PBR Introduces Rise Score
February 17, 2022
RISE QUANTIFIED
Until now, the word 'rise' has been used to describe a fastball that vertically breaks up with velocity through the strike zone. You may say fastballs with extreme rise have a high elite backspin.
Rising fastballs visually carry through the strike zone generating higher fly ball percentages when thrown up in the strike zone. A higher rise score has the potential to generate more whiffs, especially when paired with complimentary fastball movement characteristics that create a movement gap between the fastball and breaking ball. PBR’s goal was to be able to objectively quantify fastballs with rise characteristics across levels.
What is a Rise?
Rise is defined as a fastball that rises vertically with velocity through the strike zone.
Rise Score
Using advanced pitch data metrics, PBR’s analytics department has developed a rise score to easily compare fastballs across multiple levels.
Rise+ Stats
The Rise+ stat takes and normalizes our Rise score across an entire level. Rise+ is calculated by dividing a Pitcher’s rise by the mean rise of the level of play and multiplying by 100. In other words, the mean Hop is set to 100 and 1 unit above or below that is equal to being 1% above or below that mean for the level of play.
MLB RISE+ LEADERS 2021
| RANK | PITCHER | YEAR | RISE+ |
| 1 | Tyler Wells | 2021 | 150 |
| 2 | Josh Sborz | 2021 |
148 |
| 3 | Demarcus Evans | 2021 |
147 |
| 4 | Aroldis Chapman | 2021 |
145 |
| 5 | Nick Pivetta | 2021 | 143 |
| 6 | Liam Hendricks | 2021 | 142 |
| 7 | Dylan Cease | 2021 | 141 |
| 8 | J.P. Feyereisen | 2021 | 141 |
| 9 | Peter Fairbanks | 2021 | 140 |
| 10 | Génesis Cabrera | 2021 | 140 |
| 11 | Chad Green | 2021 | 139 |
| 12 | Keone Kela | 2021 | 138 |
| 13 | Michael Kopech | 2021 | 138 |
| 14 | Jordan Romano | 2021 | 136 |
| 15 | Josh Staumont | 2021 | 136 |
| 16 | Jharel Cotton | 2021 | 134 |
| 17 | Trevor Bauer | 2021 | 133 |
| 18 | Nate Pearson | 2021 | 133 |
| 19 | Blake Snell | 2021 | 132 |
| 20 | Nick Mears | 2021 | 131 |
MLB RISE+ LEADERS 2015-2021
| RANK | PITCHER | YEAR | HAMMER+ |
| 1 | Aroldis Chapman | 2016 | 174 |
| 2 | James Karinchak | 2020 | 161 |
| 3 | Walker Buehler | 2020 | 160 |
| 4 | Nick Hagadone | 2015 | 155 |
| 5 | Justin Wilson | 2015 | 154 |
| 6 | Clayton Kershaw | 2016 | 154 |
| 7 | Cam Bedrosian | 2016 | 150 |
| 8 | Justin Verlander | 2019 | 150 |
| 9 | Nick Anderson | 2019 | 150 |
| 10 | Steve Geltz | 2016 | 150 |
| 11 | Tyler Wells | 2021 | 150 |
| 12 | Liam Hendriks | 2020 | 149 |
| 13 | Aroldis Chapman | 2015 | 149 |
| 14 | Aroldis Chapman | 2019 | 148 |
| 15 | Josh Sborz | 2021 | 148 |
| 16 | Justin Verlander | 2018 | 148 |
| 17 | Danny Duffy | 2015 | 148 |
| 18 | Erik Johnson | 2015 | 148 |
| 19 | Steve Geltz | 2015 | 148 |
| 20 | Demarcus Evans | 2021 | 147 |
SUMMARY
We now have a simple way to objectively compare fastballs with rise characteristics between levels and over time with the Rise+ stat. The effectiveness of a fastball is very dependent on outside factors including location and pitch repertoire. In general, fastballs with higher Rise+ are more difficult to hit.