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Jonathan Papelbon headshot

Pitcher · 2016

Jonathan Papelbon

Age
36
B/T
R/R
Height
6' 5"
Weight
230 lb
Number
#58
Born
November 23, 1980 in Baton Rouge, LA, USA
MLB debut
July 31, 2005
dbWAR
.9
2 season(s)
IP
35.0
ERA
4.37
FIP
3.69
K/9
8.0
FIP−
88
100 = avg

Jonathan Papelbon is a relief pitcher for the Washington Nationals. In 2016 he struck out 31 batters over 35.0 innings across 37 appearances, going 2-4. His ERA of 4.37 was 4.3% higher than the league average of 4.19 — 10th of 16 on his team, and 295th of 512 among MLB pitchers with 20+ innings. Stripping out defence, his 3.69 FIP suggests he pitched better than his ERA shows. He missed bats on 23.6% of swings (11.1% of every pitch he threw), walked 9.2% of the batters he faced and struck out 20.4%. His 0.4 dbWAR is built from that FIP rather than runs allowed, so it credits him for what he controls and not for the defence behind him.

League context

Percentile among qualified pitchers, 2016.

FIP3.69
K/98.0
WHIP1.46
WAR.4

Pitching

Standard and advanced, by season.

Trend
201637035.02419371731144.373.691.468.03.6104880.4
201559063.14324531556122.133.701.038.01.754930.5

Platoon splits

How left- and right-handed hitters fare against him.

Opponent batting by the side the hitter bats from, 2016. Counted from play-by-play, so totals can differ from the box-score season line by a plate appearance or two.
SplitPAABHHRBBSOAVGOBPSLGwOBAK%
vs LHB80701921012.271.362.414.33115.0%
vs RHB7267181419.269.310.418.31726.4%

Pitch sequencing

What Jonathan Papelbon throws in each count, and what he follows each pitch with. Select any cell for the breakdown.

ShowBatter
Four-seamSliderSplitterINSinker

Select a count to see exactly what Jonathan Papelbon throws in it.

Pitch arsenal

What he throws, how hard, and how often it misses in 2016.

Four-Seam Fastball60.4%34491.02,24247.7%18.9%
Slider19.1%10979.731350.5%32.3%
Splitter16.7%9585.91,70132.6%32.4%
Intentional Ball2.1%1266.31,2440.0%
Jonathan Papelbon's arsenal by usage. Velocity is average release speed in mph, spin in rpm, and whiff rate is misses per swing — the cleanest single measure of whether a pitch beats hitters.

Head to head

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Jonathan Papelbon

Similar players

Nearest 2016 seasons by command, run prevention and role, on rate statistics rather than totals.

How these are computed

wOBA uses linear weights measured from this season's own play-by-play rather than published constants, and wRC+ is park-adjusted against that same league. dbWAR is our own open implementation — not fWAR or bWAR — and the full derivation, including its simplifications, is on the methodology page.