What is a Plus Pitch in Baseball? Scouting Definition and Examples
A plus pitch is a single offering that grades above MLB average on the scouting scale — typically a 60 on the 20-80 scale — meaning it beats major league hitters on its own.
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What is a Plus Pitch?
A plus pitch is a single pitch in a pitcher's arsenal that scouts grade as better than major league average — a 60 grade on the 20-80 scouting scale, where 50 is MLB average. A 70 is "plus-plus" and an 80 is generational. When a scout writes "plus slider, average fastball," he means the slider is a weapon that gets big-league hitters out by itself, while the fastball is merely good enough to set it up. The number of plus pitches a pitcher owns largely determines his role: starters need three average-or-better pitches, while a reliever can survive on one true plus offering.
How Pitches Get Graded
Scouts grade a pitch on its components, not its results in one game:
- Velocity — for fastballs, relative to league norms (a 50-grade fastball sits around 93–94 mph for a righty).
- Movement — induced vertical break, horizontal sweep, and depth relative to velocity.
- Spin characteristics — spin rate, spin efficiency, and axis.
- Deception — how well the pitch tunnels with the rest of the arsenal.
- Command of the pitch — a 70-grade slider thrown middle-middle plays like a 50.
Data models formalize this: Stuff+ converts the physical characteristics of a pitch into a single number where 100 is average, so a "plus pitch" in Stuff+ terms is anything above roughly 110.
Worked Example
Devin Williams' changeup — the "Airbender" — is a textbook plus-plus pitch: it averaged about 84 mph with roughly 18 inches of arm-side run and generated whiff rates above 45%, grading as a 70. Corbin Burnes' cutter is a 65–70 grade pitch by Stuff+ models. On the other end, a back-end starter might carry a 55 fastball, 50 slider, and 45 changeup — no plus pitch at all — which is why he lives at the back of a rotation.
Why It Matters
The plus-pitch count is the fastest scouting shorthand for projection. One plus pitch with average everything else profiles as a high-leverage reliever. Two plus pitches with usable command profiles as a mid-rotation starter. Three plus pitches is an ace ceiling. For fantasy players, pitchers adding a new plus pitch (a reworked sweeper or a newly discovered kick-change) are the classic breakout targets.
Limitations and Misconceptions
- Grades are scout-relative; one team's 60 is another's 55.
- A plus pitch in a vacuum can be neutralized by poor sequencing or tipping.
- Stuff grades ignore location — a 70 stuff pitch with 30 command underperforms.
- Plus is a present grade, not a guarantee; pitches lose grade with velocity decline.
In Legends Deck: each pitch in a card's arsenal carries its own 20-80 grade derived from real Statcast stuff metrics. Plus pitches (60+) drive higher simulated whiff and weak-contact rates, and card rarity scales with the number of plus offerings.