Bat Speed

[sbrylski]

Is the bat speed of individual players cataloged anywhere? This seems to me to be something that would be beneficial.

[TheCrew07]

I'm not sure how they'd qualify it, for elite players it's pretty obvious to the naked eye. I guess they could do it with high speed cameras, but since every player's loading mechanism is different, when the does the swing technically start? When the bat starts down? Seems like there's quite a bit wiggle room here, sort of like total zone for minor league defense. Are we talking maximum bat velocity only? Time in the hitting zone? The entire swing in general? For maximum bat velocity it would be tough to get the bat speed... a gun would likely pick up the ball moving past as well, they'd have to take max effort swings against air, which may or may not be how hard they swing in a live game situation.

 

Not a bad scouting idea though.

[Baldkin]

The only thing I've seen is batted ball velocity. Never seen actual 'bat speed' measured.

[rluzinski]

I believe that hit f/x only tracks the initial velocity of the ball off the bat:

 

http://www.fangraphs.com/...php/the-start-of-hit-fx/

 

I would think they could pick up bat speed if they wanted to.

 

Don't we care most about the velocity of the bat when it's likely to make contact with the bat? Whether a player has a long swing seems secondary to me.