Cliff Lee and the four-seam fastball

Cliff Lee can be described as a surgeon. Hitters may feel more like he's performing a vivisection, but that's just a matter of perspective. Lee's impressive collection of scalpels includes a cutter, curve, sinker, change-up and slider. But it's his fifth pitch, a four-seam fastball, which is our focal point for the moment. Specifically, where he throws it and when. And to whom. So three focal points. Stop counting.Here are the basics on Lee's arsenal And a look at his fastball usage over time While the overall trend has been almost linear, he has two plateaus in his splits, but in different time frames. This is not a man who likes to reach for the four-seamer much as time has gone by. This makes further analysis rather tricky—shrinking samples. YearFastballs 20081025 20091088 2010598 2011193 Outside of a big drop in one set of situations (behind in the count), Lee was shedding heaters all over the place. vs LHH2008200920102011 Ahead32%27...