Successful pitchers come in all shapes and sizes. You could be pushing 7 feet tall like Randy Johnson, or insist that height doesn’t measure heart while standing 5’8”, like Marcus Stroman. You could be a workout freak like Jake Arrieta or…not, like David Wells. Your pitches could sit in the high-90s like Noah Syndergaard or dominate in the high-80s and low-90s with impeccable control like Greg Maddux. The wide-ranging spectrum of successful pitchers is one of baseball’s traits that makes it beautiful.
There may not be a cookie cutter for the pitcher position, but there is one thing that every successful pitcher—from Johnson to Stroman, Arrieta to Wells, Maddux to Syndergaard—has, and that is fastball command.