In the last few days, MLB and Statcast unveiled their newest stat: average bat speed.
It’s obviously self-explanatory, but comes in handy in the analysis of certain things.
For example, bat speed depends on many factors, but the average hitter feels inclined to alter speed depending on the count.
The count is, of course, one of the most underrated aspects of hitting.
Plate discipline and hitting go hand in hand.
Putting yourself in a hitter’s count will allow you, as the batter, to swing harder on the next pitch looking to inflict damage.
On the other hand, when the hitter has fallen into a “pitcher’s count,” he will swing slower and prioritize contact over power.
Codify Baseball prepared a bat speed graph by count, and the results are as expected.
Average Bat Speed (Miles Per Hour)
Competitive 2024 MLB Swings By Count pic.twitter.com/BHMU5LU1yq— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) May 13, 2024
The three most obvious hitter’s count are 3-0, 3-1, and 2-0.
The pitcher is almost forced to come looking for a strike to come back in the count, and hitters often take advantage of these “hittable” pitches, swinging as hard as they can.
You can see how the average swing at 3-0 is a whopping 75.3 mph.
To the contrary, 0-2 and 1-2 are the premier pitcher’s counts, and bat speed averages are the slowest in the chart.
It’s all pretty standard and expected, but it’s always cool to see how new trends and stats correlate with the actual game experience.
In this case, logic prevails: batters swing harder in hitter’s counts, and they are more careful when they are on the verge of suffering a strikeout.
