The Radar Gun at Kauffman Stadium is Hot

by Jeff Zimmerman on Apr 28, 2010 8:22 PM EDT

It has been pointed out a few times that the pitches at the K are a little high and I decided to look to see if it was true.

First, I had someone at the stadium check to see if the speed displayed was close to the Pitch F/X data. It was dead on for the 20 pitches selected.

I took the average and max fastball speeds for all starters (Bannister, Greinke, Hochevar and Davies) that have had 2 games at home and 2 away. I averaged the home and away number and then took the difference of these two numbers. Here is the data.

		4 Seam Fastball (mph)
		Avg	Max		Avg	Max	Diff in Avg	Diff in Max
Greinke	Home	93.52	97.6	Away	91.24	94
Greinke	Home	93.55	95.6	Away	92.31	95.7
Greinke	Home	93.05	95.8	-	-	-
-	-	93.37	96.33	-	91.78	94.85	1.6	1.48
Hochevar	Home	95.21	97.2	Away	92.71	94.1
Hochevar	Home	95.49	97.4	Away	92.19	93.9
-	-	95.35	97.3	-	92.45	94	2.9	3.3
Bannister	Home	89.75	92	Away	88.27	90.8
Bannister	Home	90.25	92.7	Away	88.52	89.8
-	-	90	92.35	-	88.4	90.3	1.61	2.05
Davies	Home	92.7	95.2	Away	91.97	93.8
Davies	Home	92.34	94.4	Away	90.89	92.2
-	-	92.52	94.8	-	91.43	93	1.09	1.8
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1.8	2.16

It looks like the K is about 2 mph faster than the other stadiums visited so far this season.

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Comments

I wonder if visiting pitchers see an increase in speeds as well at The K.

by B_LEWIS on Apr 28, 2010 8:54 PM EDT reply actions

Here is Felix's speed chart and it has a 2 MPH jump on the average fastball

Link

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by Jeff Zimmerman on Apr 28, 2010 9:04 PM EDT up reply actions

What could be the reason for this?

I meant a 2mph variable isn’t much, but there’s got to be some reason why pitchers are throwing at a slightly faster velocity at Kauffman than other parks.

Oh, and sorry I haven’t been around much lately, with the NBA in the postseason I’m finding it hard to stay on top of Royals Review.

Educated Basketball Fan, Totally Uneducated Baseball Fan.
Royals Record: 7-11; Royals record when I watch the game: 1-1

by Genesius on Apr 28, 2010 9:17 PM EDT reply actions

They aren't throwing harder

The gun is calibrated correctly.

by kcbottom9th on Apr 28, 2010 9:20 PM EDT up reply actions

I've heard the hot dog gun is also hot

by Crooow on Apr 28, 2010 9:49 PM EDT reply actions 3 recs

You can blame that on the K Crew

by Tito42 on Apr 29, 2010 8:11 AM EDT up reply actions 2 recs

WATCH OUT LADIES HE"S GOT A HOTDOG!!

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by MarioVanPeebles Republic of China on Apr 29, 2010 1:52 PM EDT up reply actions

I heard that the gun was getting the speed out of the hand

not the speed across the plate

I went to the Plaza and said "this is where the parade will be held when Dayton Moore gets fired"

by BHWick on Apr 28, 2010 9:50 PM EDT reply actions

It is supposed to be out of the hand speed (top speed). Most times the plate speed is 10 MPH slower.

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by Jeff Zimmerman on Apr 28, 2010 10:20 PM EDT reply actions

Reply fail to BHWick's comment

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by Jeff Zimmerman on Apr 28, 2010 10:21 PM EDT up reply actions

There is that much variation between out of hand and resultant speed at the plate?

Wow, I did not know that.

That seems to be a bit more drop that I would have thought but…….

interesting.

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by MarioVanPeebles Republic of China on Apr 29, 2010 1:53 PM EDT up reply actions

So does this mean that the pitch f/x data is wrong too?

And foxtrax? Is this why the ball/strike calls this weekend have been so crazy? Or are the umpires still that bad?

"I think a tactical error might have been committed by the manager of the Royals"

by KSinDC on Apr 28, 2010 10:33 PM EDT reply actions

The umps have been crazy. The system, if off, would be off by the same amount like high 2 inches on everyone.

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by Jeff Zimmerman on Apr 28, 2010 10:49 PM EDT up reply actions

It pretty hard not to get jacked up...

In front of 12,000 screaming fans at the K.

Don't Fuccop Succop

by chicks_love_chiefs on Apr 28, 2010 11:59 PM EDT reply actions

the echoes throw you off

by Crooow on Apr 29, 2010 12:05 AM EDT up reply actions

I think this clearly indicates the Royals aren't using pitch f/x data

If they were, the juiced guns would have been fixed nearly three weeks ago.

Get treated. Royally.

by Royals Nation on Apr 29, 2010 12:18 AM EDT reply actions 1 recs

Excellent point

"I think a tactical error might have been committed by the manager of the Royals"

by KSinDC on Apr 29, 2010 8:41 AM EDT up reply actions

Hey Jeff

Do you have the raw data (the actual pitch by pitch speeds for these nights)? Also, are you saying pitch f/x uses the readings from the gun at the K?

"Losing is a disease..." - The Natural

by RoyalsRule on Apr 29, 2010 12:41 AM EDT reply actions

I should have said I got the data from Brooksbaseball.com and used his numbers. He posts the raw numbers there.

On the second question, I am not sure if there are two guns or one. Pitch FX will have its own gun, I am not sure if the K is using the same one or if there are two guns both calibrated incorrectly. I will see if I can find the number of guns.

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by Jeff Zimmerman on Apr 29, 2010 8:00 AM EDT up reply actions