When is a baseball faster? when the pitcher pitches it or when the batter his it

Question

When is a baseball faster? when the pitcher pitches it or when the batter his it

Answer 1

I believe it is faster after the batter hits it. I guess it depends.

Answer 2

when the batter hits it

Answer 3

when the pitcher pitches it

Answer 4

Usually when the batter hits it. A home run or a line drive travels over 120 mph off the bat.

Answer 5

When a batter hits it. When Mark Prior got hit in the elbow a few years back the ball was coming at him at a speed of 117 mph.

Answer 6

It's (potentially) faster when the batter hits it. The ball can leave the bat at 120+ mph, much faster than anyone can pitch.

Answer 7

When the ball contacts the bat both compress then expand, adding energy from the pitch to the energy from the swing and the ball has the potential to greatly exceed the incoming speed.

Answer 8

Well, that depends on how good of a hit the batter got.

Lets just say it was a 425 foot home run to straight away center. It would have traveled faster when the batter hit the ball than when the pitcher threw it.

Think of it this way, do you think a pitcher could stand on home plate and throw a ball over the outfield wall? Chances are, no. I dont think anybody could do that. But could somebody hit a ball over the fence? Obviously.

Answer 9

Depends on who's pitching and who's hitting. That HR Reggie Jackson hit off a Charlie Hough knuckleball in the '77 WS, left the bat a lot faster than it arrived at home plate.