Baseball Glossary › Launch Angle
Launch Angle (LA)
Launch angle (LA) is the vertical angle, in degrees, at which the ball leaves the bat after contact. Zero degrees is parallel to the ground, positive angles send the ball upward and negative angles drive it into the ground. Statcast defines the sweet spot as 8 to 32 degrees, where line drives and productive fly balls live.
Formula
Worked example (illustrative numbers): four batted balls at -5, 12, 25 and 40 degrees.
Sum = -5 + 12 + 25 + 40 = 72
Average LA = 72 / 4 = 18 degrees
Two of the four (12 and 25 degrees) fall in the 8 to 32 degree sweet spot.
What to Know
Average launch angle describes a player's type. A low average marks a ground-ball hitter or a ground-ball pitcher, and a high average marks a fly-ball hitter or fly-ball pitcher. For pitchers it is based on the batted balls they allow.
Launch angle vs exit velocity: launch angle is the direction, exit velocity is the speed. A ball in the sweet spot hit softly is often a lazy out, while one hit hard is the kind of contact that becomes extra-base hits and home runs. Statcast's top tier of contact, the barrel, requires both an optimal launch angle and an optimal exit velocity.
Launch angle also connects to the old-school groundout-to-airout ratio, which tracks the same ground-ball versus fly-ball tendency through outs recorded.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is launch angle in baseball?
Launch angle is the vertical angle, in degrees, at which the ball leaves the bat. Zero is parallel to the ground, positive angles go up and negative angles go down. It is measured by MLB's Statcast system.
What is the ideal launch angle?
Statcast defines the sweet spot as 8 to 32 degrees. That range covers the line drives most likely to fall for hits and the fly balls most likely to become extra-base hits and home runs.
What is the difference between launch angle and exit velocity?
Launch angle is the vertical direction the ball leaves the bat. Exit velocity is how fast it leaves. Both are needed to judge contact, because a well-angled ball hit softly is usually an out.
What does a negative launch angle mean?
A negative launch angle means the ball was hit downward, toward the ground. Most negative launch angles produce ground balls.
How is average launch angle calculated?
For a hitter, average the launch angles of all his batted ball events, excluding bunts. For a pitcher, average the launch angles of the batted balls he allowed.
What is a barrel in baseball?
A barrel is Statcast's top level of contact quality: a batted ball hit with both an optimal launch angle and an optimal exit velocity, the type of contact that most often produces extra-base hits and home runs.
Related Terms
Sources
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