What is the Best Pitching Machine to Buy in 2024?

Updated April 8, 2024

When it comes to choosing the best pitching machine, there are a lot of choices and it can get pretty confusing trying to figure out the subtle differences between various pitching machines. Naturally, the best machines are the most expensive ones but price, alone, doesn't necessarily indicate the right pitching machine, particularly for each person's unique situation.

Many people don't have unlimited budgets and $4,000+ pitching machines are out of the question. What most people really want to know when they ask "what is the best pitching machine?" is "what is the best pitching machine for my family's needs and budget?"

We have been very careful about selecting which pitching machine manufacturers we carry in our store. Each one has been selected because it brings something a little different to the table. This eliminates some of the confusion and redundancy that you see on websites that carry every pitching machine under the sun.

Before you can decide what the best pitching machine is for your particular situation, you really need to figure out what the most important factors are to you. Ultimately, your decision needs to be based upon many different factors - money, of course, being one of them.

The 10 Best Pitching Machines in 2024

For those who simply want to know what the 10 best pitching machines are, whether they are necessarily the best for their particular situation or not, this section is for you. We have updated it to reflect changes some companies have made to their machines in 2024. You'll probably want to read further, however, to see what really matters in a pitching machine and why the subtle differences may affect which one you choose for your family or team.

Here are our top ten pitching machines for 2024 in order, starting with our favorite, along with their normal discount prices. Prices may be even lower if there is a limited time special being offered on them. Please be sure to click on each machine to see any further discounts we may be offering on their individual product description pages or any additional discounts that may be automatically triggered when they are added to your shopping cart.

1. Spinball Wizard 3 Wheel Pitching Machine - $3,900.00
2. JUGS BP3 Pitching Machine - $4,719.00
3. BATA 2Pitch3 Pitching Machine - $3,299.00
4. BATA-2 Curveball Pitching Machine - $2,299.00
5. Spinball Wizard 2 Wheel Pitching Machine - $2,000.00
6. Mound Yeti 2 Curveball Pitching Machine - $1,599.00
7. JUGS BP2 Pitching Machine - $3,619.00
8. Heater Deuce-95 Curveball Pitching Machine - $999.99
   
9. Heater Deuce-75 Curveball Pitching Machine - $799.99
10. BATA B1 Curveball Pitching Machine - $1,499.00

How Long Will The Pitching Machine Last?

The number of years you can reasonably expect a pitching machine to last is really one of the most important factors of all, yet it is something that very few people consider. The easiest way of determining how long a pitching machine may last, is to look at the pitching machine's warranty. Manufacturers aren't going to give a 5 year warranty on a product that won't last at least that long!

If your child is very young and just starting to play ball, you may not know for sure if they will continue playing the game in coming years. It might be a wise idea to hold off on a more durable and expensive pitching machine for now and, instead, get one of the Heater Sports backyard pitching machines. Heater pitching machines only have a one year warranty. In fact, if they are very young, your best bet would be to go with a lite ball pitching machine, which helps them develop their timing and alleviate their fear of getting hit with a ball.

Another option for parents who have younger players that definitely show interest in the sport is to go with a Zooka pitching machine. Although they also only have one year warranties, we know plenty of people who have been using those machines for more than five years with no reported problems. It only makes sense; there are so few moving parts to Zooka pitching machines.

If they are older and have been playing for a few years, it's pretty much a sure thing that they will be playing for quite a few more years. In that case, selecting a pitching machine that's well made and has a five year warranty like Spinball Sports pitching machines makes far more sense.

Mound Yeti and JUGS pitching machines have 2 year warranties (tires excluded), so they have a better warranty than Heater Sports but not as good as most of the other manufacturers. Heater Sports machines are substantially less money, though.

The best warranty of them all, however, is offered by BATA Baseball. All of their machines now have a 10 YEAR WARRANTY. They will pay to repair or replace any part of their machines for a full ten years (tires excluded). If one of their machines needs to be repaired in the first 3 years, BATA pays to send the machine back to you after repairs. After that, the customer is responsible for shipping both ways.

