Doug Fister Intermission Fun Fact

(Hockey!)

Doug Fister has thrown 391 pitches through four starts so far this season. Of those 391, 313 have been fastballs, for a league-leading fastball frequency of 80%.

In second place so far is Matt Garza, at 77%. Then things quickly start to trail off towards 70% and below. The Major League leader in 2009 was Mike Pelfrey, at 78%.

A year ago, Doug Fister threw far fewer fastballs. The dramatic early increase in 2010 has come at the expense of his change, considered by many - including myself - to be his best pitch. He's thrown only 25 changeups to date, which is roughly the amount that Jason Vargas throws in an inning.

And yet he's succeeded, mainly because he's issued just four unintentional walks.

Doug Fister is weird. Simple, and weird.