Since the new PITCHf/x system should be installed in  all the mlb ballparks by now I think we can get a lot more analysis on how certain pitchers pitch. There was a diary some time during last season where some people were keeping track of Reyes' pitches from the TV and used that data to see what he was doing. They found out that he was using the curve a lot more than he should have. That was probably my favorite thing to read on this site because it is rarely done due to the time consuming task of writing down pitch locations, speeds, and types. This system could make that a lot easier because it gathers all the data for you. And it is all freely available via the gameday site.

Note: The earlier games are missing much of the pitch data such as start_speed, end_speed, break_angle, break_length, etc. There is much more information on the later games as parks began putting the system in. 2008 should bring us much more complete data since all (most?) the parks will have the system installed by then.

Since the direct xml files from the gameday site are kind of difficult to manipulate I put all the cardinals pitch-by-pitch data for 2007 into some databases you can download ( new link, old databases were functionally useless due to the use of memo for all fields) (newer link, all data in last database was rounded when I changed datatypes, this one's fine I checked it). I think I got all the 2007 cardinals pitchers in it. Please let me know if I forgot one.

If you are interested in PITCHf/x system here are some pages you can visit to learn more about it.

Alan M. Nathan - a tutorial: learn what the columns mean.

fastballs.wordpress.com - catalog of enhanced gameday analysis: a collection of articles on pitch analysis.

friarwatch.com - how to use mlb gameday data: good links at the bottom of the page.

Good luck and happy analyzing! Can't wait to read some more diaries like the Reyes one so we can see what our pitchers are doing.