Although the Louisville Slugger pitching machines don't have a very long warranty, that is due to the fact that the springs on their machines wear out. Replacement springs are only about 20 bucks, though, and are super simple to switch out.

You also need to consider how often the pitching machine will be used. Will there be multiple people using it? Will it be used for team batting practice? If the answer to either of those questions is yes, you'll get far better wear from the BATA, JUGS and Spinball machines.

Also important to note, JUGS and Spinball Sports pitching machines DO NOT place warranty restrictions on team use, meaning a baseball or softball team gets the same warranty as an individual - something many other pitching machine manufacturers don't offer.

*** NEW *** We are now offering the option to add an extended warranty to several brands' pitching machines that have less than stellar warranties. You can now pay just a little bit extra to get an extended warranty on all Heater Sports, Mound Yeti, Zooka and JUGS pitching machines. This way, you can stop worrying about the one or two year warranties offered by those companies and purchase some peace of mind, extending them to 3, 4 or 5 year warranties. Visit our CPS Warranties page to learn more about the extended warranties they offer exclusively to Pitching Machine Stop!

Do You Need A Baseball Pitching Machine, Softball Pitching Machine Or Both?

Who are the ball players in the family, both at this moment and in the future? If there are both baseball and softball players, you'll definitely need to get a combination baseball and softball pitching machine.

The family next door has a 13 year old boy who plays baseball, a 16 year old girl who plays fastpitch softball and a dad who plays in hardball and slow pitch softball leagues. They also have a six year old boy who is already swinging a bat at lite balls and looks like the next Babe Ruth!

They have a BATA-2 Curveball Pitching Machine. Although it is not exactly a cheap machine, it is built to last, has reversible legs for both softball and baseball and throws every kind of pitch imaginable - slow pitch softball, fast pitch softball and baseballs up to 100 MPH. It can throw real balls, dimple balls and even lite balls and, because it is a two wheel machine, it can throw any pitch a major leaguer can - fastballs, curves, sliders, screwballs and even knuckleballs.

If a machine that can throw every pitch imaginable and can throw either baseballs or softballs is in your game plan, two of the Spinball Sports machines will do the trick and are what we consider to be the best value. The Spinball Wizard 2 Wheel and the Spinball Wizard 3 Wheel pitching machines are both top of the class and are the lightest 2 and 3 wheel pitching machines made. Almost all of BATA Baseball's machines can throw baseballs or softballs and the upgrade to a combo machine is less than other manufacturers.

If money is tight, the Mound Yeti 2, the Heater Deuce-95 and Heater Deuce-75 are also options, although the warranty on those machines is not as great as the ones offered by Spinball Sports or BATA.

And, of course, considerably less expensive are one wheel machines that only throw fastballs. Almost all of the manufacturers have one wheel machines, most of which offer combo baseball/softball versions.

How Fast Is The Pitching Machine (and how much does it matter)?

One of the things everybody wants to know is how fast a pitching machine will throw balls. Although this is certainly an important consideration if the machine is going to be set up at regulation distance, it becomes far less of a consideration if you are using the pitching machine in a 20 or 24 foot home batting cage.

For instance, a machine with a top speed of 50 MPH may seem too slow for a high school player, which is true when pitching from the regulation distance of 60 feet, 6 inches. When you are much closer to the pitching machine, the ball gets to you much faster, though. In a 24 foot batting cage, that 50 MPH fastball causes you to react much quicker and seems like a 126 MPH fastball - faster than any pitcher at any level can throw!

To compute the "seems like" speed, take the regulation distance, divide it by the shorter distance the machine will really be from the back of the "plate," and multiply by the speed.

If you will definitely be using your pitching machine from regulation distance, speed is a super-important consideration. Otherwise, not so much!

Does the Pitching Machine Need to be Portable?

Sometimes, you may want to use a pitching machine in an area where there is no electrical outlet. If so, you are going to need to purchase a 120V generator at your local hardware store in order to power most pitching machines.

