Recently, I have seen assertions that MLB strike out/low average is simply a function of ....trying to swing more "up". I don't think so. Simply put, MLB hitters are there because they conform to the "building code" standard as set forth by Paul Nyman some yrs. back [pcr/pcrw].
Simply put, according to this standard, they know how to create very good posture, connection, rotation, such that they are able to hit high level pitching.
So, what really best explains the high strikeout/low average combination.
A good deal of insight into this question can be found in a recent SI article as regards the "extra-legal" ways that pitchers are engaging in to manipulate the spin rate.
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Read the whole article to get the full report.
But a couple of things they site are very important.
But a couple of things they site are very important.
The added spin means that the average four-seam fastball drops nearly two inches fewer this year than it did in ’18, according to Statcast, making it appear to hitters as if it’s rising.
So far in ’21, facing fastballs down the middle thrown at 2,499 revolutions per minute or fewer, hitters have batted .330. Facing fastballs down the middle thrown at 2,500 rpms or more, they have batted .285.
From the hitter's perspective why is this "rising" ---basically not DECLINING as much--important?
Here's why: "Hitters spend their entire careers building a library of pitches", explains Garrett Beatty, who teaches physiology and applied kinesiology with a focus on sports at the University of Florida.
"Because they have only 200 to 400 milliseconds—about the blink of an eye—to decide whether and where to swing, they have to extrapolate where the pitch will end up, based on all the pitches they have seen in their lifetimes.
The key point...."THEY HAVE TO EXTRAPOLATE WHERE THEPITCH END UP,BASED ON ALL THE PITCHES THEY HAVE SEEN" [emphasis mine].
In other words, hitters will tend to "norm" [my term] the environment. Meaning, for ex. that if they are TYPICALLY facing 80 mph. fast balls, they will [tacitly] program their timing for that speed.
Speeds at 90--or 70 will thus be much more problematic.
The same is true for the TYPICAL degree of incline of a fast ball. Meaning that if the typical degree of incline is 9 degrees, 10-12 degree of incline will be highly problematic.
Creating greater frictional force can certainly enhance the spin rate such that the incline decreases ,ie., the ball, relative to the "norm" ..."stays up" slightly longer.
Some yrs back a minor league pitching instructor from the Cardinals who worked under Brent Strom showed me some data regarding the top strike out MLB pitchers. They showed LESS of an incline [let's say 11 degrees vs. 9].
He ask me: "Does this differential make sense as regards their strike out ability?" And I said "absolutely."
Based on the "norming" I explained above!!
Based on the "norming" I explained above!!
@threadreaderapp unroll
Correction: I should have written "cite" as opposed to "site."
Correction: In this and the above tweet I should have [I thought I did actually] included quotation marks. These comments are excerpts from this very thoughtful article.
Someone mentioned [asserted] that thrown fastballs were down this yr. This is completely irrelevant to my argument [and the data I cited] as regards the differential spin rates of fastballs as they effect batting average.
My argument had nothing to do with the notion that greater frictional forces at the fingers could enhance the movement potential of non-fastballs.
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