Mike Fast at The Hardball Times reacts to a comment from Rob Neyer about pitchers losing velocity when throwing from the stretch and concludes that it’s not really true.

Fast’s analysis is worth a read, but the most entertaining thing in the post is the graph plotting average fastball velocities of Major League pitchers.

That red dot all the way on the bottom left? That’s Jamie Moyer.

Moyer, according to Fangraphs, has not averaged more than 82 miles per hour with his fastball since 2002 (when he was only 39).

Obviously I knew Moyer doesn’t throw hard, but it’s pretty amazing to see it plotted out like that, and to see just how not-hard he throws in comparison to the rest of the league.

And it makes me wonder whether Moyer is some massive outlier who manages to get Major League hitters out with guile and an 81-mph fastball in a way no other pitcher knows how, or if there’s a huge selection bias at play here, and pitchers with 81-mph fastballs simply don’t stick around professional baseball long enough to make the Major Leagues (and learn whatever they need to learn to get guys out without heat) even if they can be effective.

A little from column A, a little from column B, I’d bet.