Some pitching machines are extremely heavy, too. JUGS pitching machines weigh anywhere from 65 to 125 pounds. Iron Mike machines can weigh more than 400 pounds. You can add a wheel kit (found in the pitching machine accessories section of this website) to BATA Baseball machines which help a great deal with transporting their machines from your car to the field. You'll probably want some help raising and lowering the heavier machines from the car if you value your vehicle's paint job, though! Heater pitching machines don't have wheel kits available. Many JUGS baseball pitching machines are designed so that the machine can be held by the legs and rolled onto a field on its wheel(s) - very convenient!

If a top of the line multi-wheel pitching machine is what you want but you don't want something ridiculously heavy, the Spinball Sports pitching machines are about half the weight of competitors' machines due to the aerospace-grade alloys they use in their machines, so no extra wheel kit is necessary. Because it has a third wheel and motor, naturally making it heavier, their top of the line Spinball Wizard 3 Wheel Pitching Machine has a wheel kit included as part of the frame. Even with that third wheel and motor, it's still no heavier than other companies' two wheel pitching machines.

Zooka pitching machines run on an internal rechargeable battery that can throw 500-800 pitches before needing a recharge and are less than 30 pounds. They are probably the best option for people who want a super portable pitching machine. No cords or generators to deal with at all!

None of the Louisville Slugger pitching machines require any electricity at all - not even a battery. They use high tension springs to launch the balls. Therefore, you can literally set them up in under a minute - anywhere! Their baseball pitching machines also weigh considerably less than motorized pitching machines, weighing from 12-25 pounds. If portability is your #1 concern, the Louisville Slugger machines may be your best bet!

What Kind Of Tires Does The Pitching Machine Use?

Because they were the first company to sell pitching machines that used tires to propel a ball, JUGS Sports has always been the measuring stick that people have used when comparing various pitching machine models. The first is not necessarily the best, however. In fact, it almost never is. Nowhere is that more clear than when looking at pitching machine tires.

There are two basic types of pitching machine tires - pneumatic tires and solid tires. There is a huge difference between the two tire types in terms of how long they last, how quickly they can pitch another ball and how much maintenance they require:

Pneumatic Pitching Machine Tires

Pneumatic tires are air filled tires, similar to the tires on your car, only a bit smaller. These were the original pitching machine tires and you can find them on all pitching machines made by JUGS Sports and Heater Sports.

Pneumatic tires wear out faster than solid tires and they take longer to recover between pitches, meaning you may have to wait 10-12 seconds between each pitch. Also, they tend to flatten out at higher speeds, which means you may have to adjust the gap between the wheels (on two or three wheel machines) or the wheel and the stop plate (on a one wheel machine) every time you significantly change pitch speed.

Worse, the air pressure has to be exactly right in the tire(s) or your pitching machine will not pitch accurately. The temperature outside along with the number of pitches a machine has thrown can have an effect on the tire pressure, as well. If you decide to choose a pitching machine with pneumatic tires, just be sure that you have a portable way of inflating those tires as well as a tire pressure gauge handy.

Solid Pitching Machine Tires

Solid pitching machine tires are pretty much what you would expect them to be. They are not filled with air and are similar to the wheels on a lawnmower, only a little larger and definitely more advanced. Most of the more modern pitching machines have switched to solid tires and you can find them on all BATA pitching machines and Yeti pitching machines as well as Spinball Sports pitching machines.

Solid pitching machines tires have several distinct advantages over pneumatic tires. Solid tires last significantly longer than pneumatic ones and they recover twice as fast between pitches, meaning you can throw a pitch every 5-6 seconds with a pitching machine that has solid tires. They also hold their shape no matter what speed the pitch is, so you needn't worry about having to change the gap between the wheels or wheel and stop plate when making significant changes in pitch speed.

Better still, you never have to worry about tire pressure with a solid tire. There is no need to bring an air pump and tire gauge with you to the ball field or out to your batting cage. You can expect a consistent pitch time after time, no matter what the temperature is outside or how many balls your pitching machine has thrown.

Do You Want A Pitching Machine That Can Be Used Solo?

A very important question you need to ask yourself is whether or not there will always be someone around to feed balls into the pitching machine one at a time. If not, it'll be impossible to practice your hitting or fielding drills.

