Determine the total mechanical energy of a 250 g baseball if it has a velocity of 30 m/s when it leaves the pitcher’s hand 1.2m above the ground.

There's kinetic and potential energy, and they need to be added to give the mechanical energy:

K = 1/2*m*v^2 = 1/2*0.25*30^2 = 112.5 J

U = mgh = 0.25*10*1.2 = 3J (notice that I took g = 10 m/s^2, instead of 9.81 ..., also I have assumed the common choice of U = 0 at the ground level (h=0), although what really matters are differences in height.

Total = 115.5 J.

Is a  vector quantity  that refers to "the rate at which an object changes its position." imagine a person moving rapidly - one step forward and one step back - always returning to the original starting position. while this might result in a frenzy of activity, it would result in a zero velocity. because the person always returns to the original position, the motion would never result in a change in position. since velocity is defined as the rate at which the position changes, this motion results in zero velocity. if a person in motion wishes to maximize their velocity, then that person must make every effort to maximize the amount that they are displaced from their original position. every step must go into moving that person further from where he or she started. for certain, the person should never change directions and begin to return to the starting position.