VERTICAL APPROACH ANGLE BASEBALL: Everything You Need To Know

[@niklasjarvinen7819]

I've been seeing this all over, I'm happy you made a clear explanation on it! Wish MLB would make it available publically.

[@SimpleSabermetrics]

Absolutely! Thanks for the comment, Niklas!

[@MrDanielresendez]

Effective velocity is HUGE. I don’t think you gave enough attention to how big of an impact it has on pitchers who understand it and use it. A guy named Perry Husband discovered it. This guys a genius

[@robbyrow]

This is fantastic bro! Been trying to calculate VAA without having a TrackMan. Do you know how I could?

[@SimpleSabermetrics]

Hey Robby - thanks for the comment my man! I've been diving into this a little bit to see the relationship between some other metrics (such as vertical RELEASE angle) to see if there is a way to back into this without Trackman but haven't seen anything out there yet for this. I'll be sure to keep you in the loop if I do stumble upon anything here!

[@coltonpunches7411]

@@SimpleSabermetrics Great video. Has there been any updates on how to calculate VAA without trackman? We have Rapsodo which gives release angle and horizontal angle, but I'm not totally sure how or if that measures VAA.

[@andydeck2778]

Bro you impress me on every video keep up the great work

[@SimpleSabermetrics]

Really appreciate the comment, Andy! Thanks for the support!

[@CoachTooz]

Is there a way to see this metic on Rapsodo? How would I find my pitchers VAA?

[@SimpleSabermetrics]

In one of the articles I linked in the description Ethan Moore claims to have calculated this statistic using a combination of release point, velocity, and plate location. Since those aren't all spit out on the Rapsodo, it may be difficult to calculate this using that piece of technology. I do know that Rapsodo spits out a release angle, which I'm sure is pretty close to that pitcher's VAA - but I haven't done a comparison yet... Perhaps we can see something similar in a future update! Thanks for the comment!

[@johnnywholestaff4909]

That article is great!!

[@SimpleSabermetrics]

Definitely good stuff! Thanks for the comment, Bo!

[@josephmannix5120]

This is great do you know how to improve it with out changing your arm slit

[@matthewhall2221]

Hey Jake! I was wondering when you were going to do a video on this topic (I read the U.Iowa article when it was published). Great video as always! One question. If a pitcher has high spin rate with a steep vertical approach angle, which metric should be prioritized? (VAA or spin rate-I thought you said VAA in the video, but I was wondering if you could expand on it a little bit) Thanks!

[@SimpleSabermetrics]

In my opinion I’d recommend VAA. If the player has an average VAA, then turning to Bauer units would be my next step in deciding how they pitch. Thanks for the question!

[@100kcameron]

Hi Matthew, I was wondering if this comment could help. If a pitcher has a high spin rate and a steep VAA this is not necessarily a bad thing and this doesn’t mean they “counteract” each other. The pitcher could still use this to his advantage. Yes, having a high spin rate gives the fastball more “life” or “ride” but these same qualities could be used for a steep VAA where fastballs need to be more down in the zone. For example, a pitcher who has a -6.5 VAA and a spin rate of 2400 on his FB could throw a majority of his fastballs down in the zone and would likely have a lot of hitters give up on the pitch. Those steep pitches give the illusion as if they are going to finish well below the strike zone but end up “rising” as a strike in the bottom of the zone. I hope this helps!

[@valcorik]

Hey. Can you tell me what editing program you use?

[@SimpleSabermetrics]

Hello! Yes, the whiteboard animation software I use is called VideoScribe. I believe it has some sort of free trial as well. Thanks for the comment!

[@emrooalqis7292]

Nice video. But how can submarines pitch with - 4°? It will collide with the ground..

[@SimpleSabermetrics]

Great question! Submarine pitcher's in a lot of case actually have a positive approach angle depending on their slot. There are some outliers, but the ranges i provided here are good ones to follow!

[@PT1-]

First off, thank you! Rewatch your old videos a lot to continually retain all the information in order to helps guys. I am curious though, in your opinion, let's say a guy has relatively low spin or low VB (potentially lower 3/4 slot), but is sitting around -3.8 to -4.0 in the top of the zone. Given the VAA would you still recommend a heavier dose of FBs up, or would you scrap the VAA in this case and continue to command well down despite a VAA around -6, but utilizing the lower spin/VB.

[@SimpleSabermetrics]

This is a great question and something I've discussed frequently amongst my colleagues. Obviously this isn't the most common occurrence, but when you have a player who's spin rate indicates he should have success at the bottom of the zone, but his VAA says he should pitch up in the zone - I'm currently under the impression you should always take the side of VAA instead of spin. This may change, but in my initial findings it has led to higher success rates than the opposite. Hopefully this helps!

[@PT1-]

@@SimpleSabermetrics Thank you for the response! Super helpful; I tended to lean this way as well, but was never 100% confident if I was saying the correct thing. When dealing with high level college arms (the one who inspired this question) the last thing I want to do is use data to give them a poor plan heading into their seasons. I’ll be continuing to watch though, easily my favorite account on KZbin

[@luisrondon878]

thanks

[@SimpleSabermetrics]

Glad you enjoyed!