. . . About the Speed of Pitches
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. . . after the huge amount of time and effort spent figuring out how to get batters out, players have been missing a key element of the job, according to one freelance pitching expert. Perry Husband says there's a important factor in throwing off batters' timing, and it comes down to a principle called effective velocity. The idea is that to hit pitches in different parts of the strike zone, the batter has to change the timing of his swing: For a pitch on the inside part of the plate (the part closest to him), he must be far along with his swing by the time the pitch gets to the plate, so that he can get the barrel (the thick part of the bat) on the ball. If he's a shade late with his swing, he might make contact, but it will be with the skinnier part of the bat, so he won't hit the ball as hard. For a pitch on the outside part of the plate, it's just the opposite: He needs to hit the ball earlier in the swing, to make sure the bat is in the right place. That means that for inside pitches, he needs to swing earlier, and for outside pitches, he should swing later. Because of the arc of the swing, batters also need to swing earlier for high pitches and later for low pitches.
