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Palladino: Enough Already With Radar Guns, Measuring Tape In Baseball

By Ernie Palladino
» More Ernie Palladino Columns

In a numbers-driven sport such as baseball, it's easy to fall into a statistical trap like the one we witnessed last week with Jacob deGrom.

The young right-hander triggered a lot of breath-holding and hand-wringing in his previous spring training starts because the radar gun clocked him in the low '90s instead of the 95 fans grew to expect the last couple of seasons.

Had he lost the velocity that makes deGrom deGrom? Heavens, how will he ever survive?

Thankfully, those concerned onlookers were able to begin the process of exhalation during Saturday's start against the Braves. In a 6 2/3-inning stint, he hit 95 five times and 94 11 times. Those speeds are bound to rise a tick or two when the real stuff begins and deGrom's arm grows looser after Terry Collins stretches him to 100 pitches in his final Grapefruit League appearance.

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It's good news, sort of. We place the qualifier in there because really, there was never anything to worry about to begin with. DeGrom, himself, said he has to work his way up to his normal velocity. As with any pitcher, location and movement carry much more importance than raw speed, and deGrom has never shown a shortage of those two things.

Whatever concerns existed were simply a function of the numerical trap that has widened immeasurably since the speed gun and measuring tape became public staples.

We have gone measurement crazy. And the teams and media have helped us get there.

In virtually every professional ballpark across America these days, a little box somewhere on the scoreboard offers a pitch-by-pitch speed reading, regardless of whether the pitcher normally works around 80 or 100 MPH. In virtually every press box in America, a media relations person announces the length of every home run, whether it's a 320-foot wall creeper or a monstrous 490-foot cannon shot.

The numbers are given out regardless of impact. At times, they can be downright distracting from what is actually happening in the game. Last year's postseason was a perfect example. The World Series broadcasts seemed absolutely immersed in speed envy. It seemed that nary a single pitch from the Mets or Royals went by that wasn't worthy of dissection, starting with the speed reading.

Maddening.

Absolutely maddening.

Pitching is so much more than speed, just like power hitting is so much more than length. The whole world throws at 95 now, but if it lacks movement a decent hitter can catch up to it and smack it off the batter's eye. And really, unless a home run is truly imposing like the 565-foot shot Mickey Mantle hit out of Washington's Griffith Stadium in 1953 -- the clout that started the whole tape-measure tradition -- it would seem game situation and impact are more important.

After all, the eminent Dave Kingman hit his share of Ruthian shots, too. Many, in fact. As nice as they were to look at, most came with nobody on and the Mets down by 10.

No one missed him when he went away.

Mariano Rivera fashioned a Hall of Fame-quality career with primarily one pitch, and it wasn't because of sheer speed that his cutter left a mile-high pile of busted lumber in its wake. It moved and spun and dug.

In four outings this spring, deGrom posted a 1-0, 1.62 record. That's three runs on 13 hits in 16 2/3 innings. He has walked two and struck out 15.

All this while generally throwing his fastball in the low 90s.

To think the radar readings equate to a problem is laughable. Consistent movement, mechanics, an attack philosophy in the strike zone, and smart use of his other pitches will and always have determined deGrom's success.

Just like any other pitcher.

A couple of missing miles per hour mean nothing overall. They're just part of baseball's statistical trap; one we are all to willing to fall into these days.

Follow Ernie on Twitter at @ErniePalladino

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