pitch speed differentials

Good question, though, it hasn't been brought up by coach during our visits.  Interested to hear if it has for others.

Its not a bad question.  But I don't think there's a formula.  What is important are a) does he throw different pitches from the same arm slot and release point, b) is his arm speed the same for those pitches, c) does he throw 2 or 3 of them with good command (not quite the same as control).

Ideally, a pro scout wants a lot of velocity, but across three pitches he wants to see they go in different directions and that they have three different speeds.  2 or 3 mph isn't different enough.  Control (as in he isn't throwing one of his pitches past the catcher routinely) is important, command is too, but not quite as much.

A college coach puts a premium on command (with good-enough velocity).

If folks conclude the answer is that “there is no answer,” then that would answer my question.  

But if there is no ideal “formula,” maybe we can get some consensus on what would be typical for a player bound for D1/D2/D3?  There are outliers, maybe a lot of them, but I would think there is a pretty large cluster of pitchers that look similar in each group. (?)

I think JBB nailed it.

I'd be interested in the two-seam vs four-seam question though. My kid throws a two-seamer exclusively, and I've often wondered whether that suppresses his velo by 1-2 mph.

2019Dad - our older son only threw a 2-seamer back then.  He liked it cause it had more run on it.  Didn't seem to matter to coaches or scouts, but he was consistently over 90 w/ that 2-seamer.   Usually a 4-seamer is a little faster.

2-seam vs. 4-seam - 2-4 mph difference would be a good thing.

Chico - Our older son throws 3 pitches (he is now a triple-A pitcher...briefly in the big leagues a few years ago - he was a D1 pitcher before that).  Fastball around 94-95, Changeup around 86-87, curveball around 81-82.  3 directions, 3 speeds.  I don't remember the differences in HS or college.  He was 2-4 mph slower then, I believe they all scaled down in a similar manner.  But comparing someone who reached a high level of baseball might not be fair for the normal D1 pitcher.

I would think the imprtant questions are , does all pitches "tunnel" the same? Is there late break on the offspeed?

What do you mean by "tunnel?"  Not critiquing, just curious.

“Tunneling” simply means all pitches start on the same path for the first 1/2 to 2/3 of the 60’6”. Same concept as use same arm slot just more focus on ball rather than arm. You will see guys like Kyle at driveline show video of different pitches overlaid. 

Got it - thats what I assumed.  Just hadn't heard the term.

younggun posted:

“Tunneling” simply means all pitches start on the same path for the first 1/2 to 2/3 of the 60’6”. Same concept as use same arm slot just more focus on ball rather than arm. You will see guys like Kyle at driveline show video of different pitches overlaid. 

Taking advantage of the opportunity to post a cool video of Yu Darvish’s pitches overlaid. (Not my video—just a good illustration of the idea.)

https://www.sbnation.com/mlb/2...es-gif-texas-rangers 

Found this article with some data on MLB pitchers. I’m wondering what the figures would be like for HS pitchers who are college prospects?

https://www.beyondtheboxscore....pitches-and-fastball

Here's the one you really wanna see....Mariano Rivera...

How Mariano Rivera dominates hitters

justbaseball posted:

Here's the one you really wanna see....Mariano Rivera...

How Mariano Rivera dominates hitters

Great article.