Tom Glavine

Glavine, a left-hander, has gradually lost velocity over the course of his career. He continues to be an effective starting pitcher in the National League by using his excellent control and deception, switching speeds, and locating pitches off the outside corner of the strike zone. His most common approach is to begin by locating his circle changeup off the outside corner, then follow with alternating fastballs and change ups to confuse the hitter. While batters frequently make contact with his pitches, the substantial movement he places on them makes drives very soft, resulting in easily fielded ground balls and infield fly outs. Glavine's consistency is also highlighted by his durability; since his first full year in 1988, he has started at least 25 games every year. In addition to his excellent change up and well-controlled fastball, Glavine has a plus-curve ball, a slider, and a tailing two-seam fastball. Despite being a left-handed pitcher, Glavine is often more effective against right-handed batters. Dodgers broadcaster Vin Scully noted that this attribute is likely due to Glavine pitching from the extreme right edge of the pitching rubber.

Like longtime Atlanta teammate Greg Maddux, Glavine has been one of the better-hitting pitchers of his generation. He has a career .188 batting average - decent for a modern pitcher - and has hit over .200 in eight seasons, with a career best of .289 in 1996. He has a good eye, drawing a high number of walks, which combined with his hits have given him a career on base percentage of .246. Because Glavine gets on base almost a quarter of the time he bats, opposing pitchers have never been able to treat him as an automatic out in the lineup. In 2004, Glavine walked as often as he struck out (10 times each), another remarkable feat for a pitcher. Glavine is also an excellent bunter. His 201 sacrifice bunts prior to 2007 ranks second among active players to Omar Vizquel. Glavine has four Silver Slugger Awards, ranking him second all-time for pitchers behind Mike Hampton.

Source: Wikipedia