I asked my buddy AI about this because I was curious and lazy. I should stop using AI because these guys (billionaires) are not your friends and are taking over the world with no guardrails. But anyways…
The short answer is yes—pitchers throw vastly faster on average today than they did in Babe Ruth’s era, and your friend is mostly wrong about the wood bats (though they are tapping into a real debate about how modern bats are made).
Here is a breakdown of how both elements have evolved from the 1920s to today.
1. Pitcher Speeds: Babe Ruth to Today
Comparing pitching speeds across eras is tricky because the technology used to measure them has radically changed. In the 1920s, there were no radar guns; today, we use Statcast, which tracks the ball the millisecond it leaves the pitcher’s hand (maximum velocity).
The evolutionary curve of the major league fastball reveals a massive shift:
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The Babe Ruth Era (1920s–1930s): The average major league fastball sat around 85–88 mph. Pitchers were expected to throw complete games and “save their arms,” rarely throwing maximum-effort on every single pitch. Exceptional outliers existed, like Walter Johnson or Lefty Grove, who were estimated via primitive ballistics testing to touch 93–95 mph, but they were incredibly rare anomalies.
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The Mid-Century (1940s–1970s): True flamethrowers started appearing regularly. Bob Feller was clocked by military equipment in the 1940s at roughly 98–100 mph out of his hand. In 1974, Nolan Ryan was officially clocked by a laser system at 100.9 mph—and because that system measured the ball close to home plate (after it had slowed down due to air resistance), modern physicists estimate it left his hand at an astonishing 108 mph.
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The Modern Era (2000s–Today): In 2008, the average MLB fastball was 90.9 mph. Today, the league average is roughly 94.2 mph. 100 mph used to be a once-a-week miracle; now, relievers routinely throw 101–103 mph with maximum-effort mechanics on every single pitch, topped by Aroldis Chapman’s record-setting 105.1 mph bullet .
2. The Wood Bat Myth: Lighter, but No “Trampoline Effect”
Your friend is mixing up two different concepts: the physics of metal bats versus the changes in modern wood bat manufacturing.
Wood Bats Do NOT Have a Trampoline Effect
A true “trampoline effect” requires a hollow barrel. When a baseball hits a hollow aluminum or composite bat, the walls of the bat compress inward and then spring back out, violently returning energy to the ball.
Because wood bats are 100% solid wood, they do not compress. The ball does all the compressing on impact. There is zero structural rebound, which is exactly why Major League Baseball mandates wood—to keep exit velocities safe and protect the historic records of the gam e.
What Has Actually Changed? (Why they think it’s different)
While there is no trampoline effect, modern wood bats are fundamentally different from the heavy lumber swung in the 1920s.
Babe Ruth's Bat (1920s): ~36 inches long / 42 to 54 ounces (Heavy, dense Ash)
Modern MLB Bat (2026): ~34 inches long / 31 to 32 ounces (Light, bone-rubbed Maple)
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The Shift to Maple: In Ruth’s day, everyone used Northern White Ash. In the early 2000s, Barry Bonds popularized Sugar Maple. Maple is a incredibly dense, stiff hardwood. It doesn’t flex like ash, meaning less energy is absorbed by the wood upon impact. The energy transfers more efficiently back to the ball, resulting in higher exit velocities—but this is pure structural density, not a trampoline flex.
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Ultra-Light Models & Thin Handles: Modern players demand maximum swing speed to catch up to today’s 100 mph fastballs. To achieve this, bat makers use lower-density wood stocks or shave down the handles to razor-thin diameters. This allows a player to swing a giant 2.5-inch barrel that only weighs 31 ounces.
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The “Bone-Rubbing” Technique: Manufacturers now compress the wood fibers externally before a bat ever hits the field by rolling it against a porcelain line or a hard bone. This hardens the outermost pores of the wood, ensuring that when the ball hits the bat, almost no energy is lost to wood surface deformation.
The Verdict: Pitchers throw significantly harder today, and hitters catch up to them by swinging bats that are much lighter and stiffer than Babe Ruth’s heavy logs. However, the barrel remains completely solid—the day a wood bat gets a trampoline effect is the day it shatters into piec es.