Moving up in the box

[Tango]

Theoretically speaking if moving up in the box to 'hit it before it breaks' works then the counter move is to 'backdoor' your movement pitches, basically start the pitch out of the zone and bring it into the strike zone at the last second. If a RH hitter moves up in the box to hit a RH pitcher's curve before it breaks to far outside then the pitcher should start the curve way inside and break it onto the inside corner. If the hitter is up in the box she will have to make contact out in front and basically pull the ball foul or let it break in for a called strike. But I'm not so sure that late break is really that much of a factor. If a pitch starts to break 20ft out and moves 10in that's 0.5in of break per foot of travel. Moving up in the box 2ft is only going to change ball location by 1in, that doesn't seem like

Roughly speaking, time for fastball from pitcher’s hand to catcher’s glove is .54 sec at 50 mph, and .49 sec at 55 mph.

If the batter is able to utilize 6 ft of the box from front to back, the time the batter sees the ball changes by ~.08 sec (@50 mph) or .07 sec (@ 55mph) from the front of the box to the back. (Time it takes to blink =~.1 sec.)

Interestingly, drop over the same distance (gravity effect only, no spin taken into account) is ~1.3 inches (@50) and ~1.06 in (@ 55).

I promote setting up just behind the middle (not all the way back, but some) to get some benefit of seeing the ball a little bit longer, but also seeing the ball in the same strike zone that the umpire is (supposed to be) calling. I’m very opposed to giving pitchers two opportunities for a strike by creating two zones (one for hitter, one for umpire). And yes, I have seen plenty of pitches that changed zones from the front to the back (even middle) of the box.

(Numbers here not meant to be perfect calcs, but close enough for comparisons. Too many variables for me.)

Limited seeing all the batters move up but it seemed to mess with the umpires strike zone. Maybe individual umpire. Called a lot of high balls that were thigh high. No clue if this is normal

 

[Towny9]

Just

Over the years I’ve listened to the argument of less time/more time to see the pitch depending on where you stand in the box.

Considering it takes less than a 0.4 sec for the bal to get from the pitcher hand to the catchers glove, how much time are you really buying….

Just enough time to keep it fair.

 

[ArmWhip]

Over the years I’ve listened to the argument of less time/more time to see the pitch depending on where you stand in the box.

Considering it takes less than a 0.4 sec for the bal to get from the pitcher hand to the catchers glove, how much time are you really buying….

If moving the pitching rubber 3ft, from 40 back to 43, had an effect on hitting (making it easier) then why doesn't the hitter moving 3ft in the box also have an effect?

 

[ArmWhip]

Roughly speaking, time for fastball from pitcher’s hand to catcher’s glove is .54 sec at 50 mph, and .49 sec at 55 mph.

If the batter is able to utilize 6 ft of the box from front to back, the time the batter sees the ball changes by ~.08 sec (@50 mph) or .07 sec (@ 55mph) from the front of the box to the back. (Time it takes to blink =~.1 sec.)

Realistically speaking the distance/time from the pitcher's hand to the catcher's glove is not what should be looked at, it's the distance/time from ball release to the hitter's go/no go swing decision that is important. If that decision point is halfway to the plate (I'm spit balling on this) the time is halved. If a pitcher releases the ball at 36 ft, and decision time is at 18ft, then the 3ft in the box that the hitter can utilize is a significant factor. if you want to do the math 3ft is roughly 17% of 18 ft. Add 17% to a 50mph fastball and it becomes a 58mph pitch.

 

[Towny9]

Realistically speaking the distance/time from the pitcher's hand to the catcher's glove is not what should be looked at, it's the distance/time from ball release to the hitter's go/no go swing decision that is important. If that decision point is halfway to the plate (I'm spit balling on this) the time is halved. If a pitcher releases the ball at 36 ft, and decision time is at 18ft, then the 3ft in the box that the hitter can utilize is a significant factor.

I watched a sport science type video on Miguel Cabrera. They attributed his success to having the quickest “to contact” swing in the big leagues. This allowed him to wait the longest of anyone which leads to better decisions on pitches. You also technically lost the ball with your eyes about 10-15 feet or so from home plate. Your brain fills in the gap for you based on the previous info from release to that point.

 

[_MIA_]

Your brain fills in the gap for you based on the previous info from release to that point.

Which is why it makes little sense (IMO) for hitters to move around in the box…

 

[radness]

There are mental adjustments and there are physical adjustments some are better at mental adjustments, some are better at physical adjustments.

There are even some who will change the height of where a batter is holding their bat or bend their legs more or straighten their legs out more to make adjustments for timing. There are a lot of different things that are resourced.

Moving up and back is just one of them.

 

[Lemond]

Very interesting take on giving the umpire a second strike zone. I will definitely ponder that. Any chance you can do the reaction time math at 60 and 63 mph?

Delta from front to back of the box for 60 mph is ~.068 seconds, 63 mph is ~.064 and for 65 is ~.062 seconds

 

[Lemond]

Realistically speaking the distance/time from the pitcher's hand to the catcher's glove is not what should be looked at, it's the distance/time from ball release to the hitter's go/no go swing decision that is important. If that decision point is halfway to the plate (I'm spit balling on this) the time is halved. If a pitcher releases the ball at 36 ft, and decision time is at 18ft, then the 3ft in the box that the hitter can utilize is a significant factor. if you want to do the math 3ft is roughly 17% of 18 ft. Add 17% to a 50mph fastball and it becomes a 58mph pitch.

Agreed that the percentage of the decision time is roughly twice the % of the total time.

Assuming constant velocity, the time delta from front of box to back will stay the same (distance / velocity = time).

Like I said, there are a ton of other variables that can (should?) be considered, but I didn’t and won’t.

 

[vicimus]

If you are playing a really good hitting team and they move up to the very front of the box trying to hit the movement pitches before they break and you can't throw it past them, How do you counter?

One of my favorite DD pitches is her backdoor curve. Makes me crack up every time I see one of those aggressive hitters up in the box and she makes them bail out on a called strike with her backdoor curve breaking across the inside corner. :-D