How many of you have marveled at the pitch speeds flashed on major league scoreboards? Virtually every big league park does it, displaying the velocity of each pitch almost instantaneously. During the recent series against the Mets, Nationals reliever Drew Storen hit 100 mph, and starter Livan Hernandez heaved one to the plate at 53 mph (and got the hitter out with it).
Now there’s word that some teams tinker with the calibration of their radar guns, depending on whether their guy is on the mound or the other team’s. Arizona Diamondbacks general manager Kevin Towers told the Arizona Republic recently that they used to “dial it down” at Petco Park for the visiting team when he was the Padres’ GM.
Right-hander Brad Penny was one of the Padres’ favorite victims when he was with the Dodgers. Penny, fond of his own fastball, would check the speed reading on the scoreboard after each pitch. A 95 mph pitch would display as 91, Towers told the paper, and a frustrated Penny would start overthrowing. That would lead to him elevating his fastball in the zone and bingo: a much better chance of making contact.
Speed displays on scoreboards — and TV screens — are a relatively new innovation. Once the exclusive territory of pro scouts who sit behind the plate, speed guns are meant to enhance the entertainment value of the game for the fans. Because the speeds are there, however, the players on the field are certainly aware of it.
Velocity is a tremendous asset but not a prerequisite for success. Hernandez is the textbook example of what a pitcher can do without it. The average major league fastball these days is about 90 mph, but Hernandez rarely hits anything above 86 mph. He generally pitches at 82 to 84 mph and changes speeds off that so drastically — such as the aforementioned 53 mph breaking ball — that his fastball seems quicker. Scouts say he just “knows how to pitch” and does what a pitcher is supposed to do: keep the hitter off-balance.
Hernandez is not the lone practitioner of his type of approach. When he faced the Mets’ Chris Capuano on Thursday, neither man hit 90 mph. Capuano topped out at 89, which he reached on only a handful of pitches. The main difference between him and Hernandez that evening was that the Mets lefty had less variation on the velocity of his pitches and likely less movement within the zone.
Speed’s not everything to a pitcher. In fact, a high school or college prospect who throws as softly as Hernandez has little chance of getting signed. Why? The assumption is he wouldn’t have the same amount of savvy as a big league veteran; he wouldn’t yet “know how to pitch.” As a result, he doesn’t get an opportunity.
There’s no reason to doubt the numbers displayed at Nationals Park. Besides, it’s not the number that retires batters.
Examiner columnist Phil Wood is a baseball historian and contributor to MASN’s “Nats Xtra.” Contact him at [email protected].
