Stalker vs. Jug

NJ

It has been my experience that the Stalker reads plus or minus 2 MPH slower than the JUGS

We use the STALKER at all our events

TRhit

Went to a college game a couple of years ago to see a close friend pitch against a standout opponent and took my jugs. It happened that I sat right next to a bunch of scouts and there stalkers. We were all comparing readings and having a good time. Some stalkers would be higher and some would be lower than my jugs. It was always very much the same +/- 1 or 2. The angle between YOU and the PITCHER and the DISTANCE along with battery strength are the primary factors of radar readings.

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The reason for the variation in reading on the radar guns is where the reading actually takes place in the ball flight. Stalker picks the ball up 2-4 feet later than the jugs gun therefore it reads on average 2mph slower than the jugs.

I was sitting next to a scout at a game with a pitcher throwing in the low 90's. Suddenly one pitch registered at 98. The scout said, "oh, thats the bat." How does he know? Could be right because it was 5 mph faster than the other readings - but how does he know when a batter swings whether the radar picks up the pitch or bat for a guy swinging a similar speed as the pitcher is throwing?

Also, I would think that whats important is that a given scout is using the same gun day after day, week after week. So if he measures someone at high 80's on Tuesday and then the next guy at low 90's on Wednesday, then he knows the 2nd guy throws a little harder than the first. Doesn't seem to me that it matters within 1 or 2 mph whether or not his gun is EXACTLY right - just the relative recordings from pitch to pitch and game to game.

90% of the guns I saw at events are stalkers. The other 10% with Jugs are dads or college coaches who haven't bought a new gun lately. I've sat behind them both - they're not very different - as others have said, slightly higher on the Jugs on average, but not necessarily on every pitch.
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"Pitching is the art of instilling fear," Sandy Koufax.

OK, so if I know my speed on a stalker (which I do), then that would be my speed if a scout saw me or if I was measured in a big-league game (when they put the speed on the scoreboard)?

I just want to know that when people say "this speed is a 6, this is a 7" I want to know where I am.

NJ Pitch

NJPitcher,

I believe most of the Professional Parks have Jugs Gun setups. However the comparisons, usually talked about here, are between the small portable (Hair dryer) type Jugs gun and the Stalker Pro. I should add that we have seen many ballpark readings that are way off what the gun in our hand reads. (both ways)

The old Jugs gun will give very close to the same readings as the Stalker. The small Portable Jugs will normally read higher than the Stalker and the old Jugs gun. We use the Stadium type Jugs setup in our building and it is very close to the Stalker. We use the Stalker for everything else because it's what most of the MLB scouting departments use.

Below is fairly close to what it means when "scouts" say a pitchers velocity is a 7 or 8. Remember this is just regarding velocity. There are other things that go into a grade, even for a fastball. Some clubs actually use a little different formula than this example, but it's very close.

5 or 50 is MLB average - 88-90
6 or 60 is above average - 91-93
7 or 70 is - 94-96
8 or 80 is - 97 and above

8 or 80 is the highest score possible and would compare to the best fastballs in MLB. Anything below 88 is below average MLB fastball velocity.

Post modified - PG had a better explanation.

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"Pitching is the art of instilling fear," Sandy Koufax.

What about those s e t p r o little digital read out type radars? I think that is what they are called. My son pitched into a net with one of those set up behind it at a short distance earlier this week. How accurate are they?

ob24,
I believe you are referring to the speedchek unit. They are fairly accurate when used the way you did. They'll tend to read about 2 to 3 mph slower than a fast gun depending on how far you are from the unit when you release the ball.

Can anyone tell me why a gun might scroll numbers as the ball is coming in and THEN "settle" on a number? I've always seen a number just "pop" onto the screen, not scroll. This happened at a Showcase once and it was the only time I saw it happen.
It was a stalker gun.

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"People ask me what I do in winter when there's no baseball. I'll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring." Rogers Hornsby, Hall of Famer

Just about every scout that I know uses the stalker. My experience is the stalker gives you a slower reading than the jugs. If the stalker is showing you at 85 the jugs is ususally 88-89. Or 3 to 4 mph faster than the stalker.

Coach May - Thats a poorly tuned Jugs gun. I sat behind a lot of both last summer and most were within 1-2 mph of each other. Rarely did I see 3-4 mph - and if I did - it was for one pitch, not consistently. And sometimes it was the Stalker that was higher.

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"Pitching is the art of instilling fear," Sandy Koufax.

No I have to disagree with you. I have never seen a stalker read higher than a jugs. My experiences have been that the jugs reads around 3-4 mph higher than the stalker. Lets have some scouts that use them on a consistent basis weigh in on this.

We have a Stalker gun and it can read up to 3-4 mph slower than the Jugs...sometimes less, and occasionally the same. We had it recently checked and tuned and it is still the same way. Parents who are used to the Jugs readings rarely like what our gun reads. Keeps our son humble, though.

Mr and mrs.,

When you see the numbers scroll that means that they do not have the "peak hold" button turned on. What it is doing is catching the first speed out of the hand and then scrolling down to the speed at the plate. That is the speed that is registered after the pitch. If you then hit memory recall, it will tell you the speed out of the hand or "top speed". It is sometimes useful for chartiing breaking balls,etc.

I had a guy come up to me at a game this Saturday when his kid came in and asked me his speed. It was 76. The dad sprinted away yeling that my gun must be wrong. I told him that I could put it on kph if he would like.

the Florida Bombers
"I love the HSBBW"

Thanks Big,
So what's the difference then? Readings at 90 for instance... is that out of the hand or at the plate? If it were on this "scrolling" function and reads at the plate, what might the difference in mph be?

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"People ask me what I do in winter when there's no baseball. I'll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring." Rogers Hornsby, Hall of Famer

Coach May - While I certainly agree that the Stalker reads lower AND more accurately, I absolutely have seen the Stalker read higher than a guy right next to it with a Jugs - not once, but numerous times. You are right that far more times the Jugs will read higher, but again, I have not seen 3-4 mph, more like 1-2 mph. And I've sat next to multiple Stalkers all reading +/- 1-2 mph on the same pitch as well.

I'm sort of embarrassed to even write this post because it really doesn't matter what I have to say - its just what I've seen.

In any case, the Stalker is the gun nearly all scouts are using and the one that will be quoted in a scouting report.

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"Pitching is the art of instilling fear," Sandy Koufax.

It starts out of hand and works to plate. the drop on a fb can be 6-9 mph. The more speed the ball carries to the plate, the more perceived explosiveness. A reading a 90 would be out of hand. Seldom do the socuts use the scrolling function. If it was 90 at the plate, the guy would be a definite first rounder.

the Florida Bombers
"I love the HSBBW"

Thanks again.
See.........another lesson learned on HSbbweb!!

_______________________
"People ask me what I do in winter when there's no baseball. I'll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring." Rogers Hornsby, Hall of Famer