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MLB Deserve-to-Win
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Kyle Backhus

2026
Phillies· LHP · throws L· 20.0 IP· 4.95 ERA· 1.55 WHIP· 94 batters faced

Grade

His grade shows how good he has been, and at what.
C+better than 50% of qualified pitchers at limiting bases
RelieverCommand Artist

Rarely walks anyone and lets the defense work.

Backhus sits right around league average

The simulator expects him to allow 0.453 bases per batter faced, better than 50% of qualified pitchers. His best skill is limiting hard contact (81st percentile). Short relief outings push strikeout rates up a little, so read his K% spoke with that in mind.

His grade rests on 94 batters faced, with data through 2026-09-27.

How to read this chart
Each spoke is a skill estimate adjusted for sample size, not a raw season stat, and farther out is better. A ↓ marks a stat where a lower number is better, and its spoke is flipped so farther out still means better. The middle ring marks the league median and the outer ring the league best. Percentiles compare him with 517 qualified pitchers, those with 100+ batters faced, starters and relievers together. He has not reached that bar himself, so he is measured against them rather than counted among them.

Plays like…

Each of these pitchers shares his archetype and sits closest to him in xEB/PA.

Brad LordNationalsJake WoodfordRaysCooper CriswellMarinersCade GibsonMarlins

Pitcher type

This map shows what kind of pitcher he is, next to the league.

Pitcher type

He lands in the “Misses bats, limits hard contact” corner of the map.

League best:K% − BB% Jacob Misiorowski (26.8%)Hard-hit% allowed Blake Snell (29.0%)

How to read this chart
Two skills separate pitching styles: strikeout rate minus walk rate, where higher is better, and hard-hit rate allowed, where lower is better. The hard-hit axis is flipped, so the best corner is the top right. Each dot is a pitcher with 80+ batters faced this season, sized by batters faced. The dashed lines are the league median on each skill, and the league best on each is named above the chart. Click any dot to open that pitcher's page.
 Kyle BackhusLeague medianPercentile
Bases per ball in play(lower = better).515.527—
Walk rate(lower = better)8%9%67th
Strikeout rate(higher = better)22%22%45th

A higher percentile is better, and the 99th is the top of the league.

Arsenal

These cards show what he throws and what each pitch does.

Kyle Backhus leans on his sinker (55% of pitches). His best pitch has been the sinker, saving 0.3 bases per 100 thrown against league average.

Pitch mix & swing-and-miss

+8 bases better than a replacement arm this season

He allowed about 41 estimated bases, against a replacement arm's 49 over the same batters faced.

Replacement level is per-batter and can't be split by pitch type, so the bars below use league average.

All pitches

He cost 0.3 bases against league average across 317 pitches, or 0.1 per 100 pitches.

Sinker
55%
90.7 mph · LHP median 92.9
11% whiffs · Lg median 13%
saved 0.3 per 1000.6 total
Sweeper
34%
78.3 mph · LHP median 81.2
35% whiffs · Lg median 31%
cost 0.7 per 1000.9 total
Changeup
not charted
11%
80.4 mph · LHP median 85.1
—
—

His changeup isn't in the charts below, because only 37 of them were tracked with velocity and movement data this season.

How to read this chart
Each row is a pitch he throws at least 3% of the time, from pitch tracking in the regular season. The bar is how often he throws it, then its average velocity and its whiff rate, the share of swings that miss. Beside the velocity and the whiff rate is the median for that pitch, among pitchers of his hand for velocity and across the league for whiffs. More whiffs are better for a pitcher, while usage and velocity describe how he pitches. The Bases vs average bars score each pitch against a league-average pitch in the same count, and a bar to the left (saved) is better.

Mix by batter side

Sinker
57% vs LHH · LHP median 38%
54% vs RHH · LHP median 22%
Sweeper
42% vs LHH · LHP median 31%
29% vs RHH · LHP median 19%
How to read this chart
Each row shows how often he throws a pitch to left-handed hitters (LHH) and right-handed hitters (RHH), next to the median for pitchers of his hand (LHP median). Medians come from left-handed pitchers who throw that pitch at least 3% of the time. Between 55 and 111 of them qualify, depending on the pitch. A mix is a plan, so a higher or lower share is neither better nor worse. Overall results by batter side are under Platoon splits.

