Time to home plate

It will depend on the pitcher and his mechanics. With a runner on, he may go to a slide step, which cuts his time to the plate a bit. Also, I would imagine Randy Johnson's time to the plate is shorter than Tim Wakefield's. So there is no one answer to this.

This is why the runner should have been paying attention before he got on base, in the dugout and on-deck, getting a sense of the pitcher's timing.

dad10-
I agree that there is no one answer to this. But there has got to be some "guideline".
I also agree that Johnson's and Wakefield's time to HP are different.
Wouldn't you agree that some MLB pitchers are easier to steal on than others? We hear all the time that pitcher X has a great move to 1st or pitcher Y has a high leg kick, therefore lots of guys steal on him.

Most everyone agrees that a key "pop time" for catchers is being under 2 seconds. Some of that is footwork, some hand transfer and some arm strength.

Same holds true for the pitcher. Some of the time to home plate (and I am talking about the time a pticher starts his motion, not when the ball leaves his hand) play a role in how fast the ball gets home.

Again, I am going back to my point of calculating a time/distance formula.

I've been told to deliver the pitch quicker than 1.5 seconds..... I like to build in a slide step though where it probably takes me way shorter than that.

Breadman-
Thanks for the info. Just to clarify....is your 1.5 sec from time you begin your motion to HP and end when it hits the catcher's glove?

Here's where I'm going:
90 ft 1st to 2nd. Let's assume a 12.ft lead (back/left to 1st). Add shoulder width to lead foot (approx. 2ft). Assuming 1.5 sec to HP and a pop time of 2 seconds, that means as a runner I have to run 76 feet in 3.5 seconds or less. I realize that we have to adjust for a slide. But this is a good starting point!

THANKS!

The pitcher's time to the plate is really the determining factor in the college and pro dugout on when to steal. The time starts the instant the pitcher moves, and ends when the catcher catches the ball.

An average time to the plate is between 1.3-1.5. With this time to the plate, and the average pop time of a high school catcher (2.15), the baserunner must get to second base in at least 3.45 seconds if the pitcher is a 1.3, or 3.65 if the pitcher is a 1.5. This is very doable b/c that is with the catcher throwing a strike to second.

I don't know about the high school level, but, from a standard lead, our JUCO guys that are base stealers will reach second in about 3.4 seconds. Remember the average college catcher has a 2.5 pop time.

Usually, if a guy slide-steps, his time will be around a 1.1-1.2. If a guy slide-steps occasionally, don't go if he slide-steps when you are attempting to steal (unless the hit and run is on, of course).

Lefties are a whole different breed. Their times will usually be around 1.6-1.8, unless on a slide-step. The key with lefties are to determine whether or not he is a "Reader" (decides to pick at the top of his leg kick).

If this is the case, there are two determining factors on whether or not to steal. You need to know what his time is on a pick-off (it will usually be a little quicker than his time to the plate). If his time to the plate is 1.6, you can expect his pick-off to be around a 1.4-1.5, if he is a reader. One, how athletic is the first baseman? Is he left handed or right handed? If the first baseman is not very athletic, and the pitcher's pick-off time is around a 1.5-1.6, if you go first movement on a reader, you have a pretty good chance of beating the throw to second. Remember, the first baseman has to move-in toward the mound, and throw a tagable ball away from the base runner.

Another thing to focus on with a "reader" is to begin the time-to-the plate at the top of his leg kick. This way, you can make sure that he is going to the plate, and steal second successfully. I his time to the plate, based on first movement, is a 1.7, from the top of the leg-kick, it will more than likely be around a 1.3.

A lefty that is not a "reader" should be judged the same as a righty.

All of our baserunners know exactly what each pitcher's time to the plate is before they step into the box... As the first base coach, and base running coach, I always remind them of it when they reach first.

I know this is a lot of info. but it will really help you steal bases if you know the pitcher's time to the plate.

I hope this helps, please feel free to ask if you have any questions.

www.blastbat.com

jb,

A lot of good information here by Cpen and others, but I see that by your calculations that you are off of 1st bast 14 feet.

You will not be going anywhere with that lead because you will get picked. You are out there a ways. Especially for the collegiate and professional levels.

It is nice to have a pitcher that is 1.5 or less to the plate and even better if he is 1.3 or less from that end, but not good for the runner if the pitcher is that quick to the plate.

"General" rule of thumb and I say "general" if the combination between the pitcher's time to plate and the catcher's pop-time is 3.4 to 3.5 or more.....you will make it. As that combination of times goes under 3.5 your chances of getting to 2b decrease.

Good Luck,

O42

I'm embarrassed to say that I have done the numbers on this also. That's what us engineer's do in our spare time for fun. Sad isn't it.

OK - here are the assumptions(MLB type assumptions):

Pitcher velocity - 90mph
Catcher velocity - 85mph (POP time 1.8)
Perfect throw from catcher required
10' lead-off
Runner takes off 0.6 seconds before ball release

Total time to steal = 2.8 seconds running time
Required speed (1st to 2nd) = 2.8 sec. (need 4.2(40yd) or 6.3(60yd) world class sprinter speed)

No surprise here. Bases are stolen on the pitcher and bad throws from catcher. So unless you are Carl Lewis you better learn to get good jumps on the pitcher and pray for an off-line throw from the catcher.

Ok...everyone stop laughing. Anyone care to check my math?

O42

You're dead on with the 3.5 sec. using a 1.3 sec. delivery. You must be an engineer or just done a lot of stopwatch work.

Missouri-BB-Dad,

I wished I was smart enough to be an engineer......It is the latter; lot's of stopwatch work.

O42

There is a book by Stu Southworth called "High Percentage Baserunning" and in it he breaks down pretty much every play imagineable with times and probabilities.

where the throw actually ends up and if the second baseman brings down the tag correctly is with the pitcher not complettely forgetting about the runeer pretty much the biggest factor in Mlb.
too bad it's kinda tricky to calculate the times of an average catch/tag and the average accuracy of a throw by the catcher.
If you want to be perfect with your calculations check out a couple of mlb.com highlight reels from fast baserunners when they steal bases and from caatchers when they throw out runners. Take a stop watch and stop the times from when the ball hits the glove of the second baseman and when he actually touches the runner.
My guess is that the averag tag will be around .
.5 seconds!!!