I want to start this by saying, I am not so idiotic as to think I actually would be able to hit a major league pitcher.
But when presented with the “do you think you’d be able to even make contact on 1 out of 100 pitches by a pitcher”, I’d like to understand why.
Like if they did nothing but pitch breaking stuff, couldn’t I just overcorrect? Same deal with fastballs? I’m sure they would mix it up, but out of 100 straight pitches, if you were a major-league pitcher, what would you do to make sure that they never made contact?
In: Other
ELI5 Answer: You’re too slow to swing a bat soon enough or hard enough to make contact. It takes you almost as long to swing the bat as it does for the pitch to get there, if you started the second the ball left the pitcher’s hand. Since you still have to aim and think about where and when to swing, by the time your brain does that, it’s too late.
Longer answer: The average MLB fastball is about 93-94 mph, and the average untrained player is probably swinging a bat like a mediocre high schooler at about 50mph. So the ball will get from the pitcher to you in about 0.4 seconds, and your swing will take about 0.25-0.3 seconds. So you’ll have 0.1 seconds to figure out pitch placement and start your swing. Which, for anyone who isn’t a trained athlete, is effectively no time at all. That’s assuming you have the coordination to know where the ball will come across the plate. Which you don’t, so even if you get the timing right (which you won’t, because you’re not fast, strong, or coordinated enough to), you’ll miss the location. And if you try to cheat and swing early, you’ll be way too early and miss completely. And have no chance to understand the location.
Latest Answers