DataBaseball
2026
Ben Lively headshot

Pitcher · 2025

Ben Lively

Age
33
B/T
R/R
Height
6' 4"
Weight
235 lb
Number
#39
Born
March 5, 1992 in Pensacola, FL, USA
MLB debut
June 3, 2017
Drafted
2010, round 26
College
Central Florida
High school
Gulf Breeze
dbWAR
.8
2 season(s)
IP
44.2
ERA
3.22
FIP
4.59
K/9
5.8
FIP−
110
100 = avg

Ben Lively is a starting pitcher for the Cleveland Guardians. In 2025 he struck out 29 batters over 44.2 innings across 9 appearances, 9 of them starts, going 2-2. His ERA of 3.22 was 22.5% lower than the league average of 4.16 — 10th of 17 on his team, and 163rd of 542 among MLB pitchers with 20+ innings. Stripping out defence, his 4.59 FIP suggests that his ERA had some help behind him. He missed bats on 16.2% of swings (7.6% of every pitch he threw), walked 8.4% of the batters he faced and struck out 16.3%. His 0.2 dbWAR is built from that FIP rather than runs allowed, so it credits him for what he controls and not for the defence behind him.

League context

Percentile among qualified pitchers, 2025.

FIP4.59
K/95.8
WHIP1.19
WAR.2

Platoon splits

How left- and right-handed hitters fare against him.

Opponent batting by the side the hitter bats from, 2025. Counted from play-by-play, so totals can differ from the box-score season line by a plate appearance or two.
SplitPAABHHRBBSOAVGOBPSLGwOBAK%
vs LHB90791941114.241.333.456.34615.6%
vs RHB8884192415.226.261.333.26217.0%

Pitch sequencing

What Ben Lively throws in each count, and what he follows each pitch with. Select any cell for the breakdown.

ShowBatter
Four-seamSinkerSweeperSliderCutterChangeupCurveball

Select a count to see exactly what Ben Lively throws in it.

Pitch arsenal

What he throws, how hard, and how often it misses in 2025.

Four-Seam Fastball33.1%23889.82,03653.8%21.2%
Sinker24.3%17590.42,00546.3%13.2%
Sweeper10.8%7878.52,02538.5%15.4%
Slider8.8%6382.72,00839.7%15.2%
Cutter8.1%5884.41,91946.6%17.4%
Changeup7.8%5684.81,63925.0%8.3%
Curveball7.1%5177.31,99141.2%16.0%
Ben Lively's arsenal by usage. Velocity is average release speed in mph, spin in rpm, and whiff rate is misses per swing — the cleanest single measure of whether a pitch beats hitters.

Pitching

Standard and advanced, by season.

Trend
20259944.2220381629153.224.591.195.83.0781100.2
20242929151.01310013964118493.814.661.257.02.9941140.6

Head to head

Put Ben Lively beside up to three others.

Compare — add up to 3 more players
Ben Lively

Similar players

Nearest 2025 seasons by command, run prevention and role, on rate statistics rather than totals.

How these are computed

wOBA uses linear weights measured from this season's own play-by-play rather than published constants, and wRC+ is park-adjusted against that same league. dbWAR is our own open implementation — not fWAR or bWAR — and the full derivation, including its simplifications, is on the methodology page.