Speed of softball pitch

[AtlUmpSteve]

Originally Posted by Tru_in_Blu

Slight hi-jack while I have all these engineers and scientists mulling around this string....

We do a modified league and every couple of years the question comes up about pitch height because some pitchers throw loopy, slow pitches. A team this week complained that their opponent's pitcher was basically throwing slow pitch pitches so they thought there must be some rule about not being able to do that. We know there is no restriction.

The question I have is if a pitcher is throwing like that and the batter stands all the way to the front of the batter's box, could that type of pitch EVER be called a strike?

I'm looking for the "scientific explanation" here, not the "in my judgment" explanation. Not sure if I'll even understand the "scientific explanation", but just thought I'd pose the question.

The science is actually pretty simple. It doesn't matter if a batter stands in the front of the box or the back of the box, the strike zone is the space over home plate. Surely you don't think the zone moves back and forth with the batters, there is a consistent distance from the pitcher's plate to the plate that pitchers pitch to.

So ignore where the ball is when it passes the batter in front (or back); a strike can be over the head in the front of the box (or below the knee in the back of the box), as long as it crosses some part of the plate at an appropriate height.

[Tru_in_Blu]

Originally Posted by AtlUmpSteve

The science is actually pretty simple. It doesn't matter if a batter stands in the front of the box or the back of the box, the strike zone is the space over home plate. Surely you don't think the zone moves back and forth with the batters, there is a consistent distance from the pitcher's plate to the plate that pitchers pitch to.

So ignore where the ball is when it passes the batter in front (or back); a strike can be over the head in the front of the box (or below the knee in the back of the box), as long as it crosses some part of the plate at an appropriate height.

I worded that poorly. Yes the strike zone is over the plate.

In a modified-pitch game, the strike zone is armpits to top of the knees. In slow pitch, it's the front knee to the back shoulder.

So can a pitcher throwing a 10 to 12 foot arc pitch manage to throw a pitch that would be ruled a fast pitch strike? I.E. could it manage to cross the plate at a height that would be at or below the armpits? Clearly, if the ball hits the plate, it's a ball.

Not sure what the average distance is between the armpit and top of the shoulder. Maybe 6 inches?

I find calling those type of pitches from the guys that throw slow, loopy pitches more difficult than from pitchers who can generate a little speed. The loopy pitch crosses the plate at eye-level and ends up in the catcher's glove about belt high. And the pitchers are whining to get that call because of where it ended up.

[AtlUmpSteve]

Originally Posted by Tru_in_Blu

I worded that poorly. Yes the strike zone is over the plate.

In a modified-pitch game, the strike zone is armpits to top of the knees. In slow pitch, it's the front knee to the back shoulder.

So can a pitcher throwing a 10 to 12 foot arc pitch manage to throw a pitch that would be ruled a fast pitch strike? I.E. could it manage to cross the plate at a height that would be at or below the armpits? Clearly, if the ball hits the plate, it's a ball.

Not sure what the average distance is between the armpit and top of the shoulder. Maybe 6 inches?

I find calling those type of pitches from the guys that throw slow, loopy pitches more difficult than from pitchers who can generate a little speed. The loopy pitch crosses the plate at eye-level and ends up in the catcher's glove about belt high. And the pitchers are whining to get that call because of where it ended up.

For what it is worth, practically any pitch that is a slow pitch strike (because it actually passed thru that zone, not because of where it landed, as called by many, if not most, and to completely exclude "mat-ball" definitions) is almost assuredly a strike in fast pitch. Only the highest (deep) pitches DON'T also pass thru the fastpitch, and thus modified, strike zone, passing the plate above the armpit.

As you have mentioned, the only slow pitch strike that isn't also a fast pitch and modified strike is the pitch crossing the plate between the top of the shoulder and the bottom of the armpit. They don't have to want that "slowpitch" strike, but it as much a strike as the intended changeup from a true modified or fastpitch pitcher that cuts thru the same zone.