Throwing Balls

[RADcatcher]

As i commented earlier

Think it's hard to compare as there are several different factors involved.

However this point has merit

Fastpitch pitches have more trajectory angles = more visual decision for the batter.
Like pitches that can end up 30+ inches higher than they were released.

I do agree that if baseball players have the time to figure out the different pitch trajectories in fastpitch they would be able to hit.

That said
if there were men's pro $$$ fastpitch teams , then could compare that to $$$ MLB.
At that point we could see where and how the sports may have differences.

I have already experienced my comparison and know my results

 

[LEsoftballdad]

Don't see it as a problem see it as a point of reference

70 mph is Not as rare as it used to be and definitely a lot more pitchers throwing high 60s.



it would be difficult to use Major League Baseball as a comparison because there isn't a pro comparison with the same amount of resources in fastpitch. aka- money developing longer term/age players.

( truly makes me chuckle when I see people wanting to compare MLB )
Surely Comparing college baseball to college Fastpitch would be more equivalent. Age equivalent.
Why does that get overlooked so many times when people are comparing ?!

What do you think MCWS means? Men's College World Series. If I meant MLB, I would have said so.

"The MCWS finals had pitchers for both teams throwing in the mid to upper 90s with regularity."

While I agree 70 MPH happens more now, it's still rare. I came up with five or six from 2023 who throw 70+ with regularity. Fouts, Faraimo, Cagle, Canady, Gobourne. Of those five, three graduated this year. I'm sure I missed a few, but not many. I would venture a guess to say every team that made Supers in the MCWS had at least one pitcher throwing 95+, possibly more.

 

[LEsoftballdad]

Since you brought up mens fp game throwing 90 mph. ( at least that's a more accurate comparison men vs men and Sport versus sport)
Do you have the batter reaction time difference between MLB and mens fp?

I think you misread what I wrote. I have no knowledge of men's fastpitch as I didn't know the game existed until I joined this board a few years ago. Bill would be the person to ask about pitching speed in men's fastpitch. I was referring to pitch speed in baseball, and how 90 was slow nowadays.

 

[RADcatcher]

I think you misread what I wrote. I have no knowledge of men's fastpitch

Ok. Then here's some information to get up to speed on what those numbers look like.


Here found this post




Here's a handy calculator

Speed Distance Time Calculator

Calculate time from distance and speed, distance in meters, kilometers, miles and speed in kmh, mph or meter/h, find the total time in hours, minutes, seconds.

www.timecalculator.net

 

[RADcatcher]

Heres a little fun comparison math.
*These numbers are computed from the pitching distance,
not from release point.



Knowing there are some 12u fp pitchers throwing 60 mph from 40 ft.


Compared to a baseball distance at 90 mph



Here we find equal reaction time for the batters.

 

[daywalkerdad]

You have to do this based upon release to hitting zone distance. It makes all the difference.
64. @ 36’ is .4s
90 @ 53.5 is .405s
If you do
90 @ 60.5’ .458s
64 @ 43’ .478s
My best estimate is softball is slightly less but about the same.
(Softball mph-2)*(baseball distance)/(softball distance)+4=equivalent baseball mph.
If we assume both softball and baseball release is 6’ from mound and the actual contact is 1’ in front of back of home plate.
70-105
65-97.5

 

[Vertigo]

Those bb pitchers were throwing in the 80s mph.
And I had to wait for the pitch to get there. Having already being trained with a very fast explosive swing.

So essentially, those baseball pitchers were throwing the equivalent of mid-50’s to maybe low 60’s in softball depending on where in the 80’s they were sitting. I would assume you were used to seeing faster than that by playing on a top D1 softball team back then (assuming the top pitchers you faced were hitting mid-60s). It’s no surprise then that you had to wait for the pitch to get there.

 

[RADcatcher]

So essentially, those baseball pitchers were throwing the equivalent of mid-50’s to maybe low 60’s in softball depending on where in the 80’s they were sitting. I would assume you were used to seeing faster than that by playing on a top D1 softball team back then (assuming the top pitchers you faced were hitting mid-60s). It’s no surprise then that you had to wait for the pitch to get there.

Numbers about this have been posted before on this website regarding this. Apparently a refresher in math was needed. So I posted it again.
@LEsoftballdad and others may want to use that time calculator!

Apparently looking at the reaction time calculator 20 mph difference makes reaction time very noticeable different.
(At least for me it was.)

Looking at calculating times it appears the difference needs to be about 30 mph increase from Fastpitch to baseball to be nearly equivalent in reaction time.

 

[RADcatcher]

The Sports Science Behind Hitting a Softball Versus Hitting a Baseball | LeagueApps

Using technology, The ESPN Sport Science team compares the difficulties of hitting a softball versus a baseball.

leagueapps.com

This was posted earlier in the thread.
Posted because these numbers reflect the pitching speeds basically for comparing College Fastpitch and College baseball pitching speeds. There are numerous articles regarding the reaction time. Simply posted for a equivalent age group to compare as a reference.

 

[RADcatcher]

You have to do this based upon release to hitting zone distance. It makes all the difference.
64. @ 36’ is .4s
90 @ 53.5 is .405s

Hmmm that subtracted 7 ft of equivalent release point. Take a look at the article posted it utilized
-5.5 for bb
-6.0 for fp

I do agree specifically having an accurate release Point number to measure is influential to the math. But for a base to look at from pitching distance was available to use for the calculator.