Pitching in the Modern Era

Velocity Increases in Major League Baseball by: Adam Jeannette Background on Velocity             -In 2002, the average fastball velocity was 89 mph ( 1 ). This was merely 18 years ago. Since then, the average has increased over 4 mph to 93.45 mph ( 2 ). To the average fan this may not seem like a big deal, however, it is easier to understand when it is put into perspective. A 90-95 mph fastball takes roughly 400 milliseconds to reach home plate. Subtracting from this reaction time is the time it takes for the brain to process the image of the baseball. This takes 100 milliseconds. Subtracting this from the 400 milliseconds, there is now 300 milliseconds for the batter to react, but wait, there are a few more subtractions needed to be made. The average swing takes roughly 150 milliseconds to get around enough to make contact with the ball. Building off this, it takes the brain 25 milliseconds to send the signal to the body to swing. This leaves the batter with 125 milliseconds to choos