How Much Does Pitch Tempo Matter for the Royals?

When it comes to diving into different pitching metrics, pitch tempo is rarely mentioned or used. For those unaware of pitch tempo, it can be defined as follows, per Baseball Savant.

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Pitch tempo measures the median time between pitches (in other words pitch release to pitch release). Only pitches that follow a take (called strike or called ball) and are thrown to the same batter are considered for this metric. Note: This metric is updated weekly.

A pitcher can use pitch tempo in many ways. Pitchers who opt for a faster tempo use this approach to catch hitters off guard, especially when hitters're having a hard time reading that pitcher's arsenal. Pitchers who opt for a slower tempo may give hitters more time, but they may also force them to overthink or get uncomfortable at the plate.

Thus, there's no "ideal" pitcher tempo for a pitcher or a team. Nonetheless, it's worth paying attention to, as it could provide insight into a pitcher's efficiency and effectiveness in certain categories. 

With that said, where do the Royals rank in pitch tempo both as a team and individually? Additionally, what are any takeaways from this particular data set? 

Let's break down that pitch tempo data from 2026 and see if it can reveal anything about this pitching staff and their performance this season.

Royals Rank at the Top in Team Pitch Tempo

When it comes to organizing pitch tempo data in Savant, I focused on highlighting pitch tempo and the percentage of pitches categorized as "Fast Tempo."  Here's a definition of the difference between "fast" and "slow" pitches tempo-wise, according to Baseball Savant.

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For added context, we label any pitch thrown within 15 seconds to be "Fast" and any pitch thrown after longer than 30 seconds to be "Slow". To view a more detailed comparison of a player's tempo, click the "Compare" button at the end of each row. You can view up to four players at a time, and players will cycle through if you choose more than four.

Now, the pitch tempo data I am sharing is only for pitches with the bases empty. The CVS file didn't include pitches with runners on base. However, even though the data is only for one kind of situation, it still gives an idea of the Royals' and other teams' overall pitch tempo approach. 

This season, the Royals had the second-fastest pitch tempo and the highest fast-pitch percentage, per Savant. That can be seen in the table below. 

What's interesting about the team pitch tempo data is that AL Central teams pitch some of the fastest tempos in the game. All five Central Division teams are in the Top-10 in fastest pitch tempo, with the White Sox ranking 4th, the Twins ranking 5th, the Tigers ranking 7th, and the Guardians ranking 8th.

Conversely, the AL West tends to play a slower style of ball. The Los Angeles Angels have the 14th-fastest tempo in baseball, which is the fastest mark of any team in their division. The Houston Astros rank 18th, the Athletics rank 22nd, the Texas Rangers rank 24th, and the Seattle Mariners rank 27th. 

Interestingly, of the teams in the Top-5 for fastest pitch tempo, only the White Sox have a winning record. The Mets, Royals, Giants, and Twins are all under .500. The five slowest teams in pitch tempo? Only the Yankees and Mariners have winning records.

In terms of ERA, this is how the five fastest-pitch-tempo teams fare and rank in team ERA, as of June 12th.

1. New York Mets, 3.88 ERA (8th)
2. Kansas City Royals, 4.37 ERA (21st)
3. San Francisco Giants, 4.57 ERA (22nd)
4. Chicago White Sox, 4.28 ERA (18th)
5. Minnesota Twins, 4.78 ERA (27th) 

The average ERA of these five fastest pitch tempo teams? 4.38, which would rank 22nd, behind none other than the Royals. 

Hence, there isn't a strong correlation, it seems, between pitch tempo and winning as well as ERA performance, at least this season, anyway. 

Royals Starters Have Significantly Faster Tempos

I decided to look at the Royals pitcher individually to see who had the fastest tempos this season. 

Unsurprisingly, based on the Savant data, starting pitchers worked significantly faster than relievers, as illustrated in the data table below, which was also organized by pitch tempo. 

The top three pitchers with the fastest tempos were Noah Cameron, Seth Lugo, and Michael Wacha. All three starters were also the only Royals pitchers with pitch tempos under 14 seconds.

Of the top-10 fastest-tempo Royals pitchers, only Daniel Lynch IV, Eli Morgan, Lucas Erceg, and Steven Cruz were non-starters. Of the five slowest-tempo pitchers, Kris Bubic (16.3-second tempo) was the only starter. Bubic also had the third-lowest fast pitch% at 11.4%. Only Nick Mears (2.5%) and Matt Strahm (0.0%) were slower. 

Is There Any Data That Sticks With Pitch Tempo?

When it comes to pitch tempo correlating or positively impacting other metrics, the biggest one seems to be stolen base prevention, or at least in the Mets' and Royals' case.

The Mets, who have the fastest pitch tempo in baseball, have allowed the second-fewest stolen bases (27). The Royals? They have allowed 37 stolen bases, which ranks 24th. Unfortunately, beyond the Mets and the Royals, that stat doesn't hold up for other teams. The Giants have allowed 59 stolen bases (6th-most), the White Sox have allowed 55 (8th-most), and the Twins have allowed 71 (most in baseball). 

It's not just about pitch tempo. That helps, but you also need effective throwing catchers to limit stolen bases. The Mets and Royals have that combination (Francisco Alvarez has great arm strength). Giants, White Sox, and Twins? Not so much.

I also wanted to look at expected metrics, like wOBA and ERA, to see if there were any correlations on an individual level. Here's what the data set produced.

The data here isn't sticky in these categories either.

Lugo ERA is outperforming his xERA by 1.41 points, but Mears is also outperforming his ERA by 1.15 points, and his tempo is the second-slowest of Royals pitchers this season. In terms of wOBA difference, Bubic, a slow-tempo pitcher, is outperforming his xwOBA by 40 points. Conversely, Lugo and Cameron, two fast-tempo pitchers, are also outperforming their xwOBA by 25 and 20 points, respectively. 

Therefore, not a ton can be concluded about whether the Royals pitchers' fast tempo benefits or hinders their pitching performance, at least this season. It does seem to help Salvador Perez and Carter Jensen limit free runners on the basepaths, though that ability to limit stolen bases seems to be more of a correlation with fast pitch tempo rather than a causation, especially when looking at those other team samples.

Regardless, it's a metric where the Royals actually rank highly this season, which can't be said in many areas, unfortunately. Furthermore, Kansas City's fast-pitch tempo is at least aesthetically pleasing to fans, especially those who prefer faster-paced games. 

Safe to say, Royals fans won't have to worry about a lot of pitcher pitch clock violations with Kansas City pitchers this season.