Tricky question about RFD

[DodgerDog]

Um no..You don't throw at a max effort. Since you seem to enjoy Dodger baseball, Puig had an outfield assist last week, he was clocked at 100+ when the ball left his hand. He wasn't trying to hit an exact location. That 100+ is a true max effort because he does it once a week and he's just hurling it. If you put Puig on the mound he would not have 100+ MPH pitches but he can throw them--obviously. The marathon runner example is extremely applicable.

Furthermore, the picture you posted is misleading. Strikeout heavy pitchers DO NOT just throw as hard as they can. Look at a guy like Chris Archer. He throws 94 fastball and 92 slider. The reason he was top 3 in MLB in strikeouts is because he locates the fastball so well and works the off speed. Guys like Enny Romero on Washington right now, tend to be ineffective Strikeout pitchers because they throw hard but miss the zone so much. Even the example you gave, Kershaw thew 684 Sliders last year and struck out way more batters on that pitch than his 1100 fastballs. No one is just pounding the zone with velocity anymore. Major league hitters are just too good to be overpowered.

Dude, pitchers throw as hard as they can fairly often. Talk to a pitcher, that's not even really debatable.

Puig has a cannon, I'm not suprised he can throw a ball 100 mph. Many outfielders did that last year. But many also had running starts which is fairly different than the confines of a legal pitching motion.

Kershaw has a devasating slider, no one is arguing against that. Yes, he gets more whiffs on that than his fastball. Have you ever heard of Aroldis Chapman? Velocity matters.

[Eric Larousse]

Unless you are Tim Wakefield

[Eric Larousse]

Really? There's got to be a limit, yeah?

Technically yes I am paying the max amount they will match but if you pay over the limit it will be invested and you will still get more back.

[DodgerDog]

Unless you are Tim Wakefield

Very true. Apparently Tampa Bay is "stock piling" knuckleballers in their minor leagues. Taking failed pitchers/position players and trying out their knuckleballs. They had at least 4 in 2016.

[Chris McCarthy]

Looking at it without a great of thought my guess would be that, like most things, "effort" and "speed" would not make a linear graph...I'd guess that MLB Pitchers would be very skilled at throwing "Max with Location" speed pitches with a great deal less physical effort than it would take an idiot like me to, for example.

Mechanics Matter.