Speed of baseball
Question
We often know what the speed of the ball is as it crosses the plate (ie pitch speed), but what is the speed of a hit ball? The discussion is: When a pitcher gets hit by a batted ball, how fast is that ball (on average) going? (we want to know who is the loser - a hit batter or a hit pitcher).
Answer
Allyson,
A hit ball can be going all kinds of different speeds. From a little roller barely making it to the pitcher to a rocket of a line drive.
Since a major league pitcher is rarely hit by a slow ball, probably the average speed of a liner when it hits them is around 100 mph-120 mph. That's about as hard as a power hitter can hit a baseball.
Hope this helps!
Brian
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