In order to practice solo, a pitching machine HAS TO have an auto ball feeder. Some of the Heater pitching machines include a free auto ball feeder and if not, they can be added to a machine for about $50.00. The JUGS, BATA, Spinball and Mound Yeti pitching machines DO NOT come with auto ball feeders; although, they can certainly be purchased and added to their machines if you don't mind investing an extra $599-$850. In between, is Zooka. Their autofeeders run $310 (including shipping) and hold more balls than many other feeders.

Whether or not it is worth paying a lot extra for a ball feeder in order to practice alone comes down to whether you want a higher quality, longer lasting pitching machine or just one that you can only expect to get a few years use out of. Many parents purchase a higher end pitching machine initially and add the auto ball feeder later - sometimes as a birthday gift!

Do You Need A Curveball Pitching Machine?

As kids get older, they are going to start facing pitchers who throw curves. As they advance even further, pitchers will be throwing curves, sliders, screwballs and maybe even knuckleballs. Having a pitching machine that you can practice hitting curves with is very important when you get up to the higher levels.

What kind of curves, though? When ball players progress to the point that they need to practice hitting curves, the pitchers they are facing are typically throwing more than just a straight curve. Pitching machines that are labeled as curveball machines that only have one wheel use a "stop plate" and can only throw basic curves - usually side curves only, from the left or the right. These are always the cheapest curveball pitching machines because they only have one motor. They also tend to be not very accurate with curveball pitches. An example of a one wheel style pitching machine that can only throw a straight curve is the Heater Pro pitching machine.

In order to throw anything a real pitcher can throw, your pitching machine needs to have at least two variable speed wheels. By changing the speed of one wheel relative to the other, you can pitch screwballs, sliders, curveballs, fastballs and even knuckle balls as well as simulate all of those pitches from a left or right handed pitcher. If it has a pivoting head that can be easily tilted like the BATA B-2, Mound Yeti 2 or the Spinball Wizard Pitching Machine does, you can even mix in 3/4 curves, overhand curves, sliders, knuckleballs and more. If you are on a tight budget, but still want a pitching machine that can throw as fast as the pros do, Heater Sports has recently added the Heater Deuce-95 Two Wheel Curveball Pitching Machine to its lineup. It's about $500 less than next cheapest two wheel machine on the market that can throw that fast (the Mound Yeti 2). Just keep in mind that the Heater Deuce-95 only has a one year warranty and can only throw baseballs. It does come with an automatic ball feeder, though, which saves you a substantial amount vs. other brands if you want to practice solo.

Something that few people ever consider is how a pitching machine that throws curveballs can be used for fielding practice. Catchers can certainly benefit by learning how to catch and block curves that frequently become wild pitches. Infielders can benefit by practicing grounders from a curveball pitching machine, too. Any infielder can tell you that the spin on a one hopper is very different coming off the bat of a left handed hitter than it is from a right hand hitter. Setting up a pitching machine to throw grounders with a side spin can really take a player's defensive skills up a notch!

The best curveball pitching machines on the market, however, are three wheel machines. Unlike a 2-wheel pitching machine that you need to manually adjust the head angles for until it is throwing over the plate, 3-wheel pitching machines make it far easier to change pitch types and get the ball over the plate accurately. You simply select the type of pitch, its speed and how much spin you want. Then, micro-adjustment wheels allow you to quickly and easily change the pitch location. The best 3-wheel pitching machine throws every pitch imaginable up to 100MPH and does not require you to stop the machine and configure the tires. It is the Spinball Wizard 3 Wheel Pitching Machine. Spinball Sports' newest model - the "Spinny Mini" pitches slower than their other three wheel machine (up to 75 MPH), but still offers the convenience of easily switching between pitches.

Where Is The Pitching Machine Manufactured?

Many people are very interested in supporting American companies and prefer to buy Made In The USA products over ones that are manufactured in China. For one thing, you'll notice a strong correlation between where the pitching machine is manufactured and its warranty. With the exception of Iron Mike machines, all American manufactured machines have at least a 5 year warranty (BATA machines are 10 years). All of the Chinese-made machines only have a 1 or 2 year warranty.

Even if patriotism or supporting American companies is not at the top of your agenda, there is another very important reason to consider purchasing a pitching machine that is made in the U.S.A. If your pitching machine needs to be repaired, it can take a very long time to get it fixed if those parts have to be ordered from overseas.

