First Pitch Matchups
1st Pitch for Tuesday, August 25, 2026
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How to Read This Page
Tiers
HIGHStrong first-pitch contact matchups (★)
MEDModerate matchups
LOWBottom tier
Leaderboard shows HIGH tier only. The ★ marker flags batters with strong matchup-specific signals.
Outcome Columns
Percentages reflect what happens on the first pitch when the batter swings. Grayed cells = sample too small.
Swing%How often the batter swings at the 1st pitch.
Out/Other%1st pitches that end the AB as a non-hit batted ball — outs, sac flies/bunts, fielders choice, errors.
1B%1st pitches that result in a single.
XBH%1st pitches that result in a double, triple, or home run.
Reading the Signals
— combinations to look for▶
HIGH tier + High XBH%First-pitch power angle. Likely to put it in play AND extra bases when he does.
HIGH tier + Low Swing%Patient HIGH-tier matchup. Rarely swings but produces when he does.
LOW tierFirst-pitch no-contact candidate. The pitcher is likely to get ahead with a called strike or whiff.
Dash (—) on ratesFewer than 5 1st-pitch PAs in the active filter slice — too small to display reliably. Try toggling Year or Hand to see more data.
Filters
YEAR
HAND
Filter by Game
Top HIGH-tier matchups across the slate
1
COL @ 
WSH5:45 PMHIGH
COL @ WSH5:45 PMBATTERJake Mccarthy(L)★
VSAndrew Alvarez(LHP)
SWING54%
OUT13%
1B3%
XBH3%
2COL @ WSH5:45 PMHIGH
COL @ WSH5:45 PMBATTERTJ Rumfield(L)★
VSAndrew Alvarez(LHP)
SWING42%
OUT16%
1B1%
XBH1%
About the MLB 1st Pitch board
How each starting pitcher opens an at-bat, and which hitters do damage on the first pitch they see. It isolates a single moment of the plate appearance where tendencies are unusually stable and unusually exploitable.
How to read it
Pitcher columns describe how often a starter throws a strike to open, what he opens with, and what hitters have done with it. Hitter columns describe swing rate on the first pitch and the quality of contact when they do swing. A pitcher who lives in the zone early paired with a hitter who ambushes first pitches is the pattern the board exists to surface.
Where the numbers come from
Built from pitch-level data filtered to the first pitch of each plate appearance, split by pitcher handedness and season window. Both sides carry their sample size, because first-pitch rates move quickly on small counts.
Who it's for
For research where the first pitch decides the outcome, and for anyone reading how a starter establishes counts. It is a narrow question answered properly rather than a broad one answered loosely.
What the MLB stats mean
PA / ABPlate appearances and at-bats. Every trip to the plate is a plate appearance; walks, hit-by-pitches and sacrifices do not count as at-bats.
AVGBatting average — hits per at-bat.
SLGTotal bases per at-bat, so a double counts double a single.
ISOExtra-base power — extra bases per at-bat, with singles taken out.