One thing to look at which tells you how much spin this ball had and the direction of the spin is that he reached out with his glove in an attempt to catch it but when the ball hit the dirt it bounced back into his face.
Something I've long wondered: Do batted balls spin differently in softball vs baseball, either because a pitched ball spins differently (does it? If so, would that even matter?) or because of the trajectory? Or maybe even the size of the ball?
Something I've long wondered: Do batted balls spin differently in softball vs baseball, either because a pitched ball spins differently (does it? If so, would that even matter?) or because of the trajectory? Or maybe even the size of the ball?
The first thing that made me wonder was the number of times I've seen a softball player foul a pitch off her own facemask. In all my years of playing and watching baseball, I saw a kid foul a ball off his own face one time ever. I see it in softball, at different levels, a few times a year at least. I figured something about the spin at contact could cause this, but maybe not.
To counter that, it does seem like fly balls tend to act the way I expect them to from my baseball experience, so maybe there's no difference.
I have heard/read that when a softball is hit the spin is kind of reset and any spin after the hit is a result of the bat/swing. Any spin on the pitch as it's hit doesn't translate into the path of the ball. This may differ for foul tips, which of course aren't in the field of play.
[EDIT: Just sharing what I read. Could be wrong. But think of a rise ball. We've all seen riseballs go off the bat with backspin, even though perfect riseball spin would be the exact opposite.]
AbstractIs this also true for baseball?
If he's not on the DL, he needs to swing harder next time.Just a couple of days ago Ronald Acuna fouled a ball off the ground and right into the old 'family jewels'.