If being without your pitching machine for several weeks or months is a deal breaker, the country where they are manufactured can become a very big deal. Here are where the following companies' pitching machines are manufactured:

MADE IN THE USA:

• BATA Baseball
• Iron Mike
• Spinball Sports
  

MADE IN CHINA:

• JUGS Sports
• Heater Sports
  
• Mound Yeti
• Louisville Slugger
• Zooka Sports
  

How Much Does The Pitching Machine Cost?

Finally, I'll get to the one question that is often the only one that people ask - "how much does it cost?" As you can see from the above, you can't let price, alone, dictate which pitching machine you should buy.

Obviously, most people have limited budgets and often need to sacrifice some of their "wants" for more realistic "needs." Decide which of the above factors are the most important and buy the most affordable machine that meets all or most of those needs. With most people, durability tops their list.

In our opinion, the best pitching machines for the money are as follows. As you will see, in most cases, the best choices are pitching machines made by Spinball Sports. Simply stated, they make the best pitching machines for the money on the planet:

• Best Pitching Machine Value Under $500: The only pitching machines that come in under the $500 price point are ones made by Heater sports or Louisville Slugger. It's not even close .. the Heater machines blow away all competition in the under $500 category and there are quite few to choose from. Even better, you can get several of them for under $500 INCLUDING A BALL FEEDER! The best made ones are the Heater Real Baseball Pitching Machine and the Heater Real 12" Softball Pitching Machine.
  
  
• Best Pitching Machine Value Under $1,000: With a top speed of 90 MPH and the ability to throw every type of pitch, the best pitching machine value under $1,000 is clearly the Heater Sports Deuce-95 pitching machine, which is $999. It can throw fastballs, changeups, every type of curve, slider or screwball and even knuckleballs. Better still, it comes with an automatic ball feeder at that price so you can practice all by yourself. On the negative side, Heater Sports pitching machines only have a one year warranty.
  
  
• Best Pitching Machine Value Under $1,500: This one is pretty easy ... if you appreciate the accuracy, durability and maintenance-free aspect of a solid wheel pitching machine, your best bet is a BATA B1 Curve pitching machine ($1,499). Although its top speed is only 62 MPH, it can throw fastballs and changeups as well as overhand, left hand and right hand curves. Better still, it comes with BATA's industry leading 10 year warranty.
  
  
• Best Pitching Machine Value Under $2,000: Because it is priced at $1,599, the Mound Yeti 2 is substantially less expensive than all of its counterparts that offer 5 year warranties and it comes as a combo machine (you have to pay more for that with all other 2 wheel pitching machine brands). It can throw fastballs, curves, knuckleballs - you name it - at speeds up to 100 MPH, but it only has a 2 year warranty (although, you can purchase extended warranty coverage for it). If longevity is a major factor, you can't go wrong with the Spinball Wizard 2-Wheel Pitching Machine due to its 5 year warranty.
  
  
• Best Pitching Machine at Any Price: The Spinball Wizard 3 Wheel Pitching Machine is head and shoulders above the class. 100% made in the U.S.A., it's got a better frame, better protected motors, better clamping and gearboxes and also important, it is a great defensive drills pitching machine, able to cover the entire field easily with hard hit grounders or towering popups and fly balls. You also never have to stop the machine to change pitches or look at wheel charts. Not only can you change pitch type, speed and amount of spin in a matter of seconds, micro adjustment knobs on the machine allow you to change pitch location easily, as well.

Below, is our "cheat sheet" which shows the most important features for each of the pitching machines sold on this website that will throw regulation size/weight baseballs and/or softballs. The table is organized by price, from low to high. Click on the pitching machine name to visit the actual product page and see each pitching machine's full features.

NOTE: This table is best viewed from a device with a full screen browser like a desktop, laptop or tablet (in other words, not a phone).

* Price shown is for baseball-only or softball-only model. Combo baseball/softball machine costs extra.
** Price shown is for the manual, baseball-only or softball-only model. The automatic version and other leg/chute configurations cost extra.