In Game 4 of the NLDS, Spencer Strider threw a 100-mph fastball and Nick Castellano made a very solid contact, the ball just kept going. Gone, it was a home run. That’s October baseball. Lots of things could happen. Spencer Strider earned 20 wins during the regular season. However, he took 2 losses this postseason. That’s why watching October baseball is so entertaining. You can’t expect what will happen. A 100-mph four-seam fastball was crushed.
I watched the highlight several times and began to wonder if it’s common to hit hard against a 100-mph pitch. To understand a little bit more, I went to check on the statcast website.
Well, Yordan Alvarez is one of the best hitters in baseball. He can crush fastballs, without doubt. However, against pitches with a velocity of at least 100 mph, it’s not so easy. Against fastballs, he had 62 hits during the regular season. But, only 4 of them came from pitches with a velocity of 100 mph or faster. Moreover, only one of those 4 hits was an extra base hit.
Meanwhile, Will Benson was hitting .182/.250/.200 last year and didn’t have any home runs. This season, he slashed .275/.365/.498 with 11 home runs and 31 RBI through 108 games. Among those 11 home runs, 1 was a grand slam that he made a loud contact against a 101.1 mph fastball. In total, he collected 3 hits against pitches with a velocity of 100+ mph. At the same time, Corey Seager is another dangerous hitter in the majors. He has a batting average over .300 against fastballs. He had 73 hits against fastball, but only 3 of them were against pitches with a velocity of at least 100 mph. One of those 3 hits was a double.
Furthermore, Garrett Cooper, Jose Abreu and Will Smith each collected 3 hits against pitches with a velocity of 100 mph or faster. But, none of them had an extra base hit against pitches with an velocity of 100+ mph.
In the 2023 season, there are not so many hitters who can collect at least 3 hits against pitches with a velocity of 100 mph or faster. Nonetheless, how about hard hits? Perhaps, some batters can make solid contact against pitches of 100+ mph but they are just unlucky.
Well, in the 2023 season, no players had more than 3 hard hits against pitches with a velocity of 100 mph or faster. In total, there are 9 batters who had 3 hard hits against pitches with a velocity of 100+ mph. Not every hard hit will become a hit. Nevertheless, Yordan Alvarez had 3 hard hits against pitches with velocity of 100+ mph and 3 of them became hits.
It might not be so rare to see a pitcher throw a fastball that touches triple digits. However, it's not very common. Moreover, for MLB batters, it’s not easy to make solid contact against pitches that touch triple digits. Nonetheless, it’s still possible to see a batter crush a home run against pitches with a velocity of 100 mph or faster. In the 2023 season, there are 15 times that a batter smashed a home run against a pitch that touched triple digits.
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