Effect of Bat Speed on Contact

Determine the effect of Major League Baseball bat speed, defined as the linear speed of the bat’s sweet spot at the point of contact, on the probability that a swing results in bat–ball contact at the pitch level.

Background

The paper introduces newly released MLB bat tracking metrics, including bat speed and swing length measured at contact, and highlights interpretation challenges due to swing timing and pitch recognition confounding. The authors note a counterintuitive correlation in naive analyses where faster bat speeds appear associated with solid contact, motivating a more careful causal framework.

Within this context, the authors explicitly flag the relationship between swing aggressiveness (captured by bat speed) and contact outcomes as an open research question. They subsequently develop intention and instrumental variable models to address confounding, but the problem is presented as a foundational uncertainty motivating the paper.