Suppose a pitcher throws a fastball to a batter and the batter foul tips the pitch to the backstop. When the pitch is foultipped it is traveling at 100 mph.
One micro-second after the ball is foul tipped, is the ball traveling at 100 mph, less than 100 mph, or greater than 100 mph?
Lets suppose this question has air resistance and no air resistance
My guess it would be slower because the bat would give the ball some momentum towards the pitcher but foul tips look like they accelerate towards the back stop. It could be the camera angles and perpective.
On a foul tip, the ball usually hits the very top of the bat causing it to shoot straight back. So I would think that the MPH would be less since the ball hitting the bat would take some speed off…
Remember, a fastball will be rotating in such a way that the top of the ball is moving toward and the bottom away from the pitcher. So a ball that was just ‘nicked’ by the bottom of the bat could, in fact, increase in speed as it transfers some if its rotational energy to the bat-rolling off of it, as it were. A curve ball will be rotating the opposite way, so a curve ball that nicks the top of the bat could do the same thing-although a curve that hangs that high is more likely to end up in the outfield stands than at the backstop, methinks.
Although your physics is correct, the rotation needed for suach an effect would be super human.
Assume fast ball if moving at 100mph and bat moves at 50mph - relative speed is 150mph. If baseball is 4 inches in diameter(sorry, I don’t know how large a baseball is), then the ball would have to be spinning at just under 13,000rpms just to break even. Not gonna happen.