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The story
Masumi Kuwata, the former Yomiuri Giants and PL Gakuen ace, reportedly said, “You don’t need a 150 km/h fastball. If you throw 140 km/h to the outside-low corner, you can get batters out,” and the remark became a hot topic on 5ch. Kuwata himself was known during his playing days as a pitcher who relied on control and curveballs rather than velocity, so the comment fits with his long-held philosophy. On the thread, some users agreed, citing pitchers like Wakui and Yamamoto Masa who got outs through being “hard to hit” rather than sheer speed, while others pushed back, pointing to cases like Seibu’s Haneda, who throws over 150 km/h but hasn’t found success, arguing that “these days, you’re nothing without velocity.” Opinions were split over whether speed or control matters more.
What people said
Guys like Wakui were only throwing a bit over 140 in his prime, but people said he was "fast and unhittable" anyway.
Unless you've got a really unusual delivery or spin rate.
Spoken like a true former baseball club member, Shinjiro.
Though I think the point was more like 'if you had the control to consistently hit 140 km/h on the outside-low corner…'
I feel like Masa would still make it work.
Tops out at 150 km/h but averages more like 145, yet still racks up plenty of strikeouts.
The measurement methods were different back then, so an old-school 145 km/h reading might easily have topped 150 by today's standards.
Next you'll be telling me Eiji Sawamura was throwing 160 km/h.
Kaneda was apparently hitting 170 km/h, but Sawamura's era is anyone's guess.
His NPB batting stats beat Kazushige Nagashima's, at least.
Late in his career he shut down Ikawa with a mediocre 140 km/h fastball and won the ERA title, so he's got that on his record.
Well, Seibu's Haneda isn't getting it done, so…
If you can hit 150 km/h low, you can get outs.
If you're going up in the zone, you need 155.
If your control is terrible, none of it matters.
That's roughly how it looks right now.
That said, if you've got control but no velocity, you'll just keep getting hit and giving up runs.
In modern baseball, velocity is king.
Haneda throws 162 km/h and it's still not working for him at all.
It's not that simple.
Fastballs are harder to hit up in the zone.
Breaking balls are what you keep low.
When players get coached by old-guard types stuck on outdated ideas like this,
they end up fading away without ever using even half their talent. It's sad.
In Japan, where there are a lot of short, weak-armed hitters, I do think outside-low is the safe bet.
Takahashi Kona tried that and wasted a full two years on it.
He still hasn't gotten back to his best form.
In an era where batters can drill against pitching machines endlessly, a flat 150 km/h fastball is just a target.
It's hard for the umpire to see clearly from his angle, so he'll call strikes even on pitches the batter could never reach.
Background and Key Points of the Debate
During his playing days, Masumi Kuwata was known as a pitcher who got batters out through sequencing — mixing in curveballs and shuuto — and precise control rather than raw velocity, and this remark appears to reflect that same philosophy. On the thread, opinions split between “even 140 km/h is hard to hit if it’s placed on the edge of the zone” and “in modern baseball, velocity itself is a weapon, and control alone won’t cut it.” Posters cited both hard-throwers like Seibu’s Haneda who haven’t produced results despite their velocity, and pitchers like Wakui and Yamamoto Masa who got outs through factors other than speed. One easy misunderstanding is that this isn’t a claim that “velocity doesn’t matter” — as pointed out in posts #80 and #81, several users noted that velocity and control only really work together, which is closer to where the thread as a whole landed than a simple either/or. It was also noted that old-era radar readings used a different measurement method, so a 145 km/h reading back then may well have exceeded 150 km/h by today’s standards.
※This article is compiled and summarized from the 5ch (Nandemo Jikkyo G) thread “Kuwata: “You don’t need a 150 km/h fastball. If you throw 140 km/h to the outside-low corner, you can get batters out”.”
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