Who Says Fastball Velocity Isn’t Important
I am going to give you all a lesson in the biomechanics of fastball velocity and state reasons why having a strong fastball in baseball…..and softball for that matter…..is vital and very important to all pitchers. And truth be told…about 50% of this newsletter has been written by everyone’s new friend, ChatGPT!
When I first started working at my HS team as their pitching coach, we constantly had a fun argument about why I enjoyed pitchers who threw hard and the other coaches thought otherwise.
We had a few pitchers around 2017-2018 who had GREAT arms with plenty of velocity to back it up, however their control at times was shaky. I thought no big deal because I know for a fact that you can throw hard and learn to throw strikes. The other coaches stated that you cannot teach control with hard throwers….they would rather have 75-80 mph guys who threw strikes over 85-90 mph guys who didn’t throw as many strikes.
During the middle of a particular important league game, we needed to get a new pitcher warmed up and I suggested our slowest thrower (75 mph) guy because he threw over 75% strikes. The head coach looked at me cross-eyed and said no…and a firm no at that. I said “You need strikes right now so let’s throw our best strike thrower” He wanted another guy who was 85 mph and after the game, I told him that he is wrong about velocity guys because based on his reasoning then the strike thrower should have gone in….but of course he reasoned that we can’t put him in the game because he throws too slow. You see..it all sounds good about getting strike throwers who throw slow but when the game is on you would always go with the harder thrower… who pitched great for us. The head coach had to agree with me and that proves my point……your hardest throwers can make more mistakes and still get outs because getting hits is harder as the velocity goes up….
Below goes into more detail……enjoy:
Velocity is important in baseball pitching because it reduces the hitter’s reaction time and makes every pitch harder to handle.
A baseball reaches home plate in roughly:
- About 0.46 seconds at 90 mph
- About 0.40 seconds at 100 mph
That tiny difference matters a lot because hitters need time to:
- Recognize the pitch type
- Decide whether to swing
- Start the swing
- Make solid contact
The swing itself takes around 0.15–0.20 seconds, so hitters must commit very early. Extra velocity forces them to decide sooner, often before fully identifying the pitch.
For example, the relationship between speed, distance, and time is:
t
=
d
v
t=vd
Where:
- t
t = time to reach the plate - d
d = distance - v
v = velocity
Higher velocity decreases
t
t, giving hitters less time.
Velocity also helps because it:
- Creates more swings and misses
- Makes fastballs “play up” at the top of the strike zone
- Makes off-speed pitches more effective by increasing speed differences
- Reduces quality of contact even when hitters connect
That said, velocity alone is not enough. Elite pitchers also rely on:
- Command and control
- Movement (spin, break, ride, sink)
- Deception and release point
- Pitch sequencing
A 95 mph fastball with good location and movement is usually far more effective than a straight 100 mph fastball over the middle.
Modern baseball especially values velocity because training, biomechanics, and analytics have shown that harder throwers generally produce:
- More strikeouts
- Lower batting averages against
- Better run prevention
Pitchers like Jacob deGrom, Shohei Ohtani, and Aroldis Chapman became dominant partly because elite velocity gave hitters almost no margin for error.
For these reasons, we invite any and all of you to join our 20th annual Throwzone Summer Training Camp. This camp is very specific to throwing harder….throwing with more accuracy….and getting incredible and usable arm care protocols that NO ONE teaches like we do. www.throwzone.com for more information.
There are a few spots left but reach out to Jim now about specifics. Everyone will improve to the extent of their work ethic…and we will push players to be their best self and to set them up for success for their summer team as well as their HS team this upcoming season.
And we do have a YOUTH summer camp that is age specific to help in these areas as well as the campers having a great time learning and being great ball players around other kids who are their peers.
Training and development is MUCH more important than playing games over and over and we guarantee your son’s success…we have too many players who went on to play college and professional baseball to not brag about our results. I look forward to having you join us this summer…..but sign-up now to guarantee your spot.
Until next time….
Jim Wagner's ThrowZone Academy 