Speed

Players are usually rated on 60 time and time to first base. 7.0 is roughly mlb average for the 60. The 60 measures raw speed, the time to first measures ability to beat out grounders and the two aren't always the same.

Ave MLB 7.0 - Really CADad?

I would have thought it would be faster.

Depends on position of course, but college OF'ers are typically 6.8 and faster. Corners can be a bit slower if they rake, and CF a bit faster. 6.4-6.6 is fast.

Natural, raw speed can be measured, thats why most try-outs measure 60's. But, it is only relative to straight line acceleration. However, base running ability cannot be measured this way. Some good baserunners did not have exceptional, raw speed. Jeff Bagwell comes to mind, one of the most savvy base runners without exceptional speed.

Learn to be a good baserunner!

Something about those right angles...... GED10DaD

No wonder Physics is becoming interesting to my son!

Thanks for the responses guys. One question....whats a good 30 time...

BOF,
Here's a link to one source for this. I've heard 7.0 as being the standard for quite some time.

Scouting Grades

CADad is correct. 7.0 is the number used as avg for ML

I agree, the 60 times are just a measuring stick. My son plays 3rd/SS for HS team and at a college camp they timed him at 7.1 in the 60. During the showcase games he got a double one game, stole 3rd, then home off the pitcher who was being looked at by several college scouts. A friend overheard one scout say that kid doesn't look that fast but he definitely can run the bases.

So, yes learn to read pitchers/catchers and become a good baserunner!

I understand how 7.0 seconds is in the middle of the grading scale for speed.

But I'll guess that the average catcher is slower than 7.0, and the average outfielder is faster. And I'm going to guess that most scouts ignore this tool when evaluating pitchers.

So I'm not clear on how the middle of the grading scale turns out to be average. I suspect that the average over the entire 25 man roster is more than 7 seconds, what with all those portly pitchers. But I also suspect that positions that place an emphasis on speed are faster.

"Average" needs the context of the player's position.

Yes 3Finger. I am sure there are a lot of catchers and pitchers that would struggle with that 7.0 and no mif's that would. If you break it down by position I am sure your looking at an entirely different picture.

Here's some data to provide some perspective. This was taken from the 2009 Sunshine West Showcase.

There were 183 runners. The times were taken electronically. It was run on grass and IMO slightly downhill. No wind to speak of.

Best time: 6.61s
Average time: 7.37s
Median time: 7.35s
Number of runners 7.0 or less 33
Number of runners 6.8 or less 10

Many of the pitchers did not participate in the 60 yd dash.

My guess is that most colleges would like a CF who runs 6.6 or less but that very few actually have one. My guess is that there are a fair number of college MIF who run just over 7.0 but have some combination of good shuttle times, good hands and good arms. JMO, but I think D1 corner outfielders will tend to be 7.0 or less and CF'ers 6.8 or less with hitting trumping speed for the corner outfielders especially.

Obviously there are college teams that are much faster and college teams that are slower. My son, who was a pitcher at the time, was just inside the top 10 and was the 5th or 6th fastest player on his HS team at best so anything can happen on any one team. My guess is that he would have been in the top two on almost any other HS team.

quote:

Originally posted by BOF:
Ave MLB 7.0 - Really CADad?

I would have thought it would be faster.

Depends on position of course, but college OF'ers are typically 6.8 and faster. Corners can be a bit slower if they rake, and CF a bit faster. 6.4-6.6 is fast.

Big Papi does the sixty in seven minutes.

I think it's interesting that in college most outfielders, including LFers, are 7.0 or below but in the major leagues many LF are slower power hitters. ie Pat Burrel, Matt Holliday, Manny Ramirez, Raul Ibanez...

I guess this comes under if you can hit you will play, especially if you hit with power. If first base is blocked the next step is left field, and possibly third base. So even if your not the fastest guy in the world learn to track a fly ball. It can open up more options at any level.

Most of those guys were faster when they were signed at 18 or 20 also. It's like great pitchers--they eventually lose some velocity but learn to truly pitch along the way. Hitters lose some speed or much speed as they age and fill out but become better smarter hitters.

For the most part, you will need to be able to run if you are anything other than a pitcher or catcher or unless you have great hitting ability and specifically hit for power.

Running is a very important tool for everyone that doesn't fit the description above. Very few exceptions!

I was a bit surprised at the importance of the 60 yard time on the the HS recruiting process. So much of the focus in youth ball training, conditioning and instruction is on hitting and pitching. I don't remember anyone promoting instruction and workout routines for a 60 yard dash until my son reached the HS level. Even then, the focus was not on how to be successful in a sprint but how to improve strength, conditioning and agility.

Given the importance of the 60 yard dash, should kids not train, study and condition specifically for this one event? The numbers quoted here indicate that a 0.4 second improvement could be significant. Could this amount of time not be improved upon simply by improving your spinting mechanics? It seams to me something as simple as how you position your body at the start and managing which part of your body produces the movement that trips the clock could shave 0.1 seconds. The starting mechanics for a laser trip versus a first movement stop watch trip might be different. The track sprinters sure put a lot of focus on every phase of their run to gain improvement. This could easily be taught and developed for baseball players at an early age.

PG had an article on some ways to improve 60 times that he posted a link to some time back.

Avg running time is 6.9-7.0 in the 60 yd dash. The 60 time is going to determine a lot of things. A high school or college kid that plays centerfield and is an avg runner is going to have to move to the corners in pro ball, now all the sudden the bat becomes a much bigger tool, in other words he better really hit. Same for middle infielders that will have to move to the corners. As someone stated in an earlier post, just because you see guys in the big leagues and say that guy cant run, doesnt mean he couldnt run when he wasdrafted and young. Manny Ramirez was a speedy centerfielder when he was in New York as a high school player, Matt Holliday was one of the top high school quarterbacks in the country and could run better than avg. Adam Dunn was a 6.6 runner in high school, remember the Reds signed him and allowed him to play football (quarterback) at the university of Texas his fresman year. One more thing, the 60 is used in baseball because it is two bases and scouts can measure a players ability to advance two bases on a single rather than a station to station player.

Hey mlb I wish Adam Dunn could still run a 6.6 then maybe we could use him as pinch runner instead of a dh!

Sorry I just could not resist.