Originally Posted by jolietboy:
Ok I have spent all the time I am willing to spend googling various things to find something reliable pertaining to accuracy of roster heights. Can't find anything. So I have given physics that make sense. I have shown that tall people are by a landslide represented among mlb pitchers at a much higher rate than in our population as a whole. Even within the ranks of mlb in a study designed to make the case for the short pitcher they are forced to admit there is a small mph advantage for taller pitchers. There has been absolutely no data or evidence given here to suggest shorter people have an equal chance to succeed as a pitcher as taller people. None. Presenting numbers from the very very few short pitchers in baseball is irrelevant. Its like saying among the pitchers who can throw 95mph they can all throw 95mph. You have to be great to get to the mlb level. So yes they are all great short and tall alike. Cause the bottom line is there isn't that much separating the greatest pitchers in the world. But what about the path to greatness? That journey is finished by way more tall people. Because when it comes to pitching size does matter! From this point forward til I see some relevant data or evidence I am moving over to other topics. Shall we agree on a few things? The only thing that matters is performance. Recognizing height aids level of performance but if a 5'5" person throws just as hard and accurate as a 6'6" pitcher they are indeed peers. And please can we all agree that mlb has a performance bias not a height bias? And I beg if you can we all admit that tall people have a better chance to be mlb pitchers than short people?
Jolietboy-
Again, what is the point of this? What value does it provide to a HS pitcher? At that point it isn't some random drawing, it's already been selected that the player can pitch.
If a 5'8" pitcher who throws 88 mph is on your HS team, what are you going to tell him?
And, importantly, your "physics" are not correct. Two very prominent engineers/physicists involved in pitching (Trevor Bauer and Paul Nyman) have both said that tall and short pitchers have different advantages. Taller pitchers generally have the advantage of leverage (longer levers/arms/legs), while shorter pitchers have an efficiency/movement pattern advantage (easier to move and accelerate more efficiently and coordinate actions). Either can be successful. Now it is "easier" perhaps to teach a tall person (with long levers) to throw harder, because they have greater margin of error, which is why most MLB folks for years thought "you can't teach velocity," however, as many have shown (Kyle Boddy, Wolforth, Wheeler, Nyman), you can teach throwing mechanics and efficient movements. With the proper strength and conditioning, and instruction, there is no reason a smaller pitcher cannot throw hard.
Go even further to extremes, would you expect a 7'1" person to throw hard? Or would it be tougher for him to have the proper coordination, hip shoulder separation, and acceleration/movements to throw hard? As you get larger levers, synching them up can be pretty tough. If longer levers are of the utmost in importance, why wouldn't taller people make better sprinters? [Throwing a baseball is more akin to a sprint, or a sport with a short burst.]
