Moneyball Monday 4/8 - Launch Angle and Exit Velocity

Launch angle and exit velocity is the topic for this Moneyball Monday. If you have watched a baseball game on tv in the past year and seen a home run or a hard hit, the announcers may say the ball came off at X Miles Per Hour off the bat. Chances are if a player hits a home run, they may even give the launch angle of the hit. Major League Baseball defines launch angle as a vertical angle at which the ball leaves a player's bat after being struck (mlb.com/glossary). For exit velocity, MLB’s definition is the speed of the baseball as it comes off the bat, immediately after a batter makes contact. This is tracked for all Batted Ball Events -- outs, hits, and errors (mlb.com/glossary)

Why are these two numbers so important? Well, the harder you hit the ball, the more likely it is to be a hit and a hard-hit ball paired with the right launch angle can result in a good hit for the batter. The Central College Baseball program is able to track a players exit velocity and launch angle with the Rapsodo device, so let’s take a look.

Here is a home run that traveled 391 feet with a 96.2 MPH exit velocity and a 24-degree launch angle. A hard-hit ball mixed with a positive launch angle will create a home run.

A ball that is hit hard and has a positive launch angle does not always result in a home run. Here is an example of a batted ball from the same hitter.

This was hit at 101.1 MPH which was hit harder than the home run but the launch angle was slightly lower at 14 degrees. This ball went 269 feet and most likely would have gotten down for a single depending on where the fielder was positioned.

A ball may have a negative launch angle, but that doesn’t automatically mean it will result in a ground out. If a ball is hit hard enough with a negative launch angle it still can result in a hard-hit ball. Adam Engel of the Chicago White Sox shows what happens when you combine a hard-hit ball with a negative launch angle:

Engel’s batted ball had a 97.5 MPH exit velocity with a -30 degree launch angle and the ball only went 3 feet initially, however, the total travel distance of the ball was 199 feet as the ball bounced back up and got past the infield for a single. That is an example of how a hard-hit ball paired with a negative launch angle can still produce a hit.

Central’s own Trevor Kimm shows what happens when you pair a positive launch angle with a hard-hit ball:

Here is what launch angle results in what type of hit, courtesy of mlb.com:

· Ground ball: Less than 10 degrees

· Line drive: 10-25 degrees

· Fly ball: 25-50 degrees

· Pop up: Greater than 50 degrees

We hope you enjoyed this edition of Moneyball Monday. Stay tuned next week for another topic!