Anyone have thoughts on this Twitter thread?

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Oct 14, 2019
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What defines Elite? Speed, strikeouts, ERA or wins? Most D1 kids have a solid baseline to be successful if they can take what has gotten them to be recruited/signed and tapped into whatever else is left in the tank. To me the best to do it Monica Abbott is 6'3 and threw 70MPH vs. AZ in the WCWS and came up empty. She's elite, but no championship to show at Tennessee. Believe we all understand the message, just the messenger was the wrong person to deliver it. Lisa Fernandez or Ueno wants to drop that on twitter, you'll get more validity.
Different argument. Abbott was still the best pitcher. Just like Fouts was best pitcher this year. OU had an historically powerful offense this year. FSU was excellent at putting pressure on a pitcher with a mixture of base hits, speed and power. Sometimes offense prevails.
 
Jun 27, 2021
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Different argument. Abbott was still the best pitcher. Just like Fouts was best pitcher this year. OU had an historically powerful offense this year. FSU was excellent at putting pressure on a pitcher with a mixture of base hits, speed and power. Sometimes offense prevails.
Same argument as Abbott lost to Mowatt touched 68MPH. Better discussion for the one who posted it on the analytical side is how to capture and maximize speed based on height/size, stride length and leg drive power/force. That is what analytics does, posting the numbers without going into how each pitcher gets there is just click bait. NC State pitching room just got uncomfortable
 
Oct 4, 2018
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Any casual fan knows you have a better chance of winning if you have a pitcher who throws 70+. Pulled up a conversion chart and that is 101 MPH in baseball, not every WS pitcher throws 100 mph. Most sit around low 90's consistently, which is equivalent to 63-66 MPH range.

I can't tell you how many parents chat me up with the "we should pitch a slower pitcher against this team and it might work".

I shake my head and say "the goal of pitching is not to be slow".
 
Oct 4, 2018
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I also don't let any girl of mine (or that I've coached) use "the pitches were too slow" as an excuse for not hitting well. To me, that's a total cop out.

I usually ask them "Did she pitch faster than when I pitched BP to you this morning?". They say "yes", and then smile sheepishly. They're only 11 or 12, they will realize they can't always blame others.
 
Jun 27, 2021
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I also don't let any girl of mine (or that I've coached) use "the pitches were too slow" as an excuse for not hitting well. To me, that's a total cop out.

I usually ask them "Did she pitch faster than when I pitched BP to you this morning?". They say "yes", and then smile sheepishly. They're only 11 or 12, they will realize they can't always blame others.
Good hitters can hit slow and fast. Parents and hitting coaches don't like that one.
 
Jun 8, 2016
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I don’t care if Papa Smurf posted it, if the analytics were done in such a way that you could justify the “most important” component of pitching success (not team success) then I would have no issue with it. For example, define other metrics for location (no idea how to do that, maybe measure how much the catcher's glove moves once she is setup?), pitch movement, speed differential between fastest pitch and slowest pitch, etc and correlate with a pitching success metric or metric(s). Of course in this case we are assuming that pitch calling "quality" is equal...

I cannot publish a paper on a numerical method in mechanics where I solve one problem and compare with two other methods and claim it is the best method out there..the reviewers would require a toned down statement which fairly represents my results.
 
Last edited:
Oct 14, 2019
897
93
I don’t care if Papa Smurf posted it, if the analytics were done in such a way that you could justify the “most important” component of pitching success (not team success) then I would have no issue with it. For example, define other metrics for location (no idea how to do that, maybe measure how much the catcher's glove moves once she is setup?), pitch movement, speed differential between fastest pitch and slowest pitch, etc and correlate with a pitching success metric or metric(s). Of course in this case we are assuming that pitch calling "quality" is equal...

I cannot publish a paper on a numerical method in mechanics where I solve one problem and compare with two other methods and claim it is the best method out there..the reviewers would require a toned down statement which fairly represents my results.
Fast good.
 

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