DataBaseball
2026
Sam Long headshot

Players · L · Pitcher · 2025

Sam Long

Age
30
B/T
L/L
Height
6' 1"
Weight
185 lb
Number
#73
Born
July 8, 1995 in Fair Oaks, CA, United States
MLB debut
June 9, 2021
Drafted
2016, round 18
College
Sacramento State
High school
Del Campo
dbWAR
.1
6 season(s)
IP
40.1
ERA
5.36
FIP
5.54
K/9
7.4
FIP−
133
100 = avg

Sam Long was a relief pitcher for the Kansas City Royals. In 2025 he struck out 33 batters over 40.1 innings across 39 appearances, going 2-3. His ERA of 5.36 was 28.8% higher than the league average of 4.16 — the second worst on his team, and 439th of 542 among MLB pitchers with 20+ innings. Stripping out defence, his 5.54 FIP suggests the ERA was no fluke. He missed bats on 19.1% of swings (8.8% of every pitch he threw), walked 11.6% of the batters he faced and struck out 17.5%. 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, 2025.

FIP5.54
K/97.4
WHIP1.74
WAR-.4

WAR by season

0.4-0.0-0.42122232425

Pitching

Standard and advanced, by season.

Trend
2025KC39040.1230482433225.365.541.747.44.9129133-0.4
2024KC43042.2331341544173.163.891.209.33.678950.4
2023OAK40145.0012492832215.604.741.566.44.21291100.0
2022SF28642.1131391733143.615.071.257.03.091128-0.3
2021SF12540.2210372538155.534.231.288.43.3130990.4

Batting

Standard and advanced, by season.

Trend
2021SF611100004.100.100.100.000.1670.0%36.4%.088-2.1-60-0.0—

Platoon splits

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

Opponent batting by the side the hitter bats from, 2025. Counted from play-by-play, so totals can differ from the box-score season line by a plate appearance or two.
SplitPAABHHRBBSOAVGOBPSLGwOBAK%
vs LHB7567223714.328.400.507.39718.7%
vs RHB114982641519.265.368.439.35616.7%

Pitch sequencing

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

ShowBatter
Four-seamSliderCurveballSinkerSplitterSweeper

Select a count to see exactly what Sam Long throws in it.

Pitch arsenal

What he throws, how hard, how often it misses, and what hitters do with it.

Four-Seam Fastball35.2%27793.22,31248.0%11.2%53.3211.029
Slider25.7%20284.92,26047.5%31.3%36.361.895
Curveball17.9%14176.82,59546.8%23.7%29.207.592
Sinker10.8%8592.72,19240.0%10.3%25.200.646
Splitter9.3%7386.41,59131.5%13.8%20.250.736
Sam Long'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. BAA and OPS are what hitters did against each pitch, credited to the one that ended the plate appearance, and are left blank under 15 at-bats.

Head to head

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Sam Long

Similar players

Nearest 2025 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.