Abbott routinely hits 70 miles per hour on her pitches, a velocity almost impossible to catch up to when it comes from a pitching mound only 43 feet away — and from a pitcher whose long stride brings her even closer than that. For comparison, a 72 mph pitch in softball is about the equivalent of a blistering 101 mph pitch in baseball. According to former Team USA teammate Jessica Mendoza, now an NBC commentator at the Tokyo Olympics (and a baseball analyst for ESPN), Abbott is "one of the hardest-throwing pitchers in the entire game." That speed benefits Abbott in multiple ways; she can blow fastballs past hitters, only to leave them whiffing on her much slower changeup.