Post by rog on Mar 14, 2019 12:30:28 GMT -5
Not a great game last night, and, man, Cameron Maybin certainly had a rough game, but I hope everyone got to watch the Mariners' broadcast on MLB TV when it came on at 6:00 this morning. I learned a lot about how spin rate works and found out that more and more of the players are buying the sophisticated technical and camara equipment so that they can get instant feedback from their workouts.
I had learned and posted here about the equipment the teams now have to give instant feedback on pitches and swings, but I didn't realize they were affordable enough for players to buy them too. What I perhaps didn't realize more than anything is that the players now have the interest in the available information to be willing to go out and spend their own money.
I had been thinking that higher spin rate was always better, and it usually is, but I already knew that a knuckle ball gains its advantage from a much, much lower spin rate, so I should have realized higher spin rates weren't ALWAYS better.
For the most part higher spin rates ARE better. Breaking balls move more, and fastballs "hop" more the higher the spin rate. On change ups though, less spin is better, since it allows gravity to take over more and lets the ball have more drop. What the analytst said though was that a pitcher didn't want his spin rate to be average, and when one thinks about it, that makes sense. Batters are used to the "average" spin rate and "expect" the ball to wind up where it would with average spin. The ball that has more spin, or even less spin, will wind up in a place other than the expected.
One of the things that has most fascinated me about hitting is that even the same pitcher throws his pitches with different movement from pitch to pitch, depending in exactly how it comes off his hand. How does the batter -- even once he knows what pitch is coming -- know precisely how much the ball will move? As we know, just the slightest miscalculation can result in a topped ball, a pop up, or even a missed swing.
So a question for our pitchers, Boly, Randy and Don: How much would it have helped you guys had you been able to buy equipment that told you velocity, spin rate, release point, etc. on every pitch?
I had learned and posted here about the equipment the teams now have to give instant feedback on pitches and swings, but I didn't realize they were affordable enough for players to buy them too. What I perhaps didn't realize more than anything is that the players now have the interest in the available information to be willing to go out and spend their own money.
I had been thinking that higher spin rate was always better, and it usually is, but I already knew that a knuckle ball gains its advantage from a much, much lower spin rate, so I should have realized higher spin rates weren't ALWAYS better.
For the most part higher spin rates ARE better. Breaking balls move more, and fastballs "hop" more the higher the spin rate. On change ups though, less spin is better, since it allows gravity to take over more and lets the ball have more drop. What the analytst said though was that a pitcher didn't want his spin rate to be average, and when one thinks about it, that makes sense. Batters are used to the "average" spin rate and "expect" the ball to wind up where it would with average spin. The ball that has more spin, or even less spin, will wind up in a place other than the expected.
One of the things that has most fascinated me about hitting is that even the same pitcher throws his pitches with different movement from pitch to pitch, depending in exactly how it comes off his hand. How does the batter -- even once he knows what pitch is coming -- know precisely how much the ball will move? As we know, just the slightest miscalculation can result in a topped ball, a pop up, or even a missed swing.
So a question for our pitchers, Boly, Randy and Don: How much would it have helped you guys had you been able to buy equipment that told you velocity, spin rate, release point, etc. on every pitch?
