Tampa Bay Rays left-handed relief pitcher Jake McGee has one pitch, a fastball. Okay, he also throws a “cutter”, but he uses the fastball on 93% of his pitches in 2013, the highest rate of any pitcher in the MLB.
It’s a pretty good fastball, and McGee gets up to 99 mph, while averaging 96-97 mph with the heat, a mark that only a handful of pitchers can top.
McGee, who was drafted by the Rays out of high school in the 5th round back in 2004, came up to the big league club in 2010.
The strategy has paid dividends. Since 2012, McGee has been one of the top relievers in baseball.
His 31.4% strikeout rate over that period is 8th best in the game, and his 7.0% walk rate is lower than the MLB average. His fastball yields whiffs at almost the same rate as Atlanta Braves closer Craig Kimbrel.
McGee’s 2013 hasn’t been as dominant as his 2012, when he struck out 34.4% of hitters while walking only 5.2%, numbers that were both better than teammate Fernando Rodney, who received Cy Young consideration.
While his fastball velocity is up, his command isn’t quite as sharp, which has resulted in fewer strikes and fewer whiffs, not to mention a few more homeruns.
Nevertheless, McGee is still an important piece in the Rays bullpen. With his reliance on the fastball, he is almost equally effective against righties as lefties.
In 2013 and over the course of his career, McGee has faced more righthanded hitters than lefthanded hitters. Righties have managed a .590 OPS against McGee, compared to .632 for lefties.
Manager Joe Maddon has confidence in using the flamethrower in big spots against righties, as shown by his appearance against lefty-mashing Ryan Raburn in the Wildcard play-in game. McGee fanned Raburn, throwing him nothing but fastballs.
McGee throws more fastballs than any other pitcher in baseball, and his pitching style makes him the rare lefty reliever that is entrusted with pitching to righthanded hitters more frequently than lefthanded hitters.
