Statcast miss distance and swing timing are available beginning with the second half of the 2023 season.
Miss distance expresses the distance (at moment of closest approach) between the top half of the bat and the ball, in inches.
Only the half of the bat away from the hands, the barrel end, is considered, because the batter’s goal on a swing is not to make contact off the handle.
Bunt attempts are excluded.
Swing timing expresses where the bat is in relationship to the ball at the closest point of contact, in three dimensions.
Late/on-time/early.
(On time is a swing where the barrel is within +/- 8ms of perfect timing.)
Over/lined-up/under.
(Lined up is a swing where the barrel is within +/- 3 inches from ball, vertically.)
Tied-up/centered/flail.
(Centered is a swing where the barrel is within +/-4 inches from ball, horizontally.)
A flawed swing is one where the batter isn’t on time or lined up or centered. Perfect contact is when the batter achieves all three of those things.