Kyle Backhus's pitch movement, 2026

Kyle Backhus's pitch movement, 2026-12012-12012in← glove sidearm side →more risemore drop
SinkerSI
Rise 1.8 in
−6.5 vs Lg median
Break 18.8 in
+3.6 vs Lg median
Vs. early season steady
SweeperST
Rise 3.0 in
+1.9 vs Lg median
Break −11.2 in
+2.6 vs Lg median
Vs. early season steady
Early season → nowLg medianNormal wobble around the dot
How to read this chart
Each dot is a pitch's current break in inches, averaged over his latest outings. Higher is more rise and further right is more arm-side break, and neither is better or worse. The faint trail runs from his early-season outings to the dot, and the soft halo shows how far normal noise can move it. League median is the small hollow ring, and a pitch marked * has none because too few pitchers throw it. The “changed” verdict removes a league-wide drift that the trail still shows, so a long trail can read as steady. The by-appearance chart below has the exact dates. More on the About page

By appearance

These charts follow his velocity, movement and mix from outing to outing.

These charts follow his velocity, movement and pitch mix one outing at a time, and each pitch keeps the same color in every chart. The velocity and movement charts also shade the middle of the league for scale. His changeup isn't in these charts, because only 37 of them were tracked with velocity and movement data this season.

Platoon splits

This section splits his results against lefties and righties.

Platoon splits (EB/PA allowed)

He handles lefty bats better than righty bats, by 0.038 EB/PA allowed.

50% probable range: +0.030 to +0.047

vs LHB37 PA0.429

vs LHB: shrunk estimate 0.429 EB/PA, 50% probable range 0.407 to 0.450, based on 37 plate appearances. Raw (unshrunk) rate: 0.375 EB/PA. League median vs LHB: 0.451 EB/PA.

His raw rate vs LHB (0.375) is off this scale. Small samples can push a raw rate this far, which is why the dot, the shrunk estimate, is the number to trust.

vs RHB57 PA0.467

vs RHB: shrunk estimate 0.467 EB/PA, 50% probable range 0.447 to 0.489, based on 57 plate appearances. Raw (unshrunk) rate: 0.485 EB/PA. League median vs RHB: 0.435 EB/PA.

0.3970.4220.4480.4740.499
← betterworse →
Below league medianAbove50% probable rangeHis raw rateMiddle half of the league

His split is about typical for a lefty arm (median 0.038). Against righty bats he allows more than the league median, which is a real platoon weakness.

How to read this chart
  • Each dot is his estimate against that side, with its 50% probable range as the bar. These are bases allowed, so lower is better.
  • The diamond is his raw rate, which small samples make noisy, so the simulator pulls the dot toward a more trustworthy value.
  • The dashed tick is the league median, and the shaded strip is the middle half of pitchers with 100 or more batters faced.
  • The two splits average back to his modeled overall EB/PA allowed, not the xEB/PA headline.
  • Tap or hover a mark for its number. LHB and RHB are left- and right-handed batters. More on the About page

Contact allowed

These cards show what hitters do when they make contact.

Batters go to the pull side off him most often, and that's also where they do the most damage.

Pull side and opposite field depend on which side each batter hits from, so this pools every hitter he faced.

Batted balls allowed

Every ball hit off Kyle Backhus this season is drawn where it landed.
hit · out
EBlowhigh
vs Dansby SwansonHome run
104 mph · 34° · worth 3.9 bases
04/15 vs Cubs
vs Nick GonzalesHome run
99 mph · 34° · worth 3.5 bases
07/02 vs Pirates
vs Jake BurgerHome run
108 mph · 21° · worth 3.3 bases
03/26 vs Rangers
vs Salvador PerezDouble
95 mph · 22° · worth 1.8 bases
07/05 vs Royals
vs Juan SotoTriple
102 mph · 11° · worth 1.4 bases
06/27 vs Mets

Luck check

How to read this chart
Dot color is estimated bases (EB), what the contact was worth no matter what the defense did with it. Darker means more bases, so a dark hollow ring in the outfield is a crushed ball his defense ran down. Tap or hover a dot or a row to link the two, and use the ▶ links to watch a play on Baseball Savant.

Deserved vs. actual

Batters have been credited with about the bases their contact off Kyle Backhus deserved.

Deserved by the contact he allowed34
Actually credited to batters37

Both bars count 65 balls in play, with walks and strikeouts left out.

How to read this chart
Every ball in play is worth the bases its exit velocity, launch angle and direction usually produce. If batters were credited with more than that, his results have been unlucky, and fewer means lucky. BABIP against is the batting average on balls in play he allows, next to the league median.

ERA 4.95 · WHIP 1.55 · BABIP against 0.339 (Lg median 0.286)

Best games

These are his biggest outings this season.

Best games

These are his best outings this season, ranked by bases saved against a replacement arm.

Multi-season trends · Kyle Backhus

Compared with last season, his HR allowed% is up, his K% is up, his Barrel% against is up, his Hard-hit% against is down, his GB% against is up and his FB% against is up.

Actual rates show what happened on the field, season by season.