Extension

Simple explanation

It's 60 feet, 6 inches from the rubber to home plate, but pitchers stride forward and reach out, so they release the ball in front of the rubber. That distance is extension.

The farther out the release, the less time the ball takes to reach the hitter, so the same velocity looks faster to him. The MLB glossary says a pitcher with long extension can make a 93 mph fastball look like 96.

Benchmarks

6.0 ft

Shortest 10%

6.9 ft

Longest 10%

Four-seamers only. Distribution of the 270 pitchers who threw at least 300 of them in 2026.

Detailed explanation

Tall pitchers with long arms tend to get the most extension. It's an ingredient in perceived velocity: longer-than-average extension makes perceived velocity come out higher than actual velocity, and shorter extension makes it lower.

The 2026 league average on four-seamers was 6.5 feet, the same as 2025. Across all pitch types it was 6.4.