He does not have a clue…ever.
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The Twins had their sausage clear customs and will be in the dugout for the Toronto series.
Here’s hoping it, like the rally monkey, can harness its powers for the Astros.
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Neither can beat Orbit’s great story. Think of the lost years when he was cruelly displaced by Junction Jack. He hit rock bottom when he was found dumpster diving at Johnson Space Center. What a comeback story!
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Cometa!!!
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Sorry, Guys, I was confusing Skenes w/ Speas (claimed from Oakland) …
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MLB is releasing a shitload of data on bat speed, swing length, sweet spot contact, etc.
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I am fascinated by the photo.
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Wow, that’s a great photo.
Imagine having some fingers between those two.
There are a lot of interesting nuggets in the data but it’s very clear that bad speed and swing length alone aren’t informative about how good a hitter is. There are excellent hitters among the slowest bats (Luis Arraez, Jose Altuve, Isaac Paredes) and some weak hitters among the fastest. And of course bat speed is one of those things that’s always been reasonably subject to the eye test. But it still seems like a potential goldmine to be able to pair the bat data with other metrics.
By the way—Jose Abreu’s bat speed is about league average.
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Does that data make any attempt to quantify reaction time, pitch recognition time (I have no idea how you’d do that), etc? If his bat speed is average but he starts late, he’s doomed.
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Would his bat speed be different if he were taller? (I mean that seriously)
Nope, just pure bat speed. And there’s no data for 2023 and earlier for comparison.
Do you mean Altuve? Probably. But the interesting thing in the data is how much he seems to vary his bat speed by situation. His average is low (he keeps his swing short more often than most) but when he sees a pitch he likes, he’ll swing out of his shoes and get the barrel going a lot faster.
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Altuve’s ability to change his swing situationally, is what makes him an elite hitter. It also makes him look terrible when he is fooled by a pitch.
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I was thinking about that. There must be a way to measure from the moment the ball leave’s the pitcher’s hand to the moment the bat starts moving.
It’s gotta be really hard to disentangle reaction time from the rest of a player’s swing mechanics. Is he trying to make contact out front, or does he want to let the ball travel? Is his timing just off? I think the most informative way to look at it would be in comparison to previous seasons, or as a rolling average of his last ~250 PA or something, but it’s all very tricky.
Most helpful in better appreciating and understanding the game.
Thanks, Guys!
Should also note that varying bat speed is more a function of varying swing length than varying the bat speed for its own sake. Probably clear already but just wanted to say it.
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