Time to move Joe Kelly to the pen?

[jon abbey]

I'm surprised there are so many condescending posts here, yet no mention of the stride length/release point studies over the last few years that measure this exact phenomenon, changing the perceived velocity of some pitchers a few MPH in each direction. David Robertson has been one of the MLB leaders in this for years, one of the main reasons he's been so effective, and Carter Capps, a hard-throwing Marlins reliever who has a borderline illegal hop-step before releasing the ball (MLB says it's legal but it's pretty dubious) is the current tops in the sport. Here's a Grantland piece from last week:

http://grantland.com/the-triangle/2015-mlb-actual-versus-perceived-velocity-statcast-pitcher-data-carter-capps/

 

[In my lifetime]

I'm surprised there are so many condescending posts here, yet no mention of the stride length/release point studies over the last few years that measure this exact phenomenon, changing the perceived velocity of some pitchers a few MPH in each direction. David Robertson has been one of the MLB leaders in this for years, one of the main reasons he's been so effective, and Carter Capps, a hard-throwing Marlins reliever who has a borderline illegal hop-step before releasing the ball (MLB says it's legal but it's pretty dubious) is the current tops in the sport. Here's a Grantland piece from last week:

http://grantland.com/the-triangle/2015-mlb-actual-versus-perceived-velocity-statcast-pitcher-data-carter-capps/

Great article and makes perfect sense, but I have no idea how mlb decided that hop step is legal. Clearly there is no contact with the rubber when pitch is released. Granted many pitchers release slightly after theu break contact with the pitcher's plate, however this is a new level where the last contact point for the back foot is clearly in front of the rubber.

 

[iayork]

I'm surprised there are so many condescending posts here, yet no mention of the stride length/release point studies 

You mean, apart from the sentence where I specifically mentioned the release point studies?  

 

[ivanvamp]

 
No one said anything about the phenomenon, just that you should probably stop posting about things you don't know enough about to even offer a rudimentary explanation for.

I know enough to know it's a real (or ar least perceived, according to major leaguers) phenomenon, and I raised the issue wondering why a guy that throws as hard as Kelly gets hammered.

If others know more about this phenomenon, it's good for it to be shared. Lots of times people raise issues they don't really grasp and others chip in with their insight.

And I did offer one possibility. Namely, in Koji's case, his off speed stuff is so deadly that hitters key in on it, and thus his 88 mph fastball feels a lot faster.

 

[geoduck no quahog]

Perceived speed must be all about reaction times. I assume a pitcher who hides his pitches well (by using the same slot/release point/look) messes around with the reaction time it takes for a batter to square things up. I don't understand, however, the notion of a release point speeding up the ball.
 
A 95 mph fastball is travelling 140 feet/second, a little over 0.434 seconds to go from mound to plate. Knocking a foot off that distance reduces that time by .007 seconds. Show me 7/1000 of a second in real life.
 
A change up travelling at 88 mph takes 0.469 seconds. I guess 0.04 seconds is enough to screw up a swing. 
 
Baseball ain't easy.