this is absolutely fascinating.
I am curious about the dip in spin rates though. Is that something a pitcher/this pitcher is intentionally going for? Or is that caused by another factor?
On the low end, not as much has been studied, but there are a couple things I have looked at directly.
One, which is the most obvious - pitches slip more or less all the time with or without stickie. The adhesive/friction forces between the fingers and ball are always more or less depending on the ball, the pressure applied that initiates the friction/adhesion, and the pitch type. So you are talking variability pitch to pitch and that is why you look for stuff outside the “norm” while expecting a level of “bounce” within a given deviation off the mean. And what you see most often is a lot less data outside the lower end of +-1 std deviation than on the plus side.
The stickie itself plays a role based on where you want it for maximizing the spin rate. CB’s, you want the adhesion on the thumb, where as sliders/cutters and FB’s are on the fingers. But even the adhesion on the fingers varies. FB’s/SL you want it halfway between the center and the tip of the pad on both the pointer and middle fingers, whereas cutters you want the adhesion right where the nailbed ends on the thumb side of the fingers. So it is easy to see how the adhesion/friction on subsequent pitches varies and thus the spin rate for the same velocity.
So when you are looking at elevated spin rates across the board from a “stickie assist” standpoint, a pitch that has no “stickie assist” will look relatively low compared to all the ones that are elevated. Now that is a rather random effect as no pitcher out on the mound has the opportunity to try and control all the variables that come along with using the stickie, given they are under scrutiny the whole time. But there is another effect that some pitchers, maybe, only one I know of, that understands and can control (maybe) the “slip side” effects.
Some stickies dry out or scab over or … however you want to term it. I’ll describe the effect a couple different ways because one may ring true for someone and not to another.
If you have ever dipped your fingers in liquid wax and then let it cool. It is soft and plyable and doesn’t feel like a skin over the top of your fingers when it is warm, but when it cools. Or if you have ever been using super glue and got some on your fingers. You don’t really notice it when it is liquid but after it dries (if you are stuck to something) it feels like a plastic coating over your skin. At any rate hopefully that gives you an idea of what I am talking about.
The solvent that is used to make stickie applicable dries out over time. However, the residue when the solvent blows off is adhered to the fingers. The part that remains on the fingers hardens and when it hardens it no longer adheres to the ball, it slips. Additionally, if moisture is put on top of it, you get a hydroplaning effect. And that hydroplaning effect is controllable to a certain extent.
The stickie Clevinger used a few years back was really susceptible to the hardening effect. That is why you would see him rubbing his hand on his right hip pocket area like he was trying to wipe something off because he was - the hardened stickie. Since it was now not giving him the adhesion to increase his spin rate he would try to remove some of the dried out stuff before pulling on his strings to reapply. I was watching Plesac pitch the other day and noticed the same type of strange hand movement to the right hip pocket area that Clevinger used to have. I had to laugh – clearly Clevinger had passed along some of his secret sauce.
There is only one guy that I know of, that understands enough about spin effects to really use a downside play. He is “the man” in this area, because of the $$$’s and research he has poured into it dating back to ’11 or ’12 at least.
So the short answer to my long explanation to your question is – NO. Not anyone on the stickie side that I know of.
Nobody (except maybe the unmentionable) I know of, has the where-with-all to use a downside effect with stickie. Because it is very random when it would be available and is really very uncontrollable from the research I have done or assisted in. The game situation and the hitter play such a role in how stickie is used, and the pitcher has very little to no control of either of those, none the less when the solvent effect of the stickie will be blown off for it to really come into play. Now if you are a guy that tried for slip all the time, using a substance like petroleum jelly, that would be different. Because guys like that aren’t trying to increase their spin rate.