Throwing Balls

[Hillhouse]

So it must be harder to hit in baseball because there's more vertical movement built into every pitch.

Well I've never tried. So I can't say. But, I would say that you're right, there's vertical movement. But, it's only in 1 direction. Softball pitchers can make the ball go up and down. Regardless of where you stand on how whether or not the riseball rises... I think we can mostly agree that the ball does go upward (or it should), even if that's just the trajectory out of the hand. The ball should end up higher than where it started.

 

[LEsoftballdad]

So it must be harder to hit in baseball because there's more vertical movement built into every pitch.

I would say hitting a baseball is harder only because of the different release points and arm angles. Can you imagine being a lefty facing off against Randy Johnson? He would release the ball behind your head, and you didn't know if it was a 100 MPH fastball at your head, or a 90 MPH sweeping slider on the outside corner.

 

[CoachCeetar]

I would say hitting a baseball is harder only because of the different release points and arm angles. Can you imagine being a lefty facing off against Randy Johnson? He would release the ball behind your head, and you didn't know if it was a 100 MPH fastball at your head, or a 90 MPH sweeping slider on the outside corner.

I think it's harder because of the SAME release points and arm angles.

like, these three are essentially the same pitch until 10 feet from home plate and then they they dart away. two aren't even strikes.



And this from a rookie with 96IP in the majors this year and a 5.72 ERA

Wish we had this kind of camera/stats for softball.

 

[RADcatcher]

Added for content.

 

[RADcatcher]

Fastpitch pitchers do not all have the same mechanics.
Lots of different wind-ups.
As someone commented in baseball sometimes you can't see where the ball is.
Take a serious look,
in fastpitch
Pitchers body turning sideways where batter can't see the ball at all is very common. Ball is behind the pitcher at some point.

Once a batter develops pitch recognition and timing batter gets to use those skill sets. (Regardless of style of hitting mechanics, overhand or under)
The type of pitching mechanics that's being used or whether or not you can see the ball until it's released become irrelevant. Because we can look to the ball coming out of the pitcher's hand.
>>>Then comes the element of making a decision to swing or not.

Now seriously consider these two factors~
In Fastpitch
1. Less time to make a decision to react to swing.
2. Along with more trajectory angles of pitch location.

 

[RADcatcher]

Sharing this feedback because I know for the most part people who are commenting about the comparisons of baseball and fastpitch have not had the experience to actually face pitchers who have control and success at comparable levels in both Sports.

Here is what I experienced when hitting against baseball pitchers who were training to make it to the big leagues (farm teams)
Yes they were throwing sliders and curves and fastballs and off speed pitches.

Stepping in the Box without having previous experience in this bb Arena. But taking my experience from fastpitch including watching overhand throwing.
I was able to track everything that was thrown at me. I wasn't fooled.
The decision of what I wanted to swing at was easier. Specifically because there are less pitch trajectories to make a decision for. Along with definitely experienced having to wait longer before I swung.
= more time to decide to swing.

Playing at Jackie Robinson Stadium where UCLA Bruins play. Remembering my first hitting session. Before I stepped in the Box I said well this is going to be interesting. Basically speaking to myself but I set it out loud.
The first pitch I drove out to the left field wall bounced right in front of the wall and hit the wall, heard the thump.
From the expression on the pitchers face think he was pissed I drilled the crap out of that.
The next pitch he threw me was a curve, which I saw this giant Bend of the ball And drove that one to the center right field Gap.
As the hitting session continued contacted every time.

Did I expect that? Well I expect I'm a good hitter! But for first time hitting controlled baseball yes I was surprised. The amount of contact and drive I was able to put on the ball was neat to experience and a true life encounter with pitchers who could control what they were doing.

From my experience fastpitch pitching having MORE trajectory angles plays a huge critical role in why fastpitch is different in the box!

 

[Vertigo]

This is an interesting read about Cristian Javier, the Astros pitcher who dominated the post—season last year and is doing well again this post-season by throwing majority fastballs. His FB sounds like it has “rise ball-like” movement. He’s not the hardest thrower, but it is extremely deceptive.

How Cristian Javier's fastball became the best pitch this postseason

In a postseason crammed with aces, Houston's Game 4 starter has been the best of the bunch. And Wednesday night, he delivered a gem -- just when his team needed it most.

www.espn.com

 

[RADcatcher]

This is an interesting read about Cristian Javier, the Astros pitcher who dominated the post—season last year and is doing well again this post-season by throwing majority fastballs. His FB sounds like it has “rise ball-like” movement. He’s not the hardest thrower, but it is extremely deceptive.

How Cristian Javier's fastball became the best pitch this postseason

In a postseason crammed with aces, Houston's Game 4 starter has been the best of the bunch. And Wednesday night, he delivered a gem -- just when his team needed it most.

www.espn.com

Neat! Like the specifics about what he is able to do! Would like to see a visual graph of pitch trajectories he throws compared to others.

Clearly this article talks about some of the same deceptive effects that we see in fastpitch.

My thoughts from this is the Batters have not seen it enough to understand how to make adjustments for it. This would be the similar reason why Fastpitch pitchers strike out Major League batters.
( need more training time to figure it out)

 

[Vertigo]

Neat! Like the specifics about what he is able to do! Would like to see a visual graph of pitch trajectories he throws compared to others.

Clearly this article talks about some of the same deceptive effects that we see in fastpitch.

My thoughts from this is the Batters have not seen it enough to understand how to make adjustments for it. This would be the similar reason why Fastpitch pitchers strike out Major League batters.
( need more training time to figure it out)

View attachment 28918

This might be something similar to what you are looking for. It shows his pitch location as compared to others.

https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/player-scroll?player_id=664299#pitchTypes

 

[RADcatcher]

This might be something similar to what you are looking for. It shows his pitch location as compared to others.

https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/player-scroll?player_id=664299#pitchTypes

That link has good descriptive details!



Specifically talking about a chart that shows the line of the pitch.
Like this, in comparison to others.