Speed: The First Step Matters More Than the 60

Running speed is the third measurable tool. You can time a 60. You can track it. You can improve it. That’s why coaches like it.

Speed is strength, reactive power, and some form. The first two move the needle more than looking pretty in a ladder.

There are two kinds. Top-end speed shows up in a 60. First-step speed shows up in the game. Infielders go 20–40 feet. A runner goes 90. Outfielders get the longest run and they still need a jump. Explosiveness first.

Why it matters: it shrinks the field on defense, it pressures infielders into hurry-up errors, and it makes a pitcher think about something other than the hitter.

Train it like an athlete. Heavy, explosive lower body — not endless jogging. Box jumps, short sprints through 10 yards, starts. In high school I used to work with the track team in the winter. They pushed me. I pushed them.

Not everyone runs a 6.3. However, almost everyone can get fast enough to play college baseball if they treat it like a tool instead of a talent they “just don’t have.”