I imagine the tag “below average, average, etc” has more to do with the sharpness of the break not the direction of it. For instance Padillas slow curve is an 11-5 pitch but its not sharp. Its a fluke pitch that catches hitters off guard. If he featured that pitch hitters would pound it because it doesn’t have a sharp break. Whereas another pitcher may thrown a tight curve that breaks the same direction, 11-5, but does so much sharper. Basically it looks like a fastball for probably 3/4 of the way to home plate but then curves at the last second. Thats where you will sometimes hear “drops off the table” or something to that effect from announcers.

there are some scouts who use a device not only to capture the speed but the break of a pitch. That’s why we tend to have a lot of accurate pitch Fx data.

Check out fangraphs to compare the difference in break..

is it too late to Colbert him with this one:

Dick Mills: great pitching coach or greatest pitching coach?

You’ve got two pitchers. One is 25 years old, 6’ 4", right-handed, and he works out every day to condition his body to make him a better pitcher. The other is his genetic twin, but he doesn’t work out or train; he never has and he never will.

They always throw together and they have the same pitching coach/instructor and identical mechanics. The play for the same reasons, have the same mentality and approach to the game.

Basically, they are identical in every possible way except that one of them works out and one of them doesn’t. You want rational people to believe that the guy who works out won’t throw harder, with a higher pitch-count threshold, and with better recovery times (which translates into more healthy reps on the hill) than his twin?