A link worth its own post is Lucas Apostoleris' analysis of Jonny Venters on Beyond the Box Score. If you don't read BTB on a daily basis, please do. It's a great site.
↵Apostoleris gives several charts and tables outlining Venters' tremendous 2010 season. What caught my attention the most:
↵- A basic stat but one that I continue to find outstanding is Venters' fWAR of 1.7 is the exact same as Mariano Rivera's from last season. Not a bad way to start your career.
↵- Venters' GB% on sinkers against RHB was 79.7%, but against LHB it was 40%. He got more swinging strikes on the sinker rather than the four-seamer against LHB, but his line drive rate was considerably higher. As a result, he threw more four-seamers to LHB.
↵- Venters' sinker was swung on and missed nearly 30% of the time. Very good.
↵- Venters' whiff rate with the slider was 65.6%, which makes for one of the most lethal pitches in the league. It will be interesting to see how that holds up this season.
↵The only thing against Venters at this point is control, as a 4.23 BB/9 in 2010 is even with his minor league totals. But, if there is a such thing, he uses it well, keeping the ball in the park and on the ground by missing low and outside.