2021 MLB Regular Season thread

No one is saying that there weren't hard throwers before. The argument is that (a) there are more now, and (b) they are used differently; starters and relievers pitch differently, for shorter periods, during which they can throw harder and aren't preserving energy for a longer stretch of pitching.

Brad Radke was a moderately effective starter for 12 years, and he was usually right around 90 on a radar gun. He averaged six and a half innings per start during his career. Instead of facing Radke in your third or fourth at-bat, you're now seeing a guy who comes in throwing 95 or more, and who knows he's only going one inning so he puts maximum exertion in each pitch. That's the difference hitters face now.

 

In 1973 there was one nolan ryan.

 

And Jamie Moyer was effective for a long career in MLB - - notwithstanding the fact that he could not break a window with his fastball...

 

How hard did Maddux throw?

 

I think in his prime Maddux could get it up to 92 or so on occasion.

 

Maddux made his money by changing speeds and pitching to spots. He had tremendous movement on his pitches. Speed kills, but changing speeds annihilates. When Miley threw his no-hitter against the Indians, I don't even know if he hit 90 with his fastball and about half his pitches were change-ups.

 

Even more so.

 

Just because to can throw a fastball 96 MPH, it does not mean every fastball you throw should be 96 MPH.

An 80 MPH change, 88 MPH slider/sinker, 92 MPH fastball and a 96 MPH fastball would devastate hitters.

 

If only pitchers and pitching coaches would think of this.

 

I see this all the time covering high school baseball. Throwing 60 is just as effective as throwing 90.
Teams are used to guys throwing fastballs at 82-85 mph and they hit it pretty well. But every now and then they'll see some freshman who throws about 65 and they can't touch him for four or five innings. It's such a radical change from what their reflexes are conditioned to that it's hard to adjust right away. They'll get to him by the second or third trip through the lineup, but if the guy is throwing strikes he'll make them look stupid for a while. If he throws much harder, though, he'll get lit up because it's close enough to what they normally see that they can adjust immediately.
Extending it to the majors, if you can have that 15-20 mph swing on your pitches within a single at-bat, know how and when to use it, and locate pitches in the right spots, you can have a very nice career without a ton of velocity.

 

Maybe its Frank Jobe's fault. (sure someone would have come along later etc.) but it used to be blowing out a UCL was a career ender, now it's just part of your development. Players don't fear it, pitching coaches and trainers don't mind risking it for the sake of a few more MPH on the heater.

 

Guys on this board definitely are in the wrong business, and need to apply to be major league pitching and hitting coaches. Guys here have seemed to have unlocked some secrets to major league hitting and pitching that apparently have not been given proper consideration on the major league level.