How hard do college pitchers throw?
The middle D1 pitcher threw 90 mph in high school. The middle D2 pitcher threw 85 mph, and the middle D3 pitcher threw 83 mph.
Enter a fastball velocity. Compare with 9,934 pitchers who went straight from high school to 901 D1, D2 and D3 schools.
Updated
Among pitchers measured in junior summer, senior fall and senior spring, half of D1 threw 90 mph or harder, against 85 in D2 and 83 in D3.
5,628 pitchers shown
D1
2,361 pitchers
90mph
the middle reading
- Middle half
- 88 to 91.9
- 90 or harder
- 51%
- 86 or softer
- 15%
- Softest tenth
- 85 or softer
D2
1,257 pitchers
85mph
the middle reading
- Middle half
- 83 to 87
- 90 or harder
- 7%
- 86 or softer
- 65%
- Softest tenth
- 80 or softer
D3
2,010 pitchers
83mph
the middle reading
- Middle half
- 80 to 85
- 90 or harder
- 1%
- 86 or softer
- 89%
- Softest tenth
- 78 or softer
The spread
Where each division sat
One curve per division. The white tick is the middle reading, and the dashed line is the D1 middle carried down so the lower divisions can be read against it.
Clearing a number
How many threw at least this hard
Read up from a number to see what share of each division reached it. Type a reading to see where it would have landed.
Schools for your velocity
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Type a fastball reading in the box above. Subscribers see every college that took a pitcher who threw within 1 mph of it, how many it took, and the middle velocity of its pitchers.
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Throwing arm
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- Right-handers and left-handers, each on their own.
- Your velocity against pitchers who throw with your arm.
- The right-hander and left-hander ranges in each division, side by side.
By stage
The middle reading at each stage
The middle reading at each stage, whatever stages are picked above. In D1 it is 2.0 mph higher in senior spring than in junior summer. Each stage is a different set of players, so this is not one player's gain. A stage with fewer than 25 readings is left off.
About the data
What is counted
- A pitcher is counted when his college record shows him joining a D1, D2 or D3 school straight from high school and his profile carries a fastball reading between 65 and 105 mph. Transfers in and junior-college arrivals are left out.
- Each pitcher has one reading: the one our research kept, which favours the reading nearest his senior year. It is not a checked top speed.
- The stage comes from the date of the reading and his graduation year. A summer belongs to the grade just finished, so the summer before senior year is junior summer. A reading with no date keeps the stage the research gave it.
- A school's division is its division today. A school that moved up counts at its new level for every player.
- Senior-spring readings are rarer below D1 and tend to follow the better arms, so those numbers run a little high for D2 and D3.
- D1: 3,600 readings from 301 schools. D2: 2,372 readings from 244 schools. D3: 3,962 readings from 356 schools.
Rebuilt after research adds or changes profiles. Last built October 12, 2026.
College pitching velocity: common questions
How hard do D1 pitchers throw in high school?
- The middle D1 pitcher threw 90 mph in high school, measured between the summer before senior year and senior spring. The middle half threw 88 to 91.9 mph, and about 1 in 2 reached 90 mph or harder. That is across 2,361 pitchers at 301 D1 schools.
What velocity do you need to pitch D2 baseball?
- There is no cutoff, but the middle D2 pitcher threw 85 mph in high school, and the middle half threw 83 to 87 mph. Only about 7% of D2 pitchers threw 90 or harder.
How hard do D3 pitchers throw?
- The middle D3 pitcher threw 83 mph in high school, and the middle half threw 80 to 85 mph. About 81% of D3 pitchers threw 85 mph or softer.
Can you pitch D1 throwing 85 mph?
- Some pitchers do: about 1 in 10 D1 pitchers threw 85 mph or softer in high school. One reading does not decide where a pitcher can play, and velocity is only one of the things a coach weighs.
Where do these numbers come from?
- Each pitcher went straight from high school to one of 901 D1, D2 and D3 schools, and a public source, such as a showcase or recruiting profile, carries a fastball reading for him. Each pitcher has one reading: the one our research kept, which favours the reading nearest his senior year. It is not a checked top speed. Transfers and junior-college arrivals are left out. Counted on October 12, 2026.