Brewers: 5 Pitchers Seeing a Velocity Increase in 2021

Going into 2021, there were, and still are, numerous questions about the impact of the shortened 2020. One thing that is interesting to look at is velocity, especially in regards to the Brewers pitching staff.

As it has for the past several years, velocity across the league seems to be up, but what does that mean for the Brewers pitching staff? Let’s take a look at five Milwaukee pitchers who have seen velocity increases to start 2021.

RHP Corbin Burnes

Corbin Burnes is elite, there is no way around it. He is off to a historic start to the season, and the offense is doing nothing to support him. This is a very early look, but so far this is what the numbers show for Burnes.

The most dominant pitch Burnes has thrown this year has been his cutter. His cutter had an average pitch velocity of 93.1 mph in 2020 and it is up nearly 3 mph to 95.8 through his first two starts. He has recorded 11 strikeouts on his cutter so far, and given how frequently it appears on Pitching Ninja’s timeline, that number will go up.

Corbin Burnes is having a historic start to his season for the Brewers. His velocity is up too.

The sinker, a pitch that Burnes has scaled back on throwing this year, is also up. Last season he averaged 96 mph, but it is now up to 97.3. Burnes’ changeup is sitting at 91 mph, up from 88.9 in 2020.

Even Burnes’ curveball is showing a slight uptick from 81.1 to 81.2, which is essentially a rounding error. His slider has decreased from 86.7 to 86.6, which again could very well be a rounding error.

Overall his velocity is up on the year. At Reviewing the Brew, we have been very high on Corbin Burnes, and have written about him quite a lot, and will continue to do so as he is going to have the best pitching season in franchise history.