Are today’s hitters actually better?

[Shawn]

Per Jerry Ford of Perfect Game

The Fastball and Velocity

PG founder and President Jerry Ford examines the effectiveness and importance of the fastball relative to its velocity.

www.perfectgame.org

"Maddux was throwing 94 mph as a scrawny junior in high school"

Awesome, my memory served me correctly. Dmac filmed him personally, Maddux made it look so easy I didn’t believe him at first.

 

[CoachJD]

Dmac posted a young Maddux throwing 94 on the gun, Dmac was a MLB scout who passed away young. I said there was no way he was throwing that hard because he made it look to easy, Dmac insisted he was.

John Smoltz went to the Bull pen after tommy John surgery. Since he was closing, he didn’t have to hold anything back and routinely hit 100 mph. John said he always had the ability.

Maddux choose pin point control with movement in both directions even on the same location. He could make an outside pitch break back to catch the outside corner, it looked outside until it moved. Likewise he could throw over the outside corner and make it move outside.

No point, just sharing.

Oh, yeah, a young Maddux could bring it. People forget that because he pitched so long and we remember his soft-tossing days. But over the final 7 years of his career, his fastball averaged 84.7 mph. At that point, I don't think he was sacrificing (much) velocity for control.

 

[BillyB]

Ball changes keep homeruns up, and the shift garbage tanks average hitters percentages overall.

 

[Sweet Lou]

Pitchers are definitely faster but don't have the control compared to the Maddux's of yesterday.. The expectation of starting pitching today is much different as well and not for the better IMO.. Games should not not take over 4 hours to complete.. TV network doesn't help either with all the commercials. Pretty sad when money takes over the game that we all grew up playing.

Most pitchers in Maddux's day didn't have the pin point control of Greg Maddux, that why he won over 300 games and was a first ballot hall of famer. I'm not sure I'd use Greg Maddux as the "average pitcher of yesterday" any more than I'd use Max Schrezer as the "average pitcher of today".