question on velocity

[waltwa]

i have a question on velocity. if a pitcher has ratings as follows

stuff vel con

10 2 10

is this a pitcher who is losing his ability to be successful at the majors level due to low velocity. a player like greg maddux comes to mind. i doubt that his velocity would be this low but i would expect that his velocity would be much lower than the other 2 categories. just exactly what does velocity have to do with a pitchers success.

if a pitcher has a low stuff or control rating and a high velocity - can he be good?

also shawn seemed to indicate in another post that a pitchers velocity may go down during a game. did i read that right and if so, where do you check game velocity.

[henry296]

You check the velocity during the game by looking at the speeds on the fastball.
 
I think the one thing that velocity controls is strikeouts so I'd expect many balls to be put in play against that type of pitcher, but he could be successful.

[SpharV2]

I've had a couple of low velocity Cy Young winners, so he can be good. I would much rather have that pitcher than a high VEL low STUFF and CON pitcher.

[Amaroq]

I'm with SpharV2 on this one - I've had a lot of success with high Control, high Stuff pitchers with middling to poor Velocity. A 70/20/70 guy can be very effective. However, a 70/95/70 guy will have dominating outings.. and I really wouldn't trust a 50/95/50 guy at all.

[KG Erwin]

It's been mentioned that STUFF and CONTROL are the most vital ratings for a pitcher, and I agree with that.

VELOCITY is great is you like a guy who has the heat and can strike out batters, but personally, if the guy has the ability to generate harmless ground balls and fly outs, and not walk batters, then that's fine with me.  Preventing bases on balls  is very important to me. 

As for generating strike-outs, I'd rather have the ground-out which could result in a double play.

This goes along with my overall drafting philosophy, in which I look for a rock-solid infield, even at the expense of passing up some power-hitters in the process.

[SpharV2]

The only place I'll consider using a guy with high VEL but low to mid level stuff would be at closer. So long as you're bringing him in to face only 2-3 batters, the higher strikeout rate can work out. The problem with high VEL/low stuff guys is that they tend to give up home runs at a very high rate naturally, but if you limit the number of batters faced, then they can be effective, but will still probably blow more saves than other closers.

[KG Erwin]

Last thought for the night --  I noticed that Ellis Kinder of the Boston Braves got awarded 27 saves in 1953  -- was that the record at that time? 
 
Shaun's decision to give us an option for NOT using the modern closer role for historical leagues was great.  Back in the day of 4-man rotations,  pitching complete games was the rule, not the exception.  
 
 Let's go back to 1946 -- Bob Feller started 42 (!!)  games, and completed 36 (!!!) of them.  Amazing.  He racked up 348 strikeouts. 
 
At that time, it was common for starters to complete at least half of their games.   Considering the level of play back then, and the number of Hall-of-Fame batters that these guys faced, it's no wonder that it's considered a golden age.