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Reply to "exit velos at showcases"

Bat speed and exit velocity off a Tee "can" tell you something about a hitter.  By itself, it doesn't tell you the most important thing... Can he hit??? Does that 90+ exit velocity swing off a tee work against live pitching?   So high exit velo off the tee might interest scouts and college coaches, it takes more than just interest in most cases.

Most important is exit velocity in games and against good pitching.

Quick story...

Years ago a scouting friend of mine found and bought a system that would record bat speed.  He did many clinics and would always use the equipment to record bat speed.  At one clinic a HS junior from my hometown recorded the fastest bat speed the scout had ever seen.  I knew the player and he had never hit a home run and was a much better fielder than he was a hitter.  My friend asked the kid... "Son I have been compiling these bat speeds for a couple years now and you have recorded the top bat speed I have seen"  realizing the young man was not big and strong he asked... "How did you do that?"

The kid said... When those machines first came out my dad bought me one and I've practiced a lot trying to get the most bat speed.  I swing all together differently when I'm not using it.

Bottomline... Any and all information is important.  But I think people are going way overboard on peak exit velocity.  Now if you had average in game exit velocity over a period of time, that would be extremely important info.  An exit velocity reading for every at bat.  Then you might see the 100 mph peak exit velocity never showed up in a game and that hitters average was 60 mph.  Another hitter with 90 mph peak had an average of 79 mph.  Really not much doubt who the better hitter is.

To answer the question... Would a school take a flyer on someone with 100 mph exit velocity off a tee?  It's possible, but most good programs will want to see much more than that.  It's not the same as taking a flyer on a 90+ pitcher.  We know that a 90+ pitcher can "throw".  We don't know if the high exit off a tee player can "hit".  From a pure tools standpoint before looking at sub category tools... RUN, THROW, FIELD, HIT, POWER you have a pitcher that can throw and you have a hitter who might not be able to hit or hit with power.

The guys that can hit golf balls the farthest aren't always the best golfers.  The slo-pitch softball players that can hit softballs out of MLB stadiums aren't playing professional baseball.

Power only plays if someone can hit.  But if someone shows enough raw power, it might be worth trying to develop into at least a good enough hitter that the power is useful.  Now if you have a 100mph exit velocity combined with a player that can hit... Everyone will want you!

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