Fastball velocity isn’t everything. Look no further than Sunday night’s ESPN signature game, Yankees vs. Mets. Nathan Eovaldi, the starting pitcher for the Yankees, throws complete gas. From 2013 until this year he leads all qualified starting pitchers with a 95.7 mph average fastball. However, over that time he also sports a pretty terrible 11-20 record with a 4.04 ERA. Throwing hard does not always equal quality.
What does matter, though, is an increase or decrease in velocity from the year prior. A significant decrease could mean an injury, while an increase correlates to improved performance.