3 13.7 8.0
MLB 6.9 4.7 88.4 122.4 12.2 33.1 .245 .406 .316 .315 .369 36.3 22.1 8.4
! Note: All figures in this table cover the period 2015-present.

Statcast Pitch Arsenal

Russell relies on 6 pitches.
Slider
(32.8%) ,
Four Seamer
(27.6%) ,
Sinker
(13.8%) ,
Changeup
(9.5%) ,
Curveball
(9.5%) ,
Cutter
(6.9%) ,


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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 44.5 19.3 27.7 8.4 35.3 40.3 24.4 1.7 31.9 26.1 30.3 3.4 3.4 2.7
2016 33.3 33.3 33.3 0.0 44.4 11.1 44.4 0.0 22.2 33.3 27.8 0.0 5.6 3.7
Player 43.1 21.2 28.5 7.3 36.5 36.5 27.0 1.5 30.7 27.0 29.9 2.9 3.6 2.9
MLB 44.6 23.5 24.9 7.0 37.0 37.6 25.3 3.9 32.9 24.7 24.4 5.8 6.9 4.7
! Note: All figures in this table cover the period 2015-present.

Pitch Movement


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
2016 Slider PHI L 37 83.4 32.1 -5.8 -15 4.1 -1.9 -32
2016 Cutter PHI L 8 89.5 13.0 12.3 49 0.6 -1.7 -73
2016 Changeup PHI L 10 83.4 20.4 -10.7 -34 8.7 -3.4 -28
2016 Sinker PHI L 13 89.6 18.1 -5.1 -22 14.0 0.9 7
2016 Curveball PHI L 9 75.9 55.3 -3.3 -6 8.0 -1.3 -14
2016 4-Seam Fastball PHI L 32 90.4 14.2 2.9 17 6.9 0.6 10
2015 4-Seam Fastball CHC L 222 90.6 15.3 1.4 8 8.1 1.1 16
2015 Slider CHC L 69 83.9 32.6 -5.2 -14 3.4 -2.0 -37
2015 Sinker CHC L 87 90.1 20.1 -2.8 -12 14.0 0.5 4
2015 Cutter CHC L 25 87.0 25.7 1.7 6 1.0 -3.3 -146
2015 Curveball CHC L 56 76.0 54.6 -3.6 -6 7.5 -1.5 -17
2015 Changeup CHC L 75 83.1 26.3 -4.9 -16 8.5 -4.1 -33
! Note: Years are in reverse order.
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Swing/Take

Runs
Year Team PA Pitches Heart Shadow Chase Waste All
2010 219 835 -5 3 -5 -4 -12
2011 287 1,085 3 -2 -1 -5 -5
2012 285 1,155 5 12 -5 -5 7
2013 208 826 1 4 -9 -2 -6
2014 235 913 1 12 -5 -2 6
2015 142 536 -2 2 -5 -1 -5
2016 27 116 -3 -2 -1 0 -6
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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 557 49.1 73.0 84.1 27.4 73.7 43.4 61.5 49.2 17.2 7.9 83.7
2016 116 46.6 63.0 79.4 29.0 50.0 55.2 59.3 44.8 30.8 6.0 100.0
Player 673 48.6 71.3 83.4 27.7 69.1 45.5 61.1 48.4 19.3 7.6 86.0
MLB 48.6 67.0 82.0 28.5 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
2015 20 41 42 21
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Expected Home Runs

Year Team Avg HR Trot Actual HR xHR HR-xHR Doubters Mostly Gone No Doubters No Doubter %
2016 20.3 2 1.0 1 0 0 1 50.0
Player 20.3 2 1.0 1 0 0 1 50.0

Expected Home Runs by Park

Year HR
2016 2 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 2 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
! 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 2015 2016 +/-  
Fastball Velocity 90.2 90.1 -0.1
Offspeed Velocity 83.1 83.4 0.3
Breaking Velocity 80.4 81.7 1.3
Exit Velocity 87.8 89.9 2.1
Launch Angle 14.5 17.2 2.7
Barrel % 3.4 5.6 2.2
Hard Hit % 26.9 22.2 -4.7
Sweet Spot % 31.9 38.9 7.0
xBA .269 .320 0.051
BA .307 .429 0.122
xwOBA .298 .420 0.122
wOBA .354 .518 0.164
xSLG .378 .562 0.184
SLG .489 .762 0.273
K% 13.5 14.8 1.3
BB% 6.1 18.5 12.4
Swing % 49.2 44.8 -4.4
Whiff% 17.2 30.8 13.6
In Zone % 49.1 46.6 -2.5
Out of Zone % 50.9 53.4 2.5
Out of Zone Swing % 27.4 29.0 1.6
First Pitch Swing % 35.1 14.8 -20.3
First Pitch Strike % 61.5 59.3 -2.2
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Statcast Fielder Positioning

vs RHHvs LHH
YearAlignment TypePAwOBAPATotal%PATotal%
2016 Shifts 25 .479 14 1 7.1 11 5 45.5
! 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 %
2010 175 15.0 50.9% 4.0% 191 22.0 0.0% 10.5%
2011 276 14.4 59.4% 0.0% 194 21.0 0.5% 3.6%
2012 288 15.5 41.0% 0.0% 199 23.7 0.0% 10.6%
2013 205 17.0 21.5% 1.0% 131 26.5 0.0% 25.2%
2014 273 16.6 28.2% 1.5% 123 24.1 0.0% 16.3%
2015 152 17.6 28.3% 2.6% 83 24.1 3.6% 15.7%
2016 34 14.2 58.8% 0.0% 22 22.6 0.0% 22.7%
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Pitch Distribution