Does velocity count in the playoffs?

John Dewan's Stat of the Week™

October 4, 2006

In a recent Stat of the Week, we compared fastball velocity and ERA and found there was a strong correlation. Pitchers who throw harder (based on their average fastball) perform better. Is this also true during the playoffs?

Here's a chart comparing the regular season and playoffs:

We see the same pattern in the playoffs as the regular season. ERA improves as velocity goes up. But more importantly, for the playoffs we see an even stronger effect. ERA improves even more dramatically in the playoffs for those pitchers who throw harder.