April 6, 2021
Velocity is all the rage these days, and why shouldn’t it be? It’s fun to see that third digit light up on a radar gun or show up on the scoreboard. And it’s happening more often than ever. From Opening Day through the weekend, eight pitchers combined for a total of 28 pitches over 100 mph, with Emmanuel Clase hitting the mark nine times out of the 11 cutting fastballs he threw on Sunday. It’s certainly exciting, but velocity isn’t everything. Yes, I want to know how hard someone is throwing when evaluating a pitcher, but my first question after that is what is the shape of the pitch?