Unhittable

The baseball expert famously known as PitchingNinja explores the revolution that has given pitchers an unprecedented advantage in today’s game.

Can Tarik Skubal three-peat as AL Cy Young? After winning Rookie of the Year and his first Cy Young, how does Paul Skenes get even nastier? Can Jacob deGrom crack 200 strikeouts again? How will Spencer Strider approach his return to dominance? Which pitchers stand to gain the most from an automated strike zone? And what separates Shohei Ohtani’s approach to training from everyone else—why is he the outlier? If you’re asking questions like these as the season approaches, Unhittable is just what you’ve been looking for to prep for Opening Day.

Pitching dominates baseball as never before. Spin rate, sweepers, 105 mph fastballs—all have become standard when evaluating pitching arms and techniques and are familiar lingo in discussion and analysis of the game. Gone is the era of the swaggering power hitters. Batting averages are close to the deadball era; team records for strikeouts are broken and then broken again. The game has fundamentally changed, and hitters may never catch up.

A self-taught coach who has evolved into a top pitching analyst, Rob Friedman has closely observed this revolution that has transformed baseball for both players and fans. Friedman is sought after by players like Cy Young Award-winners Paul Skenes and Tarik Skubal, and All-Stars such as Yu Darvish, and he spotlights the influential figures behind this transformation:

• Tom House, a former MLB pitcher turned coaching visionary, utilized cutting-edge technology to refine the techniques of legends like Nolan Ryan and Randy Johnson. His unconventional methods paved the way for a new era shaped by the collision of technology and tradition.
• Brent Strom, another MLB pitching insider, has used data to revive flagging careers—helping stars like Justin Verlander, Gerrit Cole, and Charlie Morton to use technology to enhance their performance.
• Kyle Boddy, of Driveline Baseball, has trained elite pitchers such as Trevor Bauer, Shohei Ohtani, and Clayton Kershaw, using advanced analytics and technology, as well as others.

Peppered with insights drawn from interviews with top pitchers, Unhittable is an insider's look at how these advancements have been used by players themselves, and how they have fundamentally changed America’s pastime.

Rob Friedman is a pitching analyst for ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball, ESPN College Baseball and Major League Baseball, and is known as the social media personality PitchingNinja.