An analysis of baseball pitch data : quantifying the effect of speed, location and movement on a batter's chances of getting a hit

Abstract

Advances in high-speed camera technology have made it possible to measure the trajectory of a baseball in flight. These trajectories allow for analysis of the characteristics make a pitch difficult to hit. The goal of this paper is to examine the effect of speed, location and movement on hitting statistics such as batting average. The results of this examination support conventional baseball wisdom. Fastballs and pitches in the strike zone are more likely to result in hits than off-speed pitches and pitches outside of the strike zone. Also, additional speed and movement on a pitch decreases the batter's chances of getting a hit. Finally, a preliminary model was created to observe the combined effects of speed, location